Race 7 - Day 7
Crew Diary - 4 (or 5) hours of glory
01 March

September 2018 Level 1 training evaluation.

Question: Do you have aspirations of being a Watch Leader?

Answer: No, I'm here for the full Clipper Race experience and not to be confined to a leadership role.

29 February 2020, 21:15 hours local time.

'Ivan, wake up!!.... Ivan, are you awake? it's time to get up for your watch.' I struggle to open my eyes, it feels like I've just fallen in sleep. Not only that our watch is being woken up 10 minutes early. The rule is 15 past the hour for breakfast, lunch or dinner, otherwise it's 25 past. We've been cheated out of 10 minutes of sleep!! Never mind that now, let's get to the heads before the rest get up. Have a look up the companionway to see what the weather is doing and what everyone is wearing. Salopettes and Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam jackets it is then. Oh no, light feeling of panic, I can't find my head light. I remember putting it into my jacket pocket at the end of my last watch after emptying the bilges. (Engineering role). It's not there now. All the jackets are the same and hang next to each other in the wet locker, I must have put it into someone else's pocket. I grab my spare light and head up on deck, announce myself "Ivan on deck" and enter the dark gloomy night to join the figures on deck.

21:50 "Ivan, you're Baywatch Watch Leader!" I hear Josh calling from behind the traveler. Oh no, I think to myself, only RTW'ers are Watch Leaders, they've conquered the Southern Oceans (Atlantic and Indian), seen huge waves, experienced hurricane force winds and have months of experience. Who am I, a lowly (multi) legger to dare to emulate them. How can I do this?

Suddenly I think up a cunning plan, I'll just delegate everything. I'll match the less experienced sailors with experienced sailors and to keep everyone happy I'll get them all behind the helm in turns driving the bus for 30 minutes. That should get us to the end of the 4 hour watch without me having to do much shouting (boat voice).

01:30 (3 1/2 hours later) I got lucky, it's a lovely out, a clear starry night with calm seas and we have not had to do any sail changes, just some trimming. Andy is also on Baywatch and he is our trimming wizard. The whole watch has done well helming and everyone is happy. Just as I had hoped, all I have had to do is to make sure that all the tasks have been carried out and the logs done. Now just a little bit of shouting at handover and I can go to bed. Just as I start to feel pleased with myself I hear Hugo's voice, "Ivan, when the next watch is up we will drop the Yankee 1, raise the Yankee 2, flake and pack away the Yankee 1, then do handover"

Again that feeling of panic, a bit more this time. I am great at single tasking when I know what I have to do. I have done pretty much everything on board at one time or the other but always just as one cog in the works. During the Clipper training levels I had not done well leading an evolution. The complexity of the tasks overwhelming me. What now?

01:50 Harpo, the watch leader of Crimewatch comes on deck and suddenly there is the answer. Harpo RTW'er, experienced fore-decker, boat voice specialist, my hero, my savior!.

"Harpo, can you lead the fore deck?", "how many hands do you need?", "can you pick your team?"

To my surprise every goes well and an hour later Baywatch goes below to bed. An hour late and we will be woken again 2 hours later at 05:15 for breakfast.

It's the next day, and I find myself still Watch Leader of Baywatch. A day with lots of wind then very little and from all directions and a lot of rain as a front passes over us. We do quite a few sail changes, mostly without incident.

At 1800 hours when the wheel of life turns I will take on the role of Navigator, or will I?

We find ourselves heading South back towards Subic Bay where I will take my leave of Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam before heading homewards to become glued to the race tracker like so many of you. This adventure has been everything I had hoped for and more. Memories of surfing down big waves in high winds, ploughing through those same waves close hauled against 35 knots of true wind, the albatross of the Southern Ocean, the sight of the cliffs of Tasmania shining in the morning sun, the sunsets and sunrises, the many dolphins that came and played, our first podium in Uruguay, our arrival and reception at Airly Beach with the sun setting behind the hills. I will carry these memories and more with me the rest of my years. Life on board is tough, the sailing is hard work, it is relentless and we get knocked around a lot. But we look out for and support each other and in the end, it is the crew (and team) of Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam that has made this race for me, friends through thick and thin. We have shared difficult moments but also a lot of laughter. A special thank you to Skipper Josh and AQP Hugo for accepting me into the team and for all of their guidance, training and leadership. We have sailed above our expectations without conflict and can verify that a happy boat is a fast boat.

I look forward to meeting all the boats when they arrive back in London later in the year where I can catch up with all the new friends I have made on this journey.

I owe everything to my wife Hanneke, for letting me take part and having to endure my absence these past months. Dag lief, bedankt voor alles, ik hou van je. Niet lang nu, dan ben ik weer thuis.