Liberty is being free from the things we don't like in order to be slaves of the things we do like.--Ernest Benn

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Velux 5 Oceans Solo Yacht Race: 3rd Leg

Starts off Wellington, New Zealand at 1430hrs (local time) on Sunday, February 6
The 6,000 nautical mile leg from Wellington, New Zealand, to Punta del Este in Uruguay will see the four ocean racers head deeper into the Southern Ocean than they have been yet. Along the way the skippers will face waves up to 30 metres tall and winds that will consistently blow between 25 and 40 knots and often more. They will also pass Point Nemo, the most remote spot in the world, more than 2,000 nautical miles from land in every direction. After surviving all the Southern Ocean can throw at them they must round Cape Horn, one of the most dangerous bodies of water in the world, where millions of tonnes of water are forced through a 400-mile wide gap between the South American continent and Antarctica.

Ocean sprint three is arguably the most dangerous leg of the VELUX 5 OCEANS. Numerous sailors have had their races ended trying to pass through this section of the Southern Ocean. Some lost their lives.

Hopefully, I won't. I'll be dry (not sober), warm and well-rested behind my keyboard, racing my virtual yacht, 

Open Container III.

It's not the only way to sail single-handed, but the best way at my age!


Update in the evening of Tuesday (PST), February 8

Not a pretty picture for the home team. 

In 7146th place, Open Container III has the purple track here, and she is following in Belladonna's lime green wake in 871st place. 

Paula, in No Going Back (2181st) is way south, circled in red in the lower left-hand corner.
 
Contiguous (764th) is circled in yellow. 

To C's starboard, circled in black is Companion (597th). 

Gerry and Vlad have asked not to have their position publicized. 

To get a handle on scale of this chart. Paula is 523.2 miles from me.
Our heroes: 


Contiguous in 483rd place leads Belladonna in 700th! 

There are 28 miles between them. 

None of the rest of us can get in their picture. 

Belladonna is 146 miles ahead of me!

And, hats off to Belladonna who has stock sails & electronics.
 





The wakes of two boats are shown to the right. 

Paula in No Going Back leads my Open Container by 141 miles.

Belladonna is 216 miles ahead of me.

Contiguous is 260 miles ahead.

My question is WTF is the finish line for this lamentable leg???

Finishing:

Open Container has clearly lost out to No Going Back (red boat 9 miles ahead) and Belladonna (black boat 23 miles ahead).

Belladonna is about 125 miles short of finishing at Punta del Esta and presently packing it in at 10 knots.

I have been justly punished for my myriad lapses and haphazard navigating. I have again failed to score under 1,000.

That's not taking away anything from the competitive sailing of those who beat me. I'm not at all confident I'll be able to beat any of my friends in the next lap. So I'm not about to talk smack at this stage.

I'll look back on this thread with bitter/sweet memories.

103 comments:

  1. Thank you Doc for this new post where we'll be able to exchange comments between friends.
    We Europeans will have to wake-up early if we want to take a good start. The time difference is exactly -12 hours. You should be +3 I suppose ?
    Good winds !

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  2. Hi Guys! I'm back too! I'm going to a party tonight and will throw my lines when I get home, sober as a judge! haha

    No going back sails again!

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  3. Dear Readers and Fellow Racers:

    My mission on this thread is to promote discussion and comment as mush as possible. So I am inquiring as to which way to present this leg so it will maximize your interest. Therefore, I am asking you, looking at these two examples from past coverage, do you prefer my old Longitudinal Leaderboard Charting or Maps and Diagrams from more recent events?

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  4. As I turn in at 2100hrs my time on the 1st day, I'm in 276th place. It can't get much better than that (14,000 boats) and it can't last much longer. How are others doing?

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  5. You have slipped a lot over night. I did not anticipate your current track. Did you?

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  6. Hi Doc,
    both of your "Longitudinal Leaderboard Charting" and "Maps and Diagrams" are interesting, especially together, but I don't realize the work to put them on the same post.
    After 19 hours navigation and app. 300 miles covered, I'm 1451th, and happy to be there w/o options !!!
    Contiguous is very close. Watch out !

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  7. Yeah Gerry. When you snooze, you lose. I was over 1,000 before I took the helm back from Otto!

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  8. Belladonna, I was going to resolve to follow your wake on this leg. Then I got a different idea!

