Friday, November 14, 2008

Portimao Race: Tension mounting




The tension is mounting as the Portimao Global Ocean Race Tracker addicts anxiously await each three-hourly poll to see if the gap between the German team, Beluga Racer, and the Chileans aboard Desafio Cabo de Hornos, is closing. And it is closing - fast. At the 12:20 UTC poll on Thursday Beluga Racer led by a comfortable 190 nautical miles. Twenty four hours later the gap is down to just 89 miles as the Chileans storm up from behind on a fresh breeze. Aboard Beluga Racer there is not much co-skippers Boris Herrmann and Felix Oehme can do except sail hard, and pray. And, it seems, write poetry. To ease the tension Felix put pen to paper and sent us this missive.Go Baby, go! Is there anything Boris and I can do for you?
Do you feel comfortable with a heeling angle of 20° and the balance of main and foresail?

You like some more tension on the main sheet? I can put it on.And you prefer some more water in the windward water ballast tank? I can pump some water in.You do not like the Genoa, you’d like the Code 0? I can change sails as you wish.Do you like me to ease the traveller slightly? I do that for you.Your batteries are flat? I can recharge them.Anything you want, but “Go Baby, go”. Catch the wind with you sails. Cut the waves with your bow and swing your rudders through the water. Fly towards Cape Town as fast as you can. -Read more at http://portimaorace.com/