Aug 10, 2005 – 2045hrs UTC

2045hrs 10 Aug 2005 UTC 51’21”N 009’04”W

The ExaminerShe who asks awkward questions of the crew and tests them with difficult tasks. is back. We are now headbutting a 25 knot-- Speed: definition of speed at sea. One knot is one nautical mile per hour. The nautical mile is about 1.15 % longer than the "statute" mile used on land. A knot is about half a metre per second. -- A knot is also the result of winding a rope around itself or another rope to make a join or a loop . NW wind with a short steep sea that makes life very uncomfortable. No 3 and one reef-- As a verb – to shorten sail, to use reefing lines or other techniques to make the working part of a sail smaller and so reduce its power as the wind rises. --- As a noun, (1) the part of the sail that has been shortened, folded or rolled. May be referred to as a slab or a slab reef which is a particular way of forming a reef. -- As a noun (2) – a bank of coral, rocks or other obstruction usually close to a shoreline and potentially dangerous to sailors.. The FastnetFastnet Race: 608 mile biennial race from Cowes, UK, Isle of Wight, to the Fastnet Rock off Southern Ireland, finishing in Plymouth. Berrimilla took part in 2005 and 2009. is directly upwind at 19 miles – cant see it yet, tho its range is 27 miles. Have to catch its one flash every 15 secs when we are on top of a wave. Irish coast visible 9 miles ahead, traffic separation zone between us and the Rock. Looks like at least five hours if the wind holds as is – seems to be moderating a bit. All the other fast 2 handers will be hooningAs far as I can gather, if Berri were a horse, she’d have the bit between her teeth to be hooning off downwind now – poo. Rumour has it we were 12th overall IRC some time yesterday, but we’ve probably fallen from grace since then.