May 11, 2012 16:40:00 UTC
47°12.37 N
050°40.88 W
Heading: 46°
Speed: 20.4 knots
DTF: 1,784.9 nm
It is indeed an eerie feeling
to be dodging icebergs in thick fog near where the Titanic sank about 100 years
ago. There is a distinct advantage we have with the new technology that exists.
It is in the form of a very good B & G radar. The fog is very dense
and Maserati (our little carbon
sailing rocket ship) seems highly unnatural in the vicinity of such difficult
to detect chunks of hard water. A growler the size of a refrigerator
would definitely make for a bad day as we skim across the water doing 20 plus
knots and unfortunately, the technology to see those is really not practical or
readily available for our application. We have roughly 150 nautical miles
left of this nail biting experience but there was no way to avoid the need to
play this game of Russian Roulette and keep our record attempt anything more
than a delivery to England.
On that note, we are doing
well and we are happy to be ahead of Mari
Cha IV’s record time at the moment. However, it is very much in the balance
and Mother Nature has our destiny in her hands. The low we anticipated is
no longer the key feature to our final push over the weekend, which was
intended to launch us toward England for an arrival early next week. The
weather models have changed significantly and now we must tangle with a high
pressure area that will set up a large windless region very far north and along
our route. We are not only in a race with Mari Cha IV’s legacy but very much also in a race to see if we can
position ourselves for the formation of the high pressure area. A little
luck and a kind eye from Mother Nature will be needed.
Ciao for now from a very
frigid Maserati,
Brad and the Maserati boys
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