September 10th was the departure day of the Ocean Globe Race, which I and many others had been anticipating for the last three years.It felt surreal when the long-awaited day finally arrived. On the shore, we had a large group of friends from Finland watching the departure.Each boat left the dock in turn. We were the second to leave.
Tactics meeting
The wind was very light, and light winds were expected for the entire following week.There were many spectator boats at the starting line, and we had to keep an eye on them constantly. When the start signal went off,we all headed downwind with spinnakers. The biger boats quickly disappeared over the horizon, but we still had a few boats in sight for quite a while.
spinnakers were heavily used and would occasionally break, so we had to get them back in use as quickly as possible to maintain our speed at maximum all the time. Here, Alex Von Flitner and I are repairing a broken spinnaker.
The wind continued to weaken, and eventually, we were barely moving, maybe at one knot.After a few days of light winds, we finally caught some breeze again and made progress toward the Canary Islands.Despite the slow start, we have already managed to sail a little bit closer with some of the other boats.
The doldrums were unbearably hot and otherwise frustrating, as the boat barely moved at all.Some boats had passed through the doldrums quite easily, but we got stuck there for several days.Occasionally, we would catch a small gust of wind, only for it to die out again. For a Finn, the heat was a bit too much, it was hard to sleor get anything done because it was so hot. Fortunately, I managed to change the hydro generator’s propeller, which had broken the previous week, and I also inspected the hull.Everything was okey!
It was sometimes difficult to sleep in the bunk because of the heat, so I often slept on the floor.
Crossing the equator was an unforgettable and fun day. Of course, we performed the traditional rituals: tar and feathers, a drink for Poseidon, and a promise to keep the seas safe.We even got our own certificates for crossing the equator. :)
Girls with certificates from the equator crossing. The official equator crossing photo
After crossing the equator, the wind stayed head-on, and life on the boat became very monotonous.We constantly switched between the large genoa and the staysail/yankee combination to ensure we always had the right sails up.
The upwind persisted for quite some time, and we started calculating whether we would make it to Cape Town on time,as we were supposed to arrive at least four days early. Our route was far to the west, from where we had hoped to catch favorable winds that would take us straight to Cape Town.But that didn’t happen; the wind remained against us, complicating our tactical decisions. The first boats arrived in Cape Town,and it felt so disheartening as I looked at our chart and calculated that we still had 1,300 nautical miles to the finish.
Taking reef in a heavy wind
We got some good winds for a few days and finally started surfing straight toward Cape Town. It felt so good.We were on the edge of a low-pressure system while some boats were stuck in a calm. So, the tactics were very precise to ensure we avoided getting caught in the calm.
Endless upwind
The final leg of the journey was very tense because a high-pressure system had moved behind us,and a large front of strong winds about which we had received a weather warning was approaching. We tried to sail as fast as possible to reach Cape Town in time. 
Finally in Cape Town Cape Town is already in sight
And we made it! We arrived at night, in the dark and rain, in Cape Town.The wind had just started to pick up, and it was very gusty in front of Cape Town.Waiting for us at the dock were friends we had met in Southampton, with mandarins and candy.
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