Race 11 - Day 26
Crew Diary - Memories to cherish for a lifetime
25 May
I write to you as a proud member of the high performance race team you know as GoToBermuda. We have embraced and delivered on the Clipper Race vision. Take a group of individuals with mixed sailing ability who have never sailed together, enable them to push themselves to the best they can be and come together as a high performance ocean racing team.
Under the guidance and tutelage of an awesome and inspiring Skipper (Wavy) and AQP (Max) we have come together as a team. We’ve sailed hard, fast and safely for 25 days and close to 4000 nautical miles with over 50 faultless kite hoists and numerous headsail changes. We had an amazing and fun race. We dodged turtles, (not always successfully) provided a haven for weary sea birds, raced alongside pods of 50-75 dolphins darting across our bow by day and at night carving fluorescent streaks under the moonlit sky. We took showers in the torrential rain that accompanied the tropical squalls. We watched in awe at the beautiful sunrises and sunsets and brilliant night sky free from light pollution and full of long shooting stars. A view hard to find on land.
After weeks of sailing we traded tacks with other boats crossing within metres of each other so close that we invoked port starboard rules.
Congrats to the crews of WTC Logistics, Punta del Este, Unicef and Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam - awesome competitors who sailed a great race and a pleasure to race against. The Race Committee set five Mandatory Finish Gates to give them the option to finish the race early. These Mandatory Finish Gates enabled exciting racing with minutes separating the boats after thousands of miles.
Leading the fleet to Panama and powering along at 10 knots, 4.5 miles from the Gate 4 finish line we were all high on adrenaline and excited at the prospect of 1st place. At that point we heard from the Race Committee that they had decided to end the race effective from Finish Gate 3 250 miles behind us.
Our bubble burst, we were devastated, we shed a few tears and hugged each other knowing we had sailed our best. We all understood this was a potential outcome driven in-part by the Race Committee’s need to get all the fleet to Panama to transit the canal in the allotted time window.
Qingdao had previously stopped in Japan for repairs. Knowing there was not enough time to get to Seattle they diverted to San Francisco where their race to Panama would start after we left Seattle. We patiently await the outcome of Qingdao’s time from San Francisco to Finish Gate 3 which will be added to the fleet's average time from Seattle to San Francisco to determine their total race time at which point we will know if we are 3rd or 4th overall.
Regardless of the final position we are the highest scoring boat in the fleet for the race. Having been first to the bonus Scoring Gate and 2nd in the Ocean Sprint plus a 3rd or 4th overall position.
Whatever the final position we see ourselves as winners on so many levels and I am proud to be part of this team. This unique experience has created memories that we will cherish for a lifetime.
Following some well deserved downtime in Panama we look forward to transiting the canal and starting a new race on June 2nd and being the first to arrive at 32 North 64 West a beautiful Island you know as Bermuda. Hope to see you and the Rock Dodger there.