Throughout the last night of racing we had good winds and we were making steady progress towards the finish line. The morning greets us with a spectacular sunrise.
Land Ho!! In the distant we could make out the mountains of Maui. The entire crew was on deck - simply fascinated by the sight of land. After more than 2,300 miles off-shore, we see land for the first time.
Turicum was at her best with Zelda tightly trimmed and fully powered up. We could almost taste the Mai Tais waiting for us at the dock. Cheers all around.
Hawea Point, our last turing mark, was in sight. Just three miles to go to the finish - and then there was no wind. The sea turned glassy like a mirror. There was no wind, anywhere. Turicum came to a grinding halt. Boat speed: Zero.
It was not just a hole, that we sailed into. There was no wind anywhere between us and the finish line. Up went the wind seeker. A little puff - Turicum was moving again. Up goes Zelda. The wind died again and once more we changed sails.
More than once we were moving away from the finish line at 1 knot, this was pure agony. Minute, after minute ran away from us and everybody knew that time was running out quickly and we would loose being 2nd in or class to Red Heather.
Everybody worked as hard as they could. Terry and Mort on the wind seeker, trimming it like their life depended on it. Gunnar on the helm, barely touching the wheel as not to upset Turicum momentum whenever we would gain some speed. Dave & John never tired of adjusting the main sail to follow the wind seeker. Don & Mike helping out the others where needed while I was at the navigation station calling out Turicum’s speed over ground and direction she moved. It was tense - yet everybody stayed positive. Simply a great team.
Each puff got us closer to the finish line - not without doing one complete donut. All of a sudden dozens of dolphins appeared all around Turicum. It was a beautiful spectacle and a welcoming diversion from the pain we were all in. We took it as a good sign.
Finally, a last little breeze and we were across the finish line. July 21 at 13:31, we finished an epic race. 2,308 miles as the crow flies from Victoria to Maui, just in over fourteen days we concluded the Vic-Maui race and got 2nd in class. Everybody cheered - the emotions were high.
The race committee’s tender pulled up - and delivered cold beer. Cheers!
Shortly thereafter - Gunnar docked Turicum at Lahaina Harbour where a big crowd of family, friend,s supporters, other sailors and local people welcomed us. What a moment, seeing so many people greeting the team.
Hugs and kisses for our loved ones - hand shakes from our competitors. Tears of joy, laughter and biiig smiles. It was overwhelming.
Mai Tais for everybody followed by a champagne bath. More Mai Tais and exotic drinks. The dock party was in full swing.
A great race - we all won. Gunnar, thank you for making it all happen and taking us safely across the Pacific Ocean. There were trying moments, tough decisions had to be made but we will not forget the champagne sailing.
Both team and boat were well prepared helping us to deal with whatever was thrown at us.
A big thank you to Hale & June for helping us to prepare the boat and lending us all their experience from previous races. I know, Hale was cheering for us when things went well, and sitting on needles when the going got tough.
Molly, many thanks for being our on shore communications liaison and for posting the blog.
Last but nor least: We simply had the best imaginable shore team: Loved ones, family and friends cheered for us making them part of this successful voyage.
I will try to post some pictures as soon as I get them off the boat camera.
In the meantime - it’s now time for some Island living: Enjoy Mai Tais, walk on the beach and eat dinner from a plate rather than out of a bowl.
Thank you for reading this blog, Christof.
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