Race 5 - Day 2
Crew Diary - Race 5 Day 2: Sydney to Hobart
28 December

I will admit, I wasn’t too keen on writing today’s blog. Please don’t think it’s because I couldn’t be bothered. It’s simply because I have finally been allowed back on deck after being banished to galley duty (formally known as mother watch) and now have to return to the dungeon of doom to write!

When I signed up for this race I was intrigued by how it might compare to my experiences in elite sport. The feelings of pre-race nerves, overcoming adversity under pressure, the highs of working well together as a team, and standing on a podium knowing just how much you have all worked to achieve something great....

Now, let me introduce you to wind. There is no comparison to Olympic sport that I can muster to explain this dark mystery.

We had been making great progress in the Sydney Hobart race and were full of confidence with our race plan. Until last night that was. Whilst trying to prepare dinner the boat went from being flat as a pancake to a 40 degree angle in the blink of an eye. Whilst my eye was blinking, my freshly prepared drinks, chicken fajita, bananas, fruit cake and evaporated milk went flying. Whilst trying to pin down the open jar of salsa, i was hit by the washing up liquid and a variety of cleaning products. I am well trained in handing pressure situations so my response was simple, to shout at everyone on deck to demand an explanation on what just happened! Invariably the response from the helm is ‘wind shift’ but in this case, it might have actually been true! We went from a very pleasant cruising state with the spinnaker flying to taking sails down and putting reefs in as quickly as we could.

Once I had finally cleared up the concoction of evaporated milk, mashed bananas, chicken fajitas and salsa from the floors, walls and ceilings I went to sleep excited about the prospect of some big winds taking us into Hobart. I do like a sail change or a gybe for a bit of action but safe to say the wind gods have struck again. I woke to find the only movement we have is drift. There is not a gust of wind anywhere. The crossword is out on deck and our skipper is dressed in his onesie....