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  9. Contiguous, you may be 12 miles ahead of me and 364 boats ahead of me, but I will catch you.....

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  10. I was hoping you wouldn't notice. I thought to my self - don't piss-off Doc! He's on CA time and I need my sleep and Doc will stay up all night just to get gain a couple of degrees on my port side and play the 2am (my time) wind changes so that when I wake up Doc will be over the horizon.

    Maybe I'll stay up ALL night!

    Anyway - thanks for your blog! I like both charts and graphs. Charts tell an interesting story and the graphs save me from plotting every one who interests me.

    The interesting gaming right now is who's right? The good guys or Philou33, Dinty and No Going Back who took a long, long dive south. Hopefully they will get caught up in some nice long wind holes while we truck off to the east!

    Good luck!!! ...and stay up all night!

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  11. See, Doc? What I always tell you: never talk smack in the visitors' locker room. It always comes back at you, motivates your adversaries and makes them stay up all night thinking about how best to beat you!

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  12. Turning the helm over to Otto. I am in 323rd place, 10 miles and exactly 200 boats behind Contiguous.

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  13. Doc, you have all but caught Contiguous. I see you sailing 8 boats behind her!

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  14. 191th and 7 miles in front of C.! You've done wonders, Otto! Forget everything I've ever said about you! However, your tactical success has sailed me into a strategic mess. The worm has turned and C will shortly get it all back.

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  15. Yea but look at Belladonna truck right on by. I've got 6 of my friends who stayed up north at 43°S and boy are they really moving.

    But - they will have to move south eventually! Let's see what the next wind change brings.

    So tell me Doc - Why did you drive south into a wind hole? Was it to be in calmer waters?

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  16. Wow! Yo' Sure taking it the shorts right now, Doc!

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  17. Wow, surprise. I passed you Doc, and Con too.
    20:36 gmt+1 Bella 717 Con 852 Doc 3407
    Now,it's nearly time for me to try to get some insomniac sleep.
    Good winds !!!

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  18. I like the graph, I prefer the graph when I didn't fall off the bottom though Lol. I took a big dive south on Zezo's advice and sooo nervous in case I made a mistake. At least I'm moving at a fair pace and starting to slowly gain places.

    I'm beginning to see more and more strays down here so at least I'm not alone...

    You guys all look quite tight and cosy!!

    No Going Back

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  19. Something is telling me we won't hear or see much of Doc for a while. A long while. He's buried. Deep.

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  20. Don't think for a minute that Doc is out of it. I can't tell you how many times the ole fox slipped around the outside and took over the lead. Spooky.

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  21. Is it too late to switch to sailing Lasers???

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  22. Con, Doc, just think about those ECO 60 as giant lasers, with a foresail. Compare the hull cut lines, add a canting keel and a few details and you are there !!!!! To get your balance, instead of going in or out in front or aft, you've ballast and/or "matos" to move !!! But they can almost fly like Lasers.

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  23. Hey, did ya see Paula's (NGB) come back ? She's now in front of Doc.

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  24. I was worried yesterday that I had made the wrong decision. Today I'm more worried because I can actually SEE the leaders in front of me. Where's your chart when I need it? lol

    No going back.

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  25. It's amazing that the world gets smaller as one approaches the poles. I'm afraid that with the combination of less distance and more wind you folks on the southern route are going to be hard to catch.

    Watch out for those famous icebergs Paula. I understand they can be nasty. Some well over a mile high and sometimes many miles wide. ouch!

    Good luck.

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  26. It's pretty ugly but I finally posted a chart. No way to sugar coat it. I'm DFL!

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  27. Thanks for not showing me up, Doc!

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  28. Paula! You are about to cross into the 60th parallel! Alter course!

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  29. Thanks Doc! I didn't lose speed whilst in the red box and was careful not to drop below the bottom line. You are making your usual comeback!!

    No going back

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  30. Con, No sign of any ice bergs yet... It's a bit lonely down here but I'll soon catch the leaders lol

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  31. Hi Paula. Very nice come-back ! Try to get a piece of iceberg to put in Doc's scotch, as he is coming for a drink !!!

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  32. Hi Bella, Yep, I got some ice for Doc's scotch and have it ready for his visit. In fact, I got enough ice for everyone so you guys are all welcome to come to the party too!!

