Launching at the apron at 10AM, it was teamwork again in action, making it look easy - smooth is fast, and the fitter they are, the faster they are, and Ben Ainslie's team looked solid and in the water and sailing through The Solent in no time. Capturing a bit of The SPIRIT of Racing-
I managed to hitch a ride on Charles and Annie's Ballistic Inflatable (Zodiac) and the 500HP was no match for Mothers Nature and The Land Rover BAR crew. Last July, while we were on The QM2, an Oceanliner, we reached 22 nautical mph, nearly getting blown off the deck, and these guys can throttle it to 50, in the tiny spaces of a 20 meter trampoline.
Even though it was a sea trial,the boat's foils are out of the water and things get very fast very quickly. There's very little of the boat in the water. It's about aerodynamics, it's about control systems, hydraulic systems. It's not Brain Surgery, it' Rocket Science---reminds me of Open-Wheel Racing technology and Life in the Fast Lane, at the Indy 500.
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When we docked back at The Camber, my face was full of sea salt and my pants and jacket saturated from the mist of the wakes we left behind. I didn't care at all.This was so cool! A week ago, I was elated to be in the Western Fjords of Norway, Land of a 1000 Waterfalls.
Today, math was hard, but it was easy to count my blessings.