Race 2 - Day 18
Crew Diary - Race 2, Day 18
03 October

Blogmaster Pip reporting.

We have now sailed 5,500 nm since London and are 950 miles south of the equator off the coast of Brazil. We have crossed the north Atlantic and the equator, weathered two storms and are now heading south across the south Atlantic. Our race has been going well and we are now in a good second place behind Visit Sanya, Chian who have been running a great race with impressive pace, which at times we have struggled to match especially when we picked up part of a fishing net, which became entangled around our starboard rudder. It took considerable time and patience to free the net from the rudder. We are racing hard for a good finish as we (along with Punta del Este) are playing our joker this race which means that our race finish points are doubled. We do wish Visit Sanya, China and Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam well as they were kind enough to do a fuel transfer to us and we needed to use our engine (in neutral!) to charge our batteries that are essential to run our navigation equipment and water maker. The engine has a much higher fuel consumption than the generator.

Highlights of the race for me have included jumping whales, pods of leaping spinning dolphins, soaring seabirds and weathering storms. The leaping spinning dolphins were particularly impressive and is a sight that filled me with happiness. There may well be a scientific explanation for the spinning dolphins but to my mind, they are just having fun and showing off. I’m not sure if they are showing off to each other or to us spectators. I like to think that they are doing it for our benefit and reminding us humans how poorly adapted we are to a marine environment.

Storm Lorenzo kept us pretty busy. Most sensible sailors avoid storms and take refuge in a harbour. We spent two days chasing the storm as we knew (or Chris or Skipper knew) that there would be wind hole behind Storm Lorenzo, which I understand later strengthened into a hurricane. It was exhilarating but very tiring especially when we passed through the eye of the storm and headed close hauled into winds gusting up to 50 knots. The second storm was not forecast and took us by surprise last night. We were flying our Code 3 (Spinnaker) when the wind picked up and veered round into a headwind. All hands on deck for a rapid and difficult spinnaker drop, followed by a headsail change on the foredeck with crashing waves across the bow. It was a bumpy uncomfortable night and morning but we now have a more favourable wind and are buzzing downwind with grins on our faces.

As always I send my love to my darling Shona and all my friends and family. We are having a fantastic time, staying safe and having a great race. It will be great to get to Punta del Este and give you a call. I would also like to say a special hello to the crew who will be joining us later in the race. We are looking after Qingdao and she, in turn, is looking after us. My advice to you is that you do not need as much kit and it is very much quality rather than quantity. I would advise good quality fine 100 percent merino wool for all baselayers and underclothes. Cotton becomes damp and clammy after a single watch. Bring a small (8 – 10 cm) re-chargeable fan, blackout facemask and earplugs for sleeping off watch. You will also appreciate a bag of your favourite treats and earphones for listening to music as it is often not easy to read in a heavy sea.

Signing off now as Moroccan lamb stew is being served for dinner.

Yours Aye,

Pip

Martin Mills