Crew Blog

Maintaining speed and morale

01 June 2008

So what has the crew of eighteen on the good ship Durban 2010 and Beyond been up to since we last checked in?  Statistically speaking, not a great deal - ground covered totals less than 150 miles, an average of around ten miles every six hours; not really what one might expect for one of the most competitive boats in the round the world yacht race, but this is not plain sailing!

We have been becalmed in the North Atlantic, around 500 miles off the Florida coast, for three days now.  Never would I have imagined that a sea with the reputation for at times being so hostile could at the same time be such a quiet place.  The water has been as glass.  Those on deck had enjoyed the pleasure of the most glorious sunsets, still night skies punctuated by the silver streaks of falling stars (I counted fourteen last night), and crystal clear beginnings which feel a million miles from the rat race back home.  ‘This shall my comfort be, that light that shines on you will shine on me’ are John of Gaunt’s last words before being banished in Richard III, and it is hard to imagine that amidst our calm existence, life elsewhere continues much as before.

There are two primary challenges.  We have to maintain our focus on the wind, its direction, speed and our positioning relative to these factors.  We also have to maintain morale in what otherwise has the potential to become a highly frustrating situation.  Both are of equal importance.  None of us has signed up to this event to bob like flotsam.  Hourly records of our progress do little to inspire enthusiasm (our Log records that we have moved just two miles in the last six hours).  Nor at the moment do the daily Schedules (which record our position as 10th out of ten).  Furthermore we are assured by our weather information that strong winds lie 40 miles to the north - arrrgh!  In essence, these are of minor importance to us now - we have to race in the conditions nature has provided.  It is a race mainly against ourselves.  No wonder it is in light airs and during the quiet times that the winners and losers of distance races may be decided.

While we remain without alcohol (Durban 2010 and Beyond is a dry boat), there has been laughter, singing and even dancing on board.  Yesterday the B-watch, lead by Lucy, decided to designate the evening as ‘Hawaiian Night’ for no reason other than that Neil hopped out of his bunk in his finest attire (see photo attached), and this further lifted our spirits.  We even managed 5.9 knots!

Wishing you all well back home, hoping for wind and an improvement in our position, enjoying ourselves tremendously.

James