After a short but very intense stopover in Tongyeong we are underway to cross the Pacific. Or at least on our way into the Pacific. The start followed the meanwhile well known order. However, we were treated to a festive farewell ceremony on the main stage in the race village. Following that we slipped lines and had our parade of sail.

The start itself was then quite slow, as we had expected. At just under five knots of breeze we managed a perfect start. We crossed the start line in first position only seconds after the signal, while it took almost 45 minutes until the last boat was across the line as well. Following that there was a lot of movement in the positions depending on who was able to find some wind and make use of it. And so we battled our way to the southern tip of Japan to cross between the islands and reach the Pacific.

As we reached the Pacific the wind increased quite a bit and we had to cope with winds of 8 Beaufort at times. And we had the wind straight against us, so we were high on the breeze. The Kuoshiro Current was pushing us on nicely along the souther coast of Japan with multiple knots at times. But as the current was running against the wind it made for a very short and steep sea state. This made life on board very uncomfortable and exhausting. But we have learned that those conditions won’t last forever. And at least the effort has paid off as the position report had us in first place.

Meanwhile the wind has decreased quite a bit and we are still trying to get eastwards as fast as possible. Until the finish off the coast of Seattle we still have around 4200 nautical miles to go. But there should be fewer boats around to bother us. And also all the racing marks are behind us so that we can navigate freely towards the finish except for the northern limit put in place. Let’s see what the weather will be like.