Spot the wind spike that finally broke our spinnaker pole completely, bending the inserted stainless steel pole that we had previously used to repair it.

Early this morning, a squall saw the wind increase from a steady 15 knots to a peak in the high 20s minutes later.

We are now forced to take the big ballsy move that we mentioned a few days later, as without a spinnaker we simply cannot sail the deep downwind angles the conventional strategy requires. If you are following us on the race tracker (as you should!) the effects on our course are patently obvious.