yesterday.
Approaching St Lucia in the morning, the island grew steadily larger and
brighter before us. It was a beautiful, sparkly day to make
landfall. Having seen no other ARC yachts for a few days, four others
appeared over the horizon, to port and starboard, all converging
together on the northern end of the island. The game was afoot!
Latent competitive streaks emerged in the crew as tactics were
discussed - take the corner wide or close? When, and exactly how, to
change from the downwind sting ray sail to the mainsail and genoa (as
the final stretch to reach Rodney Bay would be with the wind from our
side and then pretty much on the nose)?
The sense of anticipation at landfall grew steadily, the reaslisation
dawning that we really really have sailed across the Atlantic ocean. But
with it I also felt a slight wistfulness for the finishing of this
incredible time.
After 3 weeks as a crew perfecting our sail change routine, it all went
like clockwork. Pigeon Island to port, we were in flat water
(what a welcome feeling!) The wind dropped alway to a whisper in the
lee of the bluff: and then we picked up the perfect breeze to carry us
over the finish line ahead of the competition. High fives and
enormous grins all round.