Race 12 - Day 13
Crew Diary - New York to Derry-Londonderry
10 July
Ladies and Gentlemen....... let me introduce you to the Pink Panther All-Stars!
You have all met the sail repair team, Mikey, Helen, Dodge and little me, so I won't revisit our crack team. However, I thought I might take a wee bit of time to introduce you to some of our patients!
We have a variety of Spinnakers, amazing fast racing sails, but like thoroughbred horses they can be temperamental, tricky to fly and require careful handling. We have the wee windseeker, a small cheeky chap, always ready to go to work and generally no trouble whatsover. He's a little bit lightweight (obviously) but is generally no trouble.
We have the Code 1 Spinnaker – aka 'James'. Named in honour of the crew member who has frequently been the cause of his visits the Sail ER. It typically has been James 'McRipper' MacFee who has often delivered the bad news to the sail repair team that they will be spending the next few days below deck bringing our poor Code 1 back from the dead. We hide when we see James coming!
Next, our Code 2 – aka ' S^*£* B@$%&*!!' Now this bad boy is rebellious, doesn't play at all nicely and can turn nasty at a moments notice. He sits coiled in his sail bag in the sail locker plotting his next attack, his favourite tactic being to fly nicely for a wee while only to wrap himself around the stays the minute you lose concentration. He'll then hold on for dear life until either the wind or the crew cut him down. This bad boy is never, EVER to be trusted. When he is flying the sail repair team generally struggle to sleep!
Our heaviest sail is also our most emotionally fragile sail , the Code 3 – aka 'Kenny' is a completely different kettle of fish. He is a delicate, somewhat nervy chap, clearly hates being outdoors and seems to struggle with being wet and windy. He can require a reasonable amount of persuasion to fly nicely Not surprising though when you think one of his more recent visits to the Sail ER was for complete decapitation, that's going to leave some scar! If you think of that kid at school who always had a sick-note on PE day.....that's our Kenny.
Our workhorses are the Staysail, Yankees 1,2 and 3, our white sails. They turn up everyday, know their jobs and do them without complaining, tearing or having tactical tantrums. They seldom need repairs beyond a new batten and may be loved by the sail repair team because they seldom attend Sail ER! The less we see of you, the more we love you!
Last but not least we have the real star.....Herbie, the sewing machine. A little like his namesake (the cheeky VW Beetle from the Disney films), he can be temperamental and wilful and typically is better behaved for the ladies in the team. This isn't his first rodeo as he has circumnavigated several times and for all his dents and rusty spots we couldn't do the job without him!
Sail repair is a hard job, a long time is spend working on heavy wet sails the size of tennis courts, trying to untwist them in a narrow corridor and sew perched on a hard bench at 45 degree angles. Doing this job for hours, sometimes days on end I have got to know and absolutely adore the real Pink Panther All-Stars, the fun, stoic ,creative hardworking, skilled bunch of reprobates that make up the Sail Repair Team, Mikey, Dodge and Helen. Thanks Guys, you have been truly awesome! X