Race 6 - Day 20
Crew Diary - And then it was done!
11 February

Philip Cledwyn
Philip Cledwyn
Team Punta del Este
Back to Reports View Team Page

No sooner had we started the Dell Latitude Rugged Ocean Sprint we seemed to have finished it – all very pleased with the way it went and now its the long wait to see how we did against the other boats.

For most of the Ocean Sprint I was kept down below as I was on ‘mother watch’ The day had started at 01.30 when we were called up for our watch, at 05.30 I went down below to prepare breakfast and Andres at the helm seemed to find a bit more speed and an additional five degrees of heel which meant that the galley took on a position equivalent to half-way-up-the-wall, and there it stayed from the rest of the day. Every small job takes on a comical appearance, trying to butter a piece of toast, cook anything on the hob or pour liquid of any sort usually ends with an unexpected and often unwanted outcome.

Having spent the entire Sprint on the same tack at pretty much the same angle, most of the crew are like mountain goats, able to scramble their way up to the high side of the boat. This happens to be where access to both ‘heads’( toilets) are. I can only speak from my own personal experience but trying to place buttocks on a loo seat at an acute angle whilst the helmsman is adhering to a policy of ‘drive it like you stole it’ is not at all easy. Just arriving correctly positioned on the loo is an achievement equivalent to docking a rocket with the space station! I wont go into further detail suffice it to say that the entire process is frought with difficulties.

So, throughout the day and night of the sprint the crew were splattered with sufficient food to keep them going..

By the time this is read most of the boat will have completed the sprint and be heading to the Luzon mark where we turn and start our approach to Subic bay. With luck we will finish before my next mother watch – I think most crew are hoping this is the case.

All the best to all at home – I’m having a blast!

Pip