Our 14 brave sailors have officiallybegun the adventure of a lifetime. It has been a warm and sunny day in Long Beach with clear skies and strong winds! The team will be heading southwest and after passing by a couple islands during the first few hours, they will lose sight of land and become surrounded by a lonely expanse of ocean... Lets hope they won't run out of topics for conversation!
The course will likely present them with numerous unforeseen conditions: from the cold, wet northeastern Pacific, through doldrums, enormous seas, abundant squalls, and scorching heat, to the blustery tradewinds of the Molokai Channel near the finish. But the payoff will be grand: a warm "Aloha" greeting, a promise made by King Kalakaua, the last King of Hawaii (no... I did not know that either); that is still honored to this day by scores of island volunteers, visitors, media, and supporters. And obviously the sip of a well deserved, very cold, Mai Tai, and the embrace of their loved ones who were able to make it to Honolulu...
Today, in addition to being the first racingday, the crew is celebrating Loren Jr.'s birthday (29). Feliz cumpleaños! What a great way to celebrate in style!
As Peligroso left the starting line behind at 1PM local time, the crew was notably excited, although in all honesty, more than a pair of legs were jittery, and a few eyes were not able to hold back the tears. From the docks, the shore, and a few motor boats, crowds of families and friends were there to wave them goodbye and wish them luck. I regret to inform that unfortunately William and Kate couldn't make it on time for this event...(despite being English). They are currently concentrated and in full racing mood.
Peligroso is competing in Division 1, against 6 other sailboats of similar size. Five of these boats wave an American flag and the remaining one is Canadian. As someone said earlier today: with the sporting Gods (finally) in favor of Mexico (after yesterday's great victory over Germany at the U-17 World Cup), we can be sure that Peligroso RT will be kicking some North-american butts! (no offense).
Peligroso is competing in Division 1, against 6 other sailboats of similar size. Five of these boats wave an American flag and the remaining one is Canadian. As someone said earlier today: with the sporting Gods (finally) in favor of Mexico (after yesterday's great victory over Germany at the U-17 World Cup), we can be sure that Peligroso RT will be kicking some North-american butts! (no offense).
Remember that the tracking information has a 6 hour delay... Here's the link again: http://live.adventuretracking.com/transpac2011
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.