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At 0300 GMT (24/11/07) Concise reached across equator at 29 degrees West with one reef and Solent. Sitting at a steady 9 knots the crossing was quick but we made time of course to thank Neptune and Dan asked for forgiveness for all the naughty things he's done! Hopefully Neptune is firmly on our side now and we can make a good run to the finish.
The boat is in good shape and we are eating up the miles. In the past 24 hours we have overtaken three boats and taken 50 miles out of Pindar, which is our next target. With just over 900 miles to go we have a lot to do to make up for our disappointing first half of the race.
Life onboard is good but very hot. My beard has been carefully crafted into a rather fetching handlebar moustache for our entry into the Southern hemisphere. I look like some kind of American trailer park trash! Nice!
Message from Dan Gohl and Tom Gall ("Concice")
" After a slow start to our race and with the food supplies looking low we decided to take stock of our provisions. It did not look good. We investigated the sealed pack the owner put on board for circumstances just like this. It was rather ominously marked "open only in extremis". Expecting at least some SAS ration packs we were a bit surprised to find one of the bosses "Pink Ribbed Specials" and some very specific instructions on its use. "Tow off to leeward exactly 4 boat lengths behind or until you get a popping effect, “ This motion represents the action of mating squid and game fish just love to join the party and spoil their fun".
I was worried about the drag factor slowing us down so I called him on his Sat phone. He always carries it with him when he is travelling to keep in touch with his young children and of course us. We caught him "between casts” . He would not say where, but we know he normally fishes Patagonia at this time of year and the howling wind over the phone seemed to bare that out.
We were told quite firmly that if the conditions on board were as bad as we made out we should "deploy the PRS poste haste". And were reminded to open emergency pack B as well. As for worrying about drag the boss went on to tell us that the Pink Ribbed Special had been specifically designed for the purpose by David Smythe younger brother of Randy Smythe. Randy might have won an Olympic sailing medal but David was renowned dynamics engineer who among other things "had put the Rover on Mars”. David had calculated - the miles towed , fish caught, calories gained ,feel good coefficient outweighed the drag factor on the basis of 63.07 / 1 in our favour.
Before signing off our concerned, albeit distant, Governor told us never to deploy the "Pink One” when we had the spinnaker up. We did not want to ruin his fishing by telling him that we had lost the heavy kite on day two or that as we spoke Tom was down below putting patches on the patches of the No 1 ,so I kept silent on that.. Mind you he did mention he had been watching our boat speed and tacking angles so I guess he knew something was up. Or down in our case!
The PRS was launched. Thirty minutes later the line twanged and a 2 kg Tuna popped to the surface. Quickly brought on board, gutted and bled it was sashimi for lunch thanks to the contents of emergency bag B (hot wasabi, dark soy sauce, virgin olive oil) and it will be sautéed tuna for dinner. Bon Appetit!
Dan + Tom
P.S. In the true spirit of the TJV the crew of Concise have embraced the concept of sustainable fishing. We will only land what we can eat that day. With that in mind we have decided to throw back any fish that weighs more than 192 kilos. "
We have just had a very busy night! It has got a bit windier so it's taken full concentration to keep the boat upright. The first problem we had was at about 21.00 when the kite halyard snapped. So the kite ended up under the boat and it took 10 min’s to get it back on board.
Then had to repack it soaking wet and sort another halyard to hoist it on. So just got that all sorted and thought I'd give the batteries a bit of a charge. Started the engine but 10 seconds later it stopped. Later found the problem to be a fuel hose that had com off. Reattached the hose and bleed the fuel system all while we were doing 12-16 knots, fuel all over everywhere. It was getting on for 01.00 by now so started the engine for that charge and went on deck to give Tom a break and the chance for a sleep.
But no, the A2 hadn't liked its early swim much and the repairs had started to work apart. So we had to drop the A2 again for yet more repairs and hoisted the code 0, Tom and I spent the next few hours bouncing round up in the bow trying to stick the thing back together.
We hoisted the kite at about 08.00 and are now back up to speed heading straight for Salvador. ETA 23 hours!
As I sit writing this at the nav station of our Class 40, Concise, I can just see the glow of Brazil to my right. The sun is setting on day 24 of the Transat Jacques Vabre, it has been our last full day racing before we cross the line at Salvador in around 18 hours time (fingers crossed!). We haven’t seen land since Ouessant, France 22 days ago, so the yellow glow is very exiting to me and Dan!
The race has been extremely diverse due to its length. Setting off from Le Havre into the cold November English Channel. Blasting through the Bay of Biscay blowing both our spinnakers up! Racing south, deciding which side of the Canaries to go, then which side of the Cape Verde’s to go (getting it wrong both times!). Crossing the Atlantic only to hit the Doldrums (giving me time to catch up on the latest copy of NewSprint which my Dad had rushed to the start!) Then the warm sledge ride to Brazil, courtesy of the south easterly trades. All in a days work! (Or 25!)
The top guy in the race is an Italian called Giovanni Soldini. He earned the highest honour for bravery in France along with Pete Goss when in the 98 Vendee globe solo round the world yacht race he rescued a fellow sailor from his upturned, sinking Open 60 in the southern ocean. Another top entry is Frenchman Bertrand De Broc. He has many round the world races to his name. Once in a storm racing in mid Atlantic, his boat crashed off a wave causing him to bite his own tongue off! He then stitched it back on, at sea, on his own! So you could say the competition has been pretty tough!
As races go this has been one to remember! I’m now looking forward to a nice cold beer, a fat steak or two and a few weeks lying on a sunny Brazilian beach! Then home for Christmas, so I can race my Sprint 15 “Lock Stock” in the Carsington Boxing day race.
My Dad tells me that you have been following my TJV race on the Sprint 15 web site, on a personal note can I thank everyone in the association for helping me ito hone my racing skills, your a great bunch of guys and I look forward to sailing against you soon. My mind is full of mixed emotions at this moment in time but would like to mention special thoughts for those who have done so much for the Sprint 15 association but whom have been ill recently, Bob get well and back on the water, we miss you, and to Paul Smith my sincere thoughts and very best regards are winging it's way from Brazil.
Wish you all could of shared the ride it was absolutely fantastic.
Dan Gohl (now 23) and Tom Gall (22) of Concise completed the famous TJV today Wednesday 28th November 2007 in 23rd position (25 days, 1 hour 19 minutes, 30 seconds). Both are glad to have finished and have enjoyed the overall experience.
We are both tired having not slept all night. We sent it all night reaching speeds of 23kts and were 20th until we turned into the bay and were met by strong tides against us and a lack of wind. When the tide finally turned, the other boats came in with the wind, they past us.’
They are now enjoying the warm, inviting spirit in Salvador and are off to have a well deserved steak and probably a long sleep.
Well done to Tom & Dan for completing the race. You cannot expect to win on your first go in such a big race & 23rd was not too bad.
If there was a prize for the most amusing blogs I'm sure that you would win that by a mile. So it is very clear that the Sprint 15s have taught you more than just sailing.
Nick Dewhirst will be proud of you!!!!
Cheers
Bob
Well done Tom and Dan
What a fantastic experiance and I look forward to the stories at the bar next time I see you.
The vidio clips on the web site give us a small view of what it was like.
I wish i was there.
Steve
Sailing and racing Dart 15`s for 23 years ,
What a fantastic boat . 1733 Tigershark owned her for 22yrs What a gal
