HAPPY NEW YEAR 2019 from the South Atlantic ocean

Just a short note from aboard YOLO in the South Atlantic.

I will already be off your time zone but to wish you a happy, healthy, safe and prosperous 2019.

Happy sailing.
Dale

31 December - day 5

Position report from YOLO this morning 10am..

"S26.10.386 BY E6.21.904 ALL GOOD "

and then a wonderful newsy message..YAY!!

"Yesterday was one of those perfect days in the south atlantic. 

Clear water and sky.

 Enough breeze with it doing the normal thing of increasing during the day as the temp cools slightly in the afternoon. 

The flying fish i saw were the biggest i have seen yet in the south atlantic similar size to what i have seen in the indian ocean.

 Last night cloud cover but fair sailing. This morning nice conditions with light breeze which should increase a bit during the day. 

Will do a small sail repair on the jib today. 

Sailing along under spinnaker in the south atlantic aah.

 Last night clicked over to less then a 1000nm to go and later today hopefully over the halfway mark. 

Best to all. Dale"

Day 4 - 30 December 2018

Hi all,

Position reporting as of 10am this morning of YOLO:

"

Yolo position. S27.41.487 by e8.45.028 all well aboard."

and some news..

"The past 24 hours has been good. A freshening breeze yesterday  and a few gybes to make more northing. In the evening the sea state was up and very confused. The best way was to two sailreach but not at optimal course. In the early hours this morning gybed back again on a good vmg. Winds are light at the moment but it should pick up as the day progresses. I am still sailing in conservative mode. Completing this challenge is my goal. Any result is a bonus. One cannot drive as hard or do the same amount of sail changes as a crewed boat. All good aboard. Dale"

leader board as of 10am today:

Day 3 - 29 December 2019 - positions and report

Hi all.

Dale is a man of few words..and probably less at the moment doing the race solo..

I received the following SMS from YOLO this morning for publication:

"Yolo position : S29.44.600 E11.13.147; all well aboard.

Day 2 - 28 December 2018 - position and update

Hi all,

I have received the following SMS from YOLO this morning

"Position as of 10am S31.36.781 E13.38.388; all good aboard. Wind has freed off."

Day 1 - 27 December 2018 - 10am position report and race standing

SMS recieved from YOLO at 10.14am today :

"Yolo S33.03.212 E16.47.781 All fine aboard. Wet and bumpy


postions as of 10am today :

Start of St Helena 2018 Race - 26 December 2018

Start of the race was in cold and grey conditions.
The Club was abuzz with anticipation.

Quite an emotional time for the Kushner family..boys now older and understanding that dad will be away for a while on the ocean.

But race start was good..and we wish YOLO a great race..

SAT PHONE DETAILS

This is the Sat Phone Number: +87 0776 769485 for YOLO

You are welcome to phone to say Hi, the phone might not always be on though and be aware that it is very expensive to phone a Sat Phone,  so suggest using the free SMS App which is called Satway

Or:

http://connect.inmarsat.com/services/land/isatphone/sms/sms.html

Please remember, I am not checking the phone all the time…

It is unlikely that you will receive a response during the course of the race.

Cape to StHelena Race 26 Dec

When the StHelena Race was announced, Ian advised that he would be unable to do it from a time perceptive. Dale then advised that he intended to do it single handed.  Over the past few months the boat has been prepared for this event, with a couple of mods for SingleHanded sailing....
Dale's goal is to first and foremost complete the passage in a safe and seamanlike manner..

The final items were loaded onto the boat today...with the help of the rest of the Kushner Family.

Wednesday 5th Fun Race and Prize Giving for the Series

WIth the Wednesday night series complete for the fist half of the season, Yolo took this as a fun race and used different sails to do some sail testing in readiness for the Cape to St Helena Race.
Getting a good start but quickly beingn rolled by a class one boat... holding a fair lane and nicely ahead of the Class 2 competitors working ones way to the weather mark, getting there with a big gap... Downwind took it easy with those behind catching up on the freshening breeze. Although had water on the mark.. a Class one boat barged forcing us to oopen a gap or get hit... meaning to sail by the lee and slow the boat down, with a competitor to leeward... the class one boat doing a bad rounding and stalling and the boat to leeward rounding up with full speed managing to sail over our hear as we tried to avoid the almost stationary class one boat... then a fetch to the finish... At this point Yolo retired.. being a fun race and sporting different sails to the rating, it was the correct thing to do..  Aboard were: Dale, Sieger, Cath, Antoinio.

Following the race, there was the prizegiving for the Series.. where Yolo was awarded first prize in her class.

Saturday 23rd November 2018

Good conditions to do the required compass swinging and some tests on the Self Steering System. This was completed and all worked to spec. Aboard: Dale and MArc B

Saturday 17th Novermber 2018

A secondary self steering system was fitted on Yolo. It needed to be commissioned with the swinging of the compass and various tests... This was done in the Granger bay area. Winds were not suitable for this, so it was kept short. Aboard were: Dale, Ian, Sieger and Antoinio.

Friday 22 Novmember 2018

IN preparation for the Cape to St Helena Race, Yolo did her dry fit on her cradle... Work was done on her cradle and therefore a dry fit was done to make sure the fit was snug. All went well. This also gave us the opportunity to inspect the bottom of the boat.