And they're off!
The Sailing Logic fleet has started racing - 7 skippers, 7 teams and 7 yachts all away safely from Cowes on Monday lunchtime, including the Pink Panther (Team BSS).
After Sunday’s postponement, all crews took a welcome extra day preparing their yachts for the race, and the expected high winds that have been forecast. Safety equipment has been checked and re-checked, weather forecasts have been poured over and many a conversation between skippers has been noted on the pontoons, each wondering what the best tactics will be in the unpredictable weather lying ahead. The mood was calm, and very collected on Monday morning on the dock, and the yachts slipped quietly from their moorings at 9am. A few last minute mini dramas behind them, teams headed down Southampton Water to join up with the rest of the race fleet heading towards Cowes and the Royal Yacht Squadron start line.
The race started with the Open 60 class powering away, heading west down the Solent towards The Needles in a steady 20-25 knot South westerly breeze. The IRC Class 2 was the first of the Sailing Logic yachts to start. They got away well and were sailing steadily in conditions that were suiting the boat down to the ground.
Next away was Class 1, which is the biggest class in the race with 71 entries, and the start line was a jumble of brown and gold sails, all jostling for the best position to cross the line. A recall was called for 3 yachts, but in general all went smoothly. Jaguar Logic, Puma Logic, Sidney and Lion were all together after the first mile taking the island side, with Pink Panther staying in the middle hedging their bets amongst a throng of Beneteau 40.7's.
The weather forecast is predicting winds to increase from the south west, which will give the teams some interesting conditions and means that they will be tacking backwards and forwards down the Channel heading for the first milestone in the race, the Bishops Rock at The Scilly Isles.
We will be monitoring their progress every step of the way, and will be keeping you updated as often as we can.