CAPE TO RIO Q&A via Sat.link ((9 January 2014) courtesy Louay Habib

On board YOLO in South Atlantic via Xtra-Link sat.com

 

Q&A with Royal Cape Commodore, Dale Kushner @ 9^th January 1400 GMT currently leading the race overall under IRC. Yolo is also sailing two-handed.

 How useful was weather info via sat.link to get through the rough weather?

DK: Perfect. it allowed for quick downloads, so less time at computer and tablet, and gave us optimal info quick. Incidentally we have wifi aboard for internet so we are using a tablet a lot for routing.

How useful was sat.link to get news back to shore that all was ok on board?

DK: Very important,. With the big weather system that came through the fleet, it was important to let all home know that we were all fine.. and we kept them abreast and with this event the race was being tracked was really nicely.
 

Now Yolo is into the Trades what is the sailing like?

 

DK: In some of the storm conditions we got some very good surf.. now a bit more trade conditions.. at the moment sailing along in 15-17 knots.. kite up. really nice aboard.. but not much surfing.. we are still playing the waves and trying for what we can and manually steering to get the most out of the boat.

 
Any wild life? Dolphins Whales ….

 DK: Today mainly bird life.. Saw a Albatross today and we have seen lots of flying fish doing their thing.

What is on your mind tactically at the moment? What lies ahead?

 

DK: Between us and Rio is the South Atlantic high and whatever else gets thrown at us.. this makes us sail around it.. Interestingly enough the routing programs gave us a

routing through it on the South Side.. but we want the conservative approach in case the door shuts halfway through. So we want to sail as close to it on the North Eastern Side of the High Pressure and then we will see.. Might even try and cut the corner a bit.. to save some distance.

What is your regular food and watch system?

DK: Basically we are running 2 hours on - 2 hours off to get the most out of the boat, helming for longer is not productive, resting for less equally so. Today we ate oats for breakfast, Salami and salads for lunch and some sort of pasta dish planned for this evening. We try and drink as much as possible as it is hot out in the South Atlantic. We also snack on nuts and dried fruit.

 

Go YOLO!