Race 7 - Day 23
Crew Diary - Race 7 Day 23: Whitsundays to Sanya
22 February
We are almost there!
Finally we are allowed to think about what we are going to do when we arrive in Sanya. Rob's normal line is “stop thinking about what you are going to do when you get there, and instead think about how to get us there quicker!”. Which makes sense as I guess we have chosen a sailing race, not a tour of the local bars in Sanya – although I know Nasdaq will try their best to get through them whilst we are there! Damo is currently organising a white shirt party “because white shirts will bring out our tans!”. The plan is that we all have to turn up in.... you guessed it, white shirts, for a few civilised beers and some food (read: Nasdaq night out!). Attendance is compulsory - as are the white shirts. I feel very smug knowing that I have a nice clean shirt in my shore clothing bag, but I know most of the crew will be sharing big buckets of bleach to try and get their white t-shirts, and perhaps themselves, slightly less yellowy brown! However, someone has mentioned that the Chinese wear white to a funeral, so hopefully this doesn't cause any issues!?
With only 200 miles left on the clock, and (current) average speeds around nine knots (we are hoping to avoid the wind holes) we are estimating an arrival in to port tomorrow, Friday 23rd, in the afternoon. The good news – I am less than 24 hours away from a hot shower and some clean clothes. The bad news – we have less than 24 hours to try and make up some ground on GREAT Britain (GB), Garmin and HotelPlanner.com.
We have worked hard this race to keep an eye on the weather forecasts and our own boat speed and tactics, whilst also keeping an eye on the other boats. Every lunchtime around 2pm, Ineke comes on deck with her whiteboard to inform us of weather, positions, distances to way points/land etc and our chosen tactics. Both watches are constantly trimming the sails, keeping an eye on the VMG (how quick we are heading towards our target) and when a shout of “GB have popped up on the AIS and are going 1 knot quicker than us” comes up from the Nav Station, we all leap in to action and try to trim harder and helm better. Although we may be coming in towards the back of the pack (we started to lose track of the days spent in wind holes), we are sailing in to port with our heads held high. As I am sure you all know, we already have four points under our belt! One from the Scoring Gate, and three (winner winner, chicken dinner!!!) from the Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint. Both of these are a first for Nasdaq and everyone feels very proud of this achievement, and believe me, those points will make that first beer taste even better! And the second, and the third....