Crew Blog

Surfing for beginners

08 November 2007

Ahoy from NY Clipper,

After much beating and beaming with the wind, it was time to master the art of down wind sailing … aka running with the wind or colloquially known as “up the chuff sailing” in these parts of the South Atlantic.

With our very lovingly mended kites, the initially nervous crew are quickly getting to grips with popping and dropping (putting up and pulling down) the big sails or spinnakers.

So the time had come, with other Clipper yachts closing on us we had to up our game or more importantly up our speed… Out with the ‘big yin’, all 247 square metres of heavy weight spinnaker.

As a result the NY Clipper has turned into a crew in search of the big downwind surf and the speeds that go with it,10 knots was the average last week, now we want 12, 14 and more.

Surfs up. With the skipper giving expert tips and advice we are now riding the surf day and night with the spinnaker flying and occasionally only the stars and dolphins to guide us…

The crew are now so focussed on keeping the big yin flying, the off-watch happily and sometimes sleepily come on deck to help ensure all manoeuvres go as quickly, safely and efficiently as possible, with minimal reduction in speed…All have learnt to (ahem) feel affection for the early morning call wake up call down the hatch to “stand by to stand by to gybe”.

Bring on the surf. We love it.

Later… Gordon reporting from New York Clipper