Race 2 - Day 8
Crew Diary - Race 2 Day 8: Punta del Este to Cape Town
12 October

305 and 13.8

Two figures that mean a lot to team Greenings. In the last 24 hour we broke another of our targets; the 300 mile barrier and our average speed in the last 6 hours was 13.8 knots. A massive celebration with a custard cream. There's nothing like being chased hard to keep you focused, and these are difficult conditions to keep focus in. The seas aren't big yet, and the winds not massive; 20 – 35 knots, but it's cold and wet. Good development for the Southern Ocean.

There's a fabulous atmosphere on board. The Mothers are playing music whilst preparing lunch, Crime Watch is about to be woken, and Bay Watch can't wait to get below to get warm, dry and fed, followed by a long sleep. However, it's a day to move an hour forward to UTC time, so Crime Watch lose an hour's sleep. Up on deck there's the occasional whooping and a hollerin' as another PB on the helm is broken. I am constantly surprised at the difference between above and below decks. Down below, you are thrown around, there's lots of crashing and banging, rattling of sails, and seeming chaos, whereas up top, there is just an exhilaration of speed, surfing and green water coming aboard. Best on top when you can.

The helm role is often seen as the key role, but every role contributes to success, just as the NASA floor sweeper knew he was helping put man on the moon. We eat well, every watch wakes to clean heads and clean common areas, the bilges are kept as empty as possible, and items that stop working are repaired as soon as possible. This could be replacing a bulb in the compass binnacle, replacing the diaphragm and valves in the grey water tank pump, keeping the generator happy or constantly cleaning the jets on the hob so we can have hot drinks and food.

Sail, eat, sleep and press repeat – relentless, but Garmin and Dare To Lead want our place . . .