De laatste week voor de deelnemers aan de Atlantische crossing, ze zijn nu zo'n 1600km oostelijk van Barbados dus langzaam komt er weer land in zicht. De uiteindelijke en geplande finish ligt nog zo'n 1200 km verderop, de Turks en Caicos eilanden.

The team continued throughout the night, with close watch on the storms around. We were gaining very close to the halfway point of our goal, 6000 km’s. Ike was up after Filippo and again had complete trust in Captain Erik’s assessment of the weather system. Ike loves the night sessions as they really push you to your max to show you what you are capable of. He says “Every time I get in the dinghy at night I think, what am I doing going out in this. But when you see the other rider coming in from their two hours, you say to your self I can do this too, and once you’re out its all fun again, Woohoo! Tonight the lightning was just an added bonus to the experience”.

Max was up next and was not quite as lucky at having the weather stay at a distance. A big black squall came in, that was so dark in the sky it was visible as it approached in the middle of the night. To make matter worse the batteries in the light in the kite were beginning to fade, causing much less visibility, and there was no telling how much longer the light would last at all. Erik came up on deck to assess the situation and gave the OK to continue, as the storm appeared to hopefully only be rain.

As the squall hit, the wind picked up an additional 10kts, and began to pour rain all over Max and the sailors. Considering the rider change procedures add additional risk, Max offered to ride out the storm as it didn’t feel right to him to send Camilla out in the middle of it, however she wanted out and so they did the switch, mid squall, pouring rain, in 20+ kts.  By the time Camilla had the kite, the light in the kite had gone completely out, causing her to have to ride the last hour of the night without any light whatsoever before the sunrise. How beautiful the sun was seeing it at first light as the squall faded out. “ I felt like my shoulders dropped 5cm” she said.

Up next, Dennis had a great session with perfect 19 kt wind to start the day. The skies continued to clear, as Dennis was again rewarded by mother nature. Must be good karma for putting so much love and attention into the meals for everyone on board. On my very first tack, as I took the exchange from Dennis, and began to kite away from the yacht, I saw something big and grey swimming below me. Having plenty of power in the kite, I had no fear of getting right on top of it to see what it is. The sun was now shining, and all of the sudden I saw the wings of the 2m wide Manta Ray swoop up. I shot just downwind of it, looking back to see its big scoop coming to the surface of the water. So amazing to have all this open water, and yet get to see so much amazing wildlife.

Filippo followed with another great session, and dedicated every bit of it to Sander Meijers for his birthday. The day stayed clear from there until evening when once again it was near time for Max and Camilla to make their switch and some more lightning approached. We also needed to do a kite change to get some fresh lights up, as the 14m Rally had been in the air non stop for well over 24 hours now, and all of the batteries were exhausted. We intended to launch Camilla separately, before landing Max so the two of them could have some time to play on the water together. Captain Erik who seems to have an endless skill set, began stitching in custom holders into the leading edge of the kite so the lights will stay in place secured much easier.

We have needed to make numerous improvisations along the way, and in this case, our burn rate with losing lights has been too high. The time it took making these preparations, had already caused Max to be out for over 2 hours and 45 minutes! Combined with uncertain weather approaching, and running out of daylight, we made the call get Max in before launching Camilla out into the sunset. Max has no doubt been a speed racer the entire crossing, but with the extra time this session, set a new record of over 80km nonstop!...................

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