Heading for the start line

The Class B vessel Tecla, from the Netherlands, is heading south towards the revised start area and Janette Sluik from on board sent us this update:

“This is the day the race should have started, but I am sorry to say, that it did not. No wind. The day started with SE 4 to 5, and as the sun came up so the wind went away. Now we are all motoring to the second start line, 60 miles further on towards Trapani so we can try and start tomorrow morning. We hope…..

“Our trainees on board are all Italian except for one.  The exception is Adam, from Northern Ireland, who sailed with us on on the last part of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge to Belfast last year. Nine of the Italians are from a nautical school in Trapani, Sicily,  two trainees are from Genoa with the rest coming from the north of Italy. All are between 16 and 23 years old except one, a journalist who will be writing for a beautiful Italian boating magazine. He is taking a lot of photos, so we hope to be able to show you some pictures when we are in Trapani. 

“Today was not a successful day. The parade line was heading into the wind, so no nice sailing pictures were to be had. And the sea is rough so not nice for our trainees and more then half of them got seasick – I hope fishes like onion bread and spaghetti Bolognese. I have 300 pills to offer them, warm tea and dry bread, so let’s hope that tomorrow there is some wind so they will all feel better very quickly. Once the race starts, that will get them on their feet again, and then we will know if our new sails perform as we think they can. Our rating has gone up as a result of our new sails, so our speed has to do the same!”