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My first Le Mans Start
When I woke up today, I was already in the outer sea of the Great Barrier Reef Reserve, which is the area where Le Mans Start takes place in Leg 5. It has been more than a day since we set off from Mackay early yesterday morning. The sea was foggy in the early morning, and all eleven boats were gathered together, just like the scene before every race, except this time there were no cheering crowds and no city scenery along the coast. It seemed like we were the only ones left in the world, only eleven boats out here.
Henry outlined the rules of Race Start in a few words. Different from the previous line start, Le Mans Start requires yachts to run parallel to each other. The main sail is raised during the 10-minute countdown. All crew retreat behind the forward pedestal during the 4-minute countdown. On the 1 minute countdown, you turn off the engine and sail under the main sails. This is the most important moment. You must not only drive parallel to other yachts on both sides without engine drive, but also ensure a safe distance between the yachts .On countdown to zero, both headsails must be hoisted as quickly as possible and the course cannot be changed nor the headsails during the first ten minutes after the race start. The Le Mans Start process was monitored by Ryan, the skipper of Dare To Lead. He serves as the ‘lead skipper, observing the positions of other yachts and being responsible for controlling the time, and can even call for a re-start if necessary.
This time of race start, I was in the position of operating the mainsail. Being assigned the position of operating the "power" made me a little nervous. Soon the time came to the half-hour countdown.
4 minutes countdown!
Everybody in position, stay in order!
1 minute countdown!
Engine off! Last check: all behind the forward grinder/pedestal, all lines in place, no mistakes...
Five seconds! 5 4 3 2 1, time is up!
Go, go, go!
The foredeck team immediately ran forward. Four crew members immediately grabbed the handles of the coffee grinders and started to grind at full speed. The winding team was next to the winch and tightened the lines in accordance with the progress of the sail raising. From the cockpit, I could see the team busy in different positions, and I could hear the eight winches on the deck rotating rapidly at different speeds. The two headsails were basically in place at the same time. As we prepared the lines in advance, both sails were at full reach as soon as they were raised. Just like in a track and field competition, our boat took the lead with an advantage of more than half a boat’s length. All eleven boats were unevenly moving forward and backward. Two of us stayed at the bow to check the wind condition of the headsails, while I was responsible for retracting and lowering the main sail to control the force balance of the boat until Skipper Ryan's voice came over the radio: "Ten minutes up, I wish everyone a smooth race!" PSP Logistics immediately turned around and took the lead escaping from the main pack, and Perseverance immediately changed to Yankee 1...
And that was the start of the first race of Leg 5, 48 hours after leaving Airlie Beach. Now let’s see what the following three or four weeks will hold for us out there, look forward to it!