Rona 2 Transatlantic 2017

At sea the news of the election had not reached Rona II. The crew therefore
decided to host an onboard election to change the status quo! As such the
authorities at be were overthrown and in a "mutiny on the Bounty"-esque
move. The skipper and watch officer Mr. Parry were cast adrift forced to row
to the nearest landfall, this picture was the last known image of the two as
they battled the North west Atlantic seas. The control of the boat now lies
in a coalition between blue and white watch to attain a majority.
#strongandstable

WE FINISHED THE RACE!! All safe and well as we crossed the line last night
at 2027 local time. We then headed straight to Salem for some much needed
showers, and to clear customs before we head to Boston on the 16th.

The Battle for the Baltimore. Vol. 2

At last we spoke the valiant efforts of white watch with the cruising chute
hoisted high and full had placed Rona II ahead of the Pride of Baltimore II.
With the winds of constant change, the wind shifted forward of the beam and
the cruising chute could no longer hold. A swift shift back to white sails
with the crew drastically attempting to maintain the lead. However with the
wind direction Baltimore made better use and crept past Rona. Over the next
few hours, Baltimore disappeared over the horizon, out of reach as the first
waypoint, a mere 600 miles from the start appeared on the display.
With Blue watch on deck, Rona rounded the first waypoint hardening up and
coming into the wind, with Baltimore still 6 mile…

The Battle for the Baltimore

Twenty-Hundred hours aboard Rona II, red-watch were on deck as they spotted
something, a mere speck on the horizon. By nightfall, the speck had become a
clear outline of the much feared, feeder race winning, 'Pride of Baltimore'.
A gaff rigged schooner with raked masts and a skipper who could out salt the
sea itself.
It became a straight face off, who could hold their nerve, the race for
Boston just got red. 11pm arrived and white-watch appeared from their
slumber to the news that Baltimore were in reach. The race for the Rona boys
was truly on. "Action stations Boys" exclaimed Mr Parry, the officer on
deck.
And with that the Mizzen was swiftly hoisted and a full trim of the sails
was wistfully undertaken.
Three miles to the east, Baltimore winced! With that Rona II sped past. By
the end of their watch they had done all that they could, a 1 mile lead was
established; white-watch were sent below, job done.
Next u…

Hey Land-Lubbers, RONA II has seen a real mix of weather in the last 24
hours. We have had squalls and lulls from Beaufort force 9 - 3, overall we
are gaining and overtaking every boat we see on our AIS - short range
position messages that are sent over VHF radio. A big morale booster for the
crew. Wildlife has been good with flying fish landing on the decks, dolphins
surrounding the boat and a constant view of birds soaring the waves looking
for dinner. Lighter winds are forecast for the next 36 hours so the crew are
working hard to keep Rona II racing in amongst their sunbathing. Now for a
rap by the crew:

**To be rapped in the style of Fresh Prince of Bel Air**

Oh, In the west Atlantic, the sails are raised,
On the foredeck is where we spend the most of our days,
Chilling out, trimming and grinding all cool,
Gritting our teeth as we get through the squall.

When a couple of boys who were up to no good,
Started throwing up in the neighborhood.
Accidentally gybed and t…

Hi All,

One viewpoint:

The day came today to finally set sail, and get racing! We started at 13:18 local time, with around half the boats still moored up in St. George's. We have all had a wonderful time in Bermuda and are very glad the race was postponed a couple of days so we got to see the island. Yesterday shore parties went exploring, to the Blue Hole (a beautiful mangrove enclosed salt water lake) and to the Crystal Caves, whilst another group headed to the Americas cup village for a look round and despite the lack of racing had a great time. We are now off to Salem, pre Boston to clear customs and get some showers!


 ...and Another:

Time to say goodbye to this place: Let's get aboard Rona II and get on with the race.
Your weather was humid, your beer was not cheap, and your Blue Hole wasn't even that deep!
America's Cup was cancelled, didn't even see Ben!
Your people were friendly and up for a chat, but the birds were so loud, like swinging a cat!
Ed's Birthday …

Leg 3 Boys here - still having a hard life in Saint George's, Bermuda. 


We now have a start time between today (Wednesday) 1500 and Friday 1500 Local time. The race is timed from when you cross the start line to when you finish - so it adds another tactical dimension to the race. Dom has been busy crunching the wind forecast data and we are planning to leave tomorrow to navigate a route through all the weather systems coming our way to give us our fastest race.


In the meantime the crew are off to the America's cup village to hope to see some racing but will the wind be under the 24 Knot Limit? Will Emirates Team New Zealand have their boat fixed?

Stay tuned for more tomorrow!

Welcome to the leg three section of the race (i.e. the best leg) where we will race Rona II from Bermuda to Boston.


We started today with the tragic news that we had to stay in Bermuda for an extra 2 days at least waiting for better weather​. Distraught, forced to go to the beach - beautiful and golden with hundreds of tropical fish and a floating volley ball court where Ed showed his prowess. We also graced the pub with our presence and made friends with some other islanders - the friendliest population we have ever met.


During the day we took Rona II on the parade of sail from Hamilton where we were moored between a Latvian sail training boat and Jolie Brise. During the parade of sail today we experienced the excitement of the America's Cup - Bermuda is alive on the water with every vessel from huge cruise liners, square riggers and of course the America's Cup Class boats playing around on their foils. We sailed North with the parade of sail to Saint George's Island which …