The campaign has got off to a challenging start – we are having difficulty escaping the boatyard. The usual problems getting a raceboat ready have been dealt with, but the rudder bearing keeps leaking. To fix it requires the boat to be hauled out of the water, and the rudder removed. As the hull is over 12ft in the air, this means ladders, scrissorlifts, jacks, and a copious amount of swearing. Tonight we are back in the air, but feel confident the problem is now sorted – tomorrow will tell. Assuming all that goes well, we’ll start tuning the boat and testing new sails, plus calibrating the navigation instruments. Sorting out 20 days of freeze dried food is also on the task list. The final crew members arrive Thursday after missing out on all the rudder fun this week.
