LERWICK TO LOWESTOFT

We started very early in the morning and could hoist the spinaker to make easy meiles to the south. When the wind dropped we knew that it would not soon come back since a big area of high pressure was directly on the race course. The actual wind was often significantly different from the grib files.

Not easy to find the right way through the High. Richard and Sharon decided to go off on a flyer by heading SE to go around the High. They went as far out as the Norwegian coast. This very difficult option did not really work out for them, so we could confirm our 2nd position in the (unofficial) VQ32 class. After several long periods without any wind at all the wind finally went West.

For the final push the tide took us up to great Yarmouth, but the tide turned against us before we could get to Lowesoft. The last 10 miles took almost 6 hours. We had to tack upwind and against the current. To get out of the current as much as possible we went really close to the shore. We went so close that we could speak to the sunseekers on the beach.

This leg has resulted in huge gaps between the competitors. For the fifth and last leg the wheather looks very light again. It will be a tidal game. Play it right and you can win significantly. It will be important to try and not make any major mistakes with the tide and to keep the focus on racing in these very light conditions.