Emäsalon Lenkki done

Kankku the 2nd crew navigator before the start near Pyysaari.









The start of the "large" class was at 18.30 the 22nd of May. AquilaDeux had a conservative start but the spinnaker was up. We actually gained surprisingly from the start and just before Kustaanmiekka we had quite satisfactory position.

Then the wind came down.... The Yacht stopped.I mean really stopped, and of course it was raining cats and dogs from the Thunderclouds (me and Ipu probably lost our phones, because they became totally wet in our pockets)...Stronzo, or should I say Strunts as my Belgian friend Kristof says sometimes...

The first 10 nautical miles of the competition took some 5 hours. It even came in mind that if we do not move faster we have to Raise the Flag. Somewhere at 1.00 am the 23rd of May the wind came near Musta Hevonen.

In the beginning the speed was something 3-4 knots, but in the morning after 4.00 am we started to reach such speed as 6 knots, 7 knots and even 8 knots (max speed of the trip for our boat).

also the weather after sunrise was much better that forecaste promised. The temperature was around 14 Centigrade that is quite acceptable for May temperature. Even sun shined and there were not anymore rainclouds.

At 10.53 a.m we reached the Finish line. Leaving us the medium speed around 4 knots. It is very good medium speed, because we had some hours that the boat practically and actually did not move at all.

I believe the whole crew agrees that it was a good sailing experience. In the result list we were 17/18, that is satisfactory (of being not last) and expectable (30 years old comparably heavy boat does not really move on the lowest winds).

Thanx for the crew. The story continues.