    No going back

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  33. Doc, it'd be interesting if you could update your map. A few things have changed since feb 09.

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  34. Ha ha, Belladonna! And Paula! Need a new map? What's changed? All I know is that I see the same transoms! I'll see what I can do. Maybe after a little while longer, if we can only skoonch together for a close up shot. You know, like shoulder to shoulder? Meanwhile, Paula and I will soon be passing each other drinks. If we're out of ice by then we'll just have ours neat. Actually, we can chip off a little from what we're going by!

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  35. Doc, if I was bad, I'd say "put your motor on an try to get me", but I'm a very polite and sensible man I say "I'm not going to haul down to wait for you, even for a cup of tea !!!'
    Cheers !!!

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  36. Speaking of haul-downs, does anyone have Paula's cell? She needs to drop her spinnaker, pronto!

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  37. Morniing! I planned a sail change around 5am GMT and woke up at 5am on the dot! No clock needed. I then woke up exactly on wind change. For some reason Zezo sent me north east after wind change?!?!? Now I gotta catch you again Doc!

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  38. Paula, why are you listening to Zezo? You are 11,000 boats in front of Big Bird????

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  39. New chart up. Not a pretty one, though!

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  40. Tks bud for your resume. Even if i can't do much against Cont. because her pro sails, I can try !

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  41. Hi Gerry, I listen to Zezo because he usually points me in the the right direction. I have never been on a sailboat in my life and the wind is not my friend cos it usually musses my hair!! Bella, I'm very impressed!!
    ps. don't you miss your sleep?

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  42. Paula, I won't probably sleep a lot this nite, but the past week has been quite comfortable, with steady back winds. I fix a heading around 10pm my time and sleep like a baby till 8am next morning, wich is the wind change time. This is certainly not the way to win the race, but allows me to fine tune during day time and gain a few places !

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  43. Paula, now re. Zezo, I followed nearly degree by degree his advices, except for the start when he said to go south, and for the nights where I compute an average course to allow me to sleep. And this lead me where I am. Not bad for Zezo, thank you Cvetan if you read this blog.

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  44. I want to wish Belladonna a good morning. FYI Bella closed to with in 2 mi of me. She was really trucking. That is before she entered into a headwind and came to a screeching halt. Dead in the water. I assume Belladonna fell asleep at the tiller. Too bad we can't wake him up. That was 4 hours ago and she's dropped back 27 miles. Wonder what time he will wake up??? Anyone have his phone number. I'd call but it's probably a fortune to call Brussels from the States. Oh well. I guess that's fair play since I set my alarm last night and slept through the 2am eastern time wind shift and lost a bunch.

    I guess I ought to think about getting a Zezo to help me navigate. Sounds like a nice toy. Does it work on a MAC? Many of the programs don't. Fair winds to all.

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  45. Thank you so much Contiguous for taking care of me so friendly. Let me tell what happened last nite. When I woke-up at 12 midnite my time to change my heading and foresail, horror, no Internet connection ! My fu....g ISP was kaput (Belgacom, not to name it. One of the most expensive, slowest, and worst customer service ISP available in Belgium). Anyway, after a few hours of try, I went back to bed for a short sleep till 8 am, time for the wind change. And surprise, it was working, but I lost about 600 places in the meantime. Grrrrrrr....

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  46. Hey Guys,
    Sorry for your loss, Bella. My ISP also kicked me out for a while yesterday for a few hours too, not that it made any difference. For emergencies or if you are away from your keyboard, you can use 'Light Touch'on your mobile phone. You just key in your new heading and sail and press OK. Here is the link http://www.vrtoutoulz.fr/play/

    I don't think I've gone back this leg yet. In fact I gained a couple of places earlier today. I was 250 places ahead of Doc around this time yesterday but he has now closed to gap to 100 places.

    No going back

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  47. Congratulations, C, for maintaining a sub-1000 status in this Leg. Condolences to Belladonna: breakdowns are part and parcel of all yacht racing. You, at least have a good excuse. Paula and I? Our consolation is that we have grabbed a little more sleep than we might have. At this point Paula has five miles and maybe 90 boats on me. The fire in me belly has gone out!

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  48. Hi Cont., the best way to know if Zezo's tool is working on a MAC is to try ! As the tool has been developed on an open basis, I don't see any reason it wouldn't work. Just follow this link, the interface is quite clear : http://sail.zezo.org/velux/charts.html
    Good winds and keep me informed.

