✍️ Onboard update from Amory Ross (note, the following was prepared by 11th Hour Racing Team based on a series of text messages from Amo):
It’s nuts out here.
Our arrival at the Gulf Stream was unfortunately met with 35 knots. It’s a miserable combination and one that took us and the boat to the red line in an instant.
There is no question these are boat-breaking conditions. Made worse by the fact that the longer you linger, the worse they get. So we are under some pressure to get out of the path of this low that is only going to intensify.
And the only way to get out of its path is to run… headfirst into a growing and confused sea state, typical of the northeast-flowing Gulf Stream. We’re slamming straight into breaking waves at 26 knots. You are never more alert than in times like these. It’s violent seated, violent standing, violent on your knees!
To be honest, it’s a bit terrifying at the moment. Under three reefs and J3, there’s very little left we can do to de-power. We have to sit tight.
Six more hours of this before the front passes to our south, and we’re over the hump. Next in its path is Biotherm and Guyot environnment – Team Europe, who will probably see worse than us. Fingers and toes crossed that everyone manages the conditions and gets to Newport, 800 long miles away, safe and sound.
This leg has saved its very worst for last!
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