Bad days happen

It was a tough day for the Pirates today. The conditions on the Rio harbor were excellent with steady winds of 14-18 knots. The spectators were numerous and very enthusiastic

We had a very nice start and first windward leg and run to round the first leeward mark second to ABN AMRO One with Movistar close in third. We rounded the second windward mark still in 2nd with ABN AMRO One stretching out by now with their speed and Movistar about 5 lengths behind. Approaching the second leeward we missed the lay line and this forced a couple of extra gybes all while trying to take the spinnaker down. The main problem we had was that we got the jib twisted around the head stay and then caught on a hank. This cost us Movistar and Ericsson and a lot of distance. Unfortunately, the bleeding did not stop there. We managed to loose ABN AMRO Two and Brasil1 on the last lap to finish last. It certainly was quiet onboard as we crossed the finish line.

Bad days happen. You always think you are going to prevent them from happening, but they happen.

I gathered the guys and ran a short debrief onboard, really just to try to pull everyone together and acknowledge that we made some mistakes, I took blame for some of it, and to try to put it behind us. We will do a full review of the day on Monday make sure we make some notes on these things to review before the next inshore race in Baltimore.

The big picture is we are still the same team that moved from last in the standings to third and we have the same boat and we are still in third place overall.

Tomorrow the crew are off while myself and our PR staff prepare “Pescanova Day” on Monday. We will welcome 500 young people to Marina Gloria from 1000-1200 Monday to learn more about Pirates of the Caribbean and the Volvo Round the World Race.

Tonight is the prize giving for leg 3 and 4 where we did some very good work with a third place and a second place. Unfortunately we are not in a very happy mood right now. Hopefully that will improve in three hours so we can enjoy the evening.

The plan for the week is a full work day on Monday for everyone then I want the crew to take off for a couple of days and get out of the sun and heat.

We will sail on Friday to make sure all is well and ready for the leg and then take Saturday off. Jules and I will of course be studying the weather all week with our meteorologist Jean Yves Bernot.

I am heading back to the hotel for a shower and to put my feet up for a few minutes.

Paul Cayard

Pirates of the Caribbean