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  49. Doc, if the fire in your belly has gone out, would you mind dragging an anchor or do something to slow down because your still gaining on me!!

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  50. Paula, you don't think I actually aspire to passing you do you? I just want to get gunnel-to-gunnel by the time cocktail hour arrives. That's all......

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  51. Is it cocktail hour ?
    Too late for Valentine !!!

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  52. Did Doc and Paula use up all the ice??? I think Doc has headed south to get more ice! Or he is stuck below decks looking for another bottle of scotch and forgot completely about navigating.

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  53. If you ask me, I'd say Häagen-Dazs has been ice-creamed.

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  54. He came back! Could you hear the icebergs groaning?

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  55. We are approaching the infamous Cape Horn. Can you feel the excitement?

    Cape Hornos - Hornos Island
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Hornos Island (Spanish: Isla Hornos) is a Chilean island at the southern tip of South America. The island is mostly known for being the location of Cape Horn. It is generally considered South America's southernmost island, but the Diego Ramírez Islands are farther south. The island is one of the Hermite Islands, part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago.

    The Chilean Navy maintains a station on the island, consisting of a residence, utility building, chapel, and lighthouse;[1] A short distance from the main station is a memorial, including a large sculpture featuring the silhouette of an albatross, in honour of the sailors who died while attempting to "round the Horn".[2]

    The island is within the Cabo de Hornos National Park.

    From the Chilean Navy - "Requirements of the Chilean Pilot.
    Ships that are headed to Cape Horn with the intention of disembarking passengers should do so with Chilean Pilots on board."

    So be careful. The island is made up mostly of peat. (No smoking!)

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  56. Doc, Hombre! What happened to you?

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  57. I don't know. All I remember is Paula handing off a drink to me. Then I wake up beached. Or iced, as it were. Now she's so far ahead of me (112 miles) I can't even get her framed in the same screen shot with me. That's all I'm saying.

    But let's change the subject. This is all about Tierra del Fuego and el Cabo de Hornos, as C informs us!

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  58. Thanks for a lovely evening Doc, I had great fun! But I wondered where you disappeared to? You slipped back to Container III muttering something about getting three and four pence but I think you meant reinforcements?!?!? Let's do it again soon... :)

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  59. Paula, do you speak spanish ? If not, Doc said "What the hell did you put in that drink ?"
    Do you have secret "philtres" ? (philters in english ?)

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  60. Hi Bella, I copied and pasted Doc's post to Google translate but it didn't recognise it!! Never heard of philters either... Perhaps Doc was just overwhelmed with my sailing skills hee hee hee

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  61. What's it going to be, Häagen-Dazs? Either you don't know how to sail or you don't know how to drink?

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  62. Hey V.S., What's it going to be? You're either going to back off on beating up on our host,or I'll identify your boat and its position?

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  63. Yeah Gerry, do that, it'll be interesting. Vlad, you should be more polite with Doc Ice Cream. Age b4 beauty :-)))

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  64. @ Paula. For your information, a philter is originally some kind of secret mixture giving a man or woman the power to take control of a god, in the ancient mythology. Waoh !

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  65. We don't have any need for philter here in Ireland as we already have the secret for eternal youth, witty and interesting conversation, stunning good looks and a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow!

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  66. Paula, I'd say the evidence is in on all of the above with the exception of the pot of gold. I haven't seen any rainbows, anywhere, in this still-young 21st Century.

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  67. Paula, your come back is fantastic ! You are 60 places ahead of me !!!

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  68. Yippeeeeeeee!!!! Thanaks Bella, I can't believe my luck! But... let's see where we are in the morning?!?!?!? I think I'll wash my hair tonight as nothing much happening topside.

    Nice speed Contiguous now that you are through the wind hole and out the other side.

    How you feeling today Doc? Been watching all those roundy UK football games today? Yawn...

    Gerry and Vlad, where are you guys anyway?

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  69. I wish I were through the wind hole. Now I'm ready to enter another one. Going from one hole to another. Ugh! Been playing leap frog with Dinty this last week. I think we reversed leads with each other about 4 times in the last day alone. I can't believe he was lucky enough to be able to sail right up in between East and West Falkland Islands.

