JML Rotary Scout – Rio Update: 6 January. All’s Well on board!!

Here is the first of our Cape to Rio updates. Just to confirm, all is well on board JML Rotary Scout – I chatted to Peter on the sat phone a short while ago. The yacht is currently in about 30 knots of wind and the swells are about 4 meters. The main sail is completely down and they are sailing with a little corner of the genoa unfurled, making about 7 or 8 knots in the stormy conditions! Peter was saying they’re surfing every now and then.

The crew have had a rough time of it, but Peter says spirits are improving as they settle down and the seasickness abates. They are all eating, which is a good sign

Grant Chapman is the navigator and his decision to avoid the worst of the storm by sailing west along the rhumb line has paid off. The yacht has come through the storm well so far – Peter said the steering cables slipped off the quadrant for a while. But after using the emergency steering tiller briefly they managed to get the cables back in place.

Our thoughts and good wishes to the crew… shame, their endurance is being tested to the limit in these stormy conditions, but soon they will be in the trade winds and they can take off their foulies and relax… and start really enjoying the race. Hopefully they’ll catch good fish too.