
Post by
YourMomSA | 2021-03-16 | 19:13:01
Good memory. That happened while I was asleep, so I didn't notice people doing it until I was too far along to double back. This is actually a perfect example of the scenario I was describing. You cannot double back through the gate itself... but... In this case, the buoy that marked the north end of the gate was on Illa de l'Aire, off the SE corner of Minorca. The course approached from the West, so the fleet all sailed through it Eastbound. Most of the fleet then sialed North along the East coast of Minorca before turning NW to the finish. A few very observant navigators observed that they could instead turn sharply around Illa de l'Aire, allowing them to go back along the South shore of Minorca before heading NW toward the finish. They were in more wind with shorter distance.
The key was that the buoy was on the little island... So it was possible to go back without passing back through the gate. That's ok. But you can't go back through the gate. Going back through the gate will negate your original validation of the gate.
Thanks for your compliment on Nord Stream. I'm pretty unhappy about running aground twice earlier in the race. If I had been able to race clean, I'd be contending for the win. It will be nice to get some sleep. I don't usually stay up all night for races, but with only 9 waypoints as a max, I had to be awake several times last night to get through that challenge.