    What I want to know is where do I get some of that philter stuff? If it was good enough to distract Doc and send him for more ice - wow. Must really be good stuff!

    Only 700 miles to go until Punta de Este and it will be time to party. Then I could use some philter. Do you think they have any mentholated?

    Make sure your hair is nice an clean Paula. We are going to have a lot of time to party while we wait for the others to reach port!

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  70. Paula, I am way behind Doc, and Vlad (bless his heart) is way behind me.

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  71. I'm just a cruiser. A spectator. I'm watching the contest between N.G.B. and Bella. At the moment, they're 7 miles apart. I'm not taking sides, but I will say, YOU GO, GIRL!

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  72. And she goes ! She is about 150 places ahead of me now, but still 7.2 miles.

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  73. Bella, my sails have been flapping about since the last wind change and I see you gaining on me. Oh... now I'm worried all over again.

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  74. @ NGB. I think I choose the right heading last night. I'm now just a little in front of you again. But for how long ???

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  75. And Doc is coming back like a furious !

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  76. This is where the competition really begins. Bella is one place ahead of me at 1407th. He is 407.1 miles from Punta del Este and I am 407.2.

    Nice to see you performing your usual comeback Doc!

    Best of luck Bella.

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  77. Folks, this is gonna be a real regatta to the finish ! Yeah !!!

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  78. Shucks, Paula! I've been maintaining radio silence in the hopes I wouldn't be noticed!

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  79. Doc, now that you're back on the air, listen carefully ! I'm gonna try to resist your full power house, but it won't be easy.
    Good winds !

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  80. Doc, now that Bella is out of sight you are starting to make me nervous...

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  81. Paula, you're in a very good position to make a perfect finish. Doc and me too, by the way !!! So let's see what'll happen :-)

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  82. You can't do all the things wrong like I did and have a halfway decent finish. Congratulations to my two neighbors Bella and NGB who are featured in my last chart. I thank them for slowing down enough so we can all get in the same picture! Also hats off to Dinty, Companion, and Contiguous all who I aspired to best on this lost leg!

    I hope I can take more patience and pains next leg. Yes I do.

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  83. I woke up this morning expecting a snail pace finish with no change in our positions. But wait! I gained 96 places over night and now only 55 places behind Bella. So my spirits are up and hopes are raised again.

    Whatever happens, thanks everyone for the comraderie and support and a special thanks to Doc for providing this forum, charts, chat and keeping me on my toes.

    We'll all aspire to finish next leg sub 1,000. Yes we can!

    No foing back

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  84. Well said, Paula ! At this time (11:25 am gmt+1) your are 5 places ahead of me, and I don't see anything to do. Congrats, you have a better finish angle !

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  85. Gentlemen, hats off and clap your hands to Paula (NGB) ! She did it. She finished 9 places and 6 minutes ahead of me, after 18d 10h and ~30m hard racing.
    Gimmy 5 Paula, and see you at the start of next leg.
    Tks Doc for maintaining this interesting and funny blog.

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  86. Well done, both of you. I didn't do the math, But I thought Belladonna might have a chance of holding off No Going Back, at least by a few boats. But NGB was doing about 2 knots faster and had a chance upon which she made good!

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  87. Come'on, Gerry & Vlad! The party is waiting. Have you guys abandoned? Or what?

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  88. Doc, you only missed us by ~ an hour and a half, which is not bad anyway :-)

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  89. Thanks guys all for the very generous comments, I'm hot with embarrassment. C'mon everyone! Let's party!

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  90. Sorry guys and girl for not beeing able to join your party, as I'm gonna to leave Brussels for a week to Tenerife, Canary's Islands, tomorrow early.
    I just hope to see you all at the start of next leg !!!

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  91. I loved watching the competition, especially the finish between NGB and Bella - just like the real thing.

    Thanks Doc for the forum on your blog! Not only is the competition fun but I get to learn all sorts of other good poop about sailing ( real and virtual) as well as political poop ( real and virtual ).THANKS!!!

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  92. Oh yea! now it's time to party. Who's bringing the philter???

    See ya on Leg 4. Fair winds to all. - C

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  93. According to the Velux 5 ( the real race web page) Leg 4 will start on March 27. Plenty of time to catch up on sleep!

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  94. Thanks, Contig, for the great competition and the date!

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