Overnight, Richard Moody’s “Boudicca” smashed through the halfway mark of the course and as of this morning has just 200 or so miles to the finish. At the current pace, they’re on track to take down the previous course record, set by Simon and Nancy DiPeitro’s “Lilla” in 2011. The current record is 68:58:45 (2 days, 20 hours, 58 minutes, 45 seconds). “Boudicca” is expected to make her finish off of St David’s Head very early tomorrow (Monday) morning.
The rest of the fleet continues south, with most boats approaching, if not already in, the Gulf Stream as of Sunday morning.
Updates from the racecourse
Mahina Kai, Oyster 54 Skippered by Wayne Haubner:
While the first day of the race is characterized by the activity of the start, the second day is about leaving the continental shelf behind, and arriving at the gulf steam current. We just passed --- on the depth display, and expect to hit the gulf stream tonight.
As the race moves along, the pack spreads out. Although there are 32 boats in the race, since last night we are now alone, and it may stay that way until the final hours before our arrival in Bermuda.
Read more:http://svmahinakai-saloon.blogspot.com/
Inisharon, Skippered byJames Murphy:
Wow, a lot to catch you up on from a whale pod visiting us and surfacing only a boat length away, dolphins bestowing magical powers, a squall that went from 20kts to 50kts in seconds, to blowing up our LRH/Tweener.
We have entered the gulf stream sea water temp is 76.3 and is currently providing 1 knot of favorable current. We experienced boths ends of spectrum yesterday from no wind, now steerage to gusts of 50kt winds.
During a lull in the wind the water was glassy and could hear every sound around us. Including the sound of whales around us coming for a breath of air, which was our first clue we had a pod of whales around us. We got se them calmly swim about and in one case a boat length away surfaced to show off how majestical these animals are. Truly a wonderful experience. Can attest to the fact whales have very bad breath...
Underway, dolphins also greeted us for a short while. Maybe had we been moving a little faster we might have captured their interest for longer, but nevertheless it was great to see them as always.
Read more:facebook.com/groups/marionbermudarace/
Scylla, Skippered byAeneas Dodd-Noble:
The last 24 hours have had a bit of everything. We were visited by a large pod of dolphins that just had to be a good sign!! We did a number of crazy sail changes in the variable conditions. Overnight we ripped down towards the gulf steam and just before coming off watch we hit 78 degrees water temp!! Bermuda here we come!!
Read more:instagram.com/svscylla/
The fleet can be tracked using Yellow Brick Tracking at yb.tl/MBR23 or through the YB Tracker App.
Scratch sheets by class with skipper names are available here: marionbermuda.com/mb/scoring/pcsreportpdf.php
More photos of the start are available at spectrumphotofg.com
