It was a record run for the race with several yachts breaking the race records.
1,100 nm in 4.5 days. We certainly gave Salacia a shake down.
Our damage was a blown out reaching spinnaker, one halyard, one spinnaker sheet and two tack lines. We were leading the race until all of this gear failed.
It was great trip with lots of US versus Australian rivalry among the crew.
5 Australian sailors vs 4 US sailors.
The US guys bought their DVDs and fishing lines so we taught them how to sail Thanks guys. You were all brilliant and made Salacia’s maiden voyage memorable in many ways. Your hospitality and generosity of spirit really made the whole experience of the race something none of us will forget.
Unfortunately the US won the top speed at 22.4 knots but there were many speeds in the low 20’s!!! Pretty exciting for a boat this size with a washer/dryer and 3 airconditioners. We had 30 + knots of wind at the time.
This was when the light racing boats took off and surfed home and our ranking dropped from 1st because we were down to jibs (no spinnakers). Overall we impressed a lot of people with the performance of the J160 with all of the cruising gear on board.
