Pedal Down
The day one report from Murray Spence aboard Alfa Romeo in the Transpac.
What a great send off for the start of the Transpac. Firstly the crowds at the dock and then the many spectator boats at the start. Picture perfect skies and a favourable wind. Everyone agreed that we should have a conservative start being such a long race – yeh right! Ben Ainslie nailed the pin end right on the gun. Maybe that was conservative for an AC helmsman!
We were on the wind to Catalina, but soon put some good distance on the fleet, eventually losing sight of Magnitude 80 by about 4pm. The breeze freshened from then and we were soon into a reef averaging about 15 kts. About 2am the breeze had lifted enough to change to the Jib Top and soon the reef was shaken out too. Now averaging around 19kts boat speed and looking forward to the sunrise. –
Murray.
Take a look at the tracker – they are currently going six knots faster than the next fastest boat, Magnitude.
