Abhilash rounds the Cape

AHOY! Welcome aboard I’dRatherBeSailing, the sailing newsletter that’s always having the most fun in the anchorage. And we don’t need no underglow to prove it.

Today we have for you:

• The GGR Update: Abhilash does it again!

• The Ocean Race: Biotherm Hits a Buoy.

• Where’s The Starbucks: Sailing ain’t for everyone.

• Cruising ‘Round the Web: The Slow & The Furious.

Golden Globe Race Update

Abhilash rounds Cape Horn! This puts him in second position in the GGR, He spent most of the previous week trapped on a lee shore off the coast of Chile, desperately trying to repair his broken wind vane in 30 to 40 knots of wind. This is Abhilash’s second time in his life rounding the infamous Cape Horn. His first solo rounding was on January 26, 2013 while sailing ‘Mhadei’, a Van de Stadt “Tonga 56” design, supported by the Indian Navy, in an attempt to become the first solo non-stop Indian sailor to do so.

A few more race updates below:

• Capt. Gugg can’t escape 60K winds and 8meter seas bound for Cape Horn, but did catch much needed drinking water.

• Simon Curwen fighting to get south, and now a five day window to the Horn.

• Ian Herbert-Jones and Jeremy Bagshaw slow with head winds, desperate to get east toward the Horn.

• Kirsten leading the fleet and takes a break with Falkland Island friends!

You can keep up with the race in real time using the link here. Now, if only we could set it as our home screen…

Biotherm Hits a Buoy, PRB Wins

The three-lap square course tested every team’s boat handling skills on the IMOCA boats, which were built for speed, not maneuverability. Biotherm got stuck on a race mark before the start and had to head for the dock, scoring 0 points from the In-Port Race. Watch a video of the accident here, courtesy of @theoceanrace on Twitter.

"Unfortunately a couple minutes before the start we hit a buoy," said Paul Meilhat. "We were in the middle of the fleet and the buoy was hidden by the boats in front of us, so we didn't see it until very late and then (we were boxed in by the other boats). We are lucky because it was a soft buoy where the foil made contact. We need to check but I am confident that the boat will be okay for Sunday - this is the most important thing."

A quick re-cap of the race:

• Team Holcim PRB finished more than two minutes ahead of 11th Hour Racing Team, who came second.

• Team Malizia were third and GUYOT Environnement fourth across the finish line.

• The teams now have less than 48 hours to prepare for the start of Leg 3 and 12,750 nautical miles of adventure through the Southern Ocean to Itajaí in Brazil.

Where’s The Starbucks?

“My drink is a Tripple-Frap with whipped cream, extra shot of espresso, caramel, and Oat Milk” she said, for about the fourth time.

I had to fight so hard to not roll my eyes that I almost burst a blood vessel.

Sometimes the best laughs come after the fact. Not everyone is meant to sail, not everyone gets the adventure of it all. When those people wind up on boats, they can make your teeth grind like a rusty windlass, but at least it usually makes for a few laughs down the road…

We were anchored off Culebrita in the dead of summer. If you haven’t been, its about as close to paradise as you can legally get. It’s the beach that all the kerfuffle was about in The Rum Diaries. It’s the same beach that Bruce Van Sant says is one of the most beautiful in the world, in his book Passages South. His book is one of the better cruising guides out there, and the only cruising guide I’ve chuckled out loud while reading. (I’ll put a link below). That was enough for me. I had to go.

One of our Sailing Buddies had brought along his Significant Other to share his cabin. It turns out that this S.O. had a very different definition of Paradise than we did. Ours was a deserted anchorage with crystal clear water, white sand half-moon beach with palm trees nodding at you from the shore, and a billion stars winking at you after a pastel sunset.

Hers was Starbucks.

Sure, there’s no AC in my Paradise, and your clothes might be in a perpetual state of dampness, but that is the price of admission to alternate-reality-level beauty. Small price to pay. And there was nothing on this island but a deserted lighthouse the Spanish built 136 years ago, plus a few goats. It was perfect.

After almost a week of hearing about how she adored the Ritz Carlton, and their showers, and their beds, and Starbucks, I would have rather cleaned my ears with a sewing awl than listen to another minute from her.

Then someone let it slip.

There was, in fact, a Starbucks on the island! They had just remembered. It was at the top of that small mountain, next to the lighthouse, about a mile climb straight up.

“Really!?” she said. This was the best thing to happen all trip!

One sweat drenched blistering hike into the afternoon sun later, we reached the crumbling lighthouse.

Suddenly, no one could remember who had said there was a Starbucks.

But the view? It sure was Grande.

Web Cruising

In case you missed it, here ya’ go:

The Slow and the Furious: A low speed crash, in the Caribbean. A monohull goes full tilt into an island. A charter Bali tries to warn them… with an inflatable sloth aboard.

Blown Out: Winds tear up the Australian event, which was later canceled.

Windy in Missouri: Sailing the Ozarks, local mag has a writeup here 

That’s all for today, stay salty and have a great weekend!