Panama

Alas, the wind gods dealt us another blow when they delivered yet another wind hole as we approached the revised finish line. This made for a very tense few hours as we tried to keep the boat moving in no wind and temperatures in the high 30´s. We felt that we were good for a podium place but in the end we had to settle for 4th place, only 6 mins behind Qingdao in 3rd place after 3000 miles and 19 days of racing!! Cruel but in the end a fair result after the majority of the crew had been at sea for over 50 days without a sustained break to recharge the batteries.
After the finish we waited for Cape Breton and both crews swam in the Pacific - water temperature an unbelievable 34c. We then motored to Panama over the following two days where we hit rough weather with about 25 knots on the nose which made for a very bouncey 48 hours. Arrrived in the Flemenco Marina based on a small island off the mainland at about 21.00hrs where we were welcomed in by the crews of Australia, Jamaica and Cape Breton and the obligatory celebration drinks.
We are awaiting our transit time up the Panama Canal, it looks like it will be sometime tomorrow morning local time, we are told that there is a live webcam so you may even see us go through!! We slip lines at 06.30, so expect to be entering around 08.30, as usual anything can change this schedule!
All well on Team Finland and looking forward to the sprint up to Jamaica.
More to follow