Day 5 – 23
After the prior two days in the gulfstream with her heavy weather, Mahina Kai now is enjoying a nice Bermudan high, with steady winds to bring us into the finish. In 2013 race, at this point, wind dies and boats struggled for wind. This year, good wind brought us all the way to the start line. The Navigator called "Land Ho" around 10:00.
The approach to Bermuda requires careful navigation as the Bermuda island is completely surrounded by shoals that have claimed many shipwrecks over the centuries. The finish line for the race is at the East end of Bermuda, so we tack closer to the island to line up for the finish line. One of our competitors Oronoco was ahead of us by a minute or so, which surprisingly after four days, gave the appearance of a photo-finish at the line for on-line spectators.
Mahina Kai crossed the finish line at 14:00:14 local time. We had to kill some time to allow a car carrier to enter port ahead of us. The channel to Hamilton is 17 miles long, horseshoe-shaped, very narrow, and has a variety of navigational markers that need careful interpretation. Vessels that arrive at night anchor near the finish line in St. Georges, and come around to Hamilton in daylight. We were thankful for a daytime arrival, and leisurely ride to Hamilton.
Our elapsed time was 95h:45m:14s. Our final handicap-adjusted time was 91h:55m:25s. We were eleventh over the line overall, and within our class finished fourth. The three boats ahead of us in our class were Swift, Defiance, and Integrity, from the US Naval Academy. We can live with company like that. Miles at finish 659.
Meal plan included yogurt & granola for breakfast, sandwiches, and dinner ashore. Cookie of the day: Sunny skies!
#SVMahinaKai #MBR2015
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