Location: Falmouth Harbour, Antigua
Today was an incredible day that I think everyone will remember for a long time. We woke up early to get Argo ready for racing, which is something we have been looking forward to for 80 days. It was an amazing feeling to be preparing the sails for racing amidst all of these gorgeous boats with professional crews doing the same jobs as us. As our starting time approached, Captain Steve guided Argo away from the docks along with what must have 75 other boats forming a parade toward the starting line. There were boats ranging in size from small sailing dinghies all the way up to the largest, majestic J boats. Once we cleared the harbor, we set our sails and began jockeying for position ahead of the starting line. Three minutes before the start of our class, which includes three other boats, we set up our final approach of the line with perfect timing to cross just as the gun went off. After the first leg of the race, we found ourselves in second place. As we made the turn around the first mark for the downwind leg, the wind, which was already light, began to die down even more, and soon we were just barely crawling along. While we were on the downwind leg, the J boats that started behind us caught up to us and passed us just 50 yards away. It was a breathtaking sight to see these works of art underway so close. We held onto second place until the third, upwind leg of the race, where one of the other boats chose a better tack out away from the land where there was more wind. We ended up finishing the race in third place. Everyone on board was very happy with how we raced, and we certainly held our own against some of the best crews in the world. Overall, it was a thrilling day, even with the lack of wind. With more wind in the forecast, we are all confident that we can continue to do well and move up in the standings.