Race 12 - Day 13
Crew Diary - New York to Derry-Londonderry
08 July

Leg 8/ Race 12/ Day 14 – July 8 – Q's Blog

We are still talking about the hospitality we got in Seattle from Stephen Mccormick (Mac) and his family and especially his sister, Taffy. Mac was on the wharf when we arrived in Seattle, early in the morning, with the promised cold cans of Ranier beer that he promised when he left us after leg 1. Further, Taffy, having fallen over on board the Qingdao boat when being shown around and, unbeknown at the time, broken her collar bone, got up and proceeded to take a number of the crew on a trip up into the mountains and give them lunch as she had planned which entailed a two hour each way drive. Amazingly she was a great host and never stopped smiling despite the pain. A huge Thank You Taffy and Mac. This days adventure allowed a number of the crew to see some of the beautiful country around Seattle – the mountains, still snow covered from a recent dusting and the lakes, water falls and rivers on the drive to and fro. Then a hike up the hill behind the family lodge enabled us all to experience the thick forest and undergrowth. And what a fantastic lodge Mac and family have – swimming pool, 6 or 7 bedrooms, huge entertaining areas and pool table, games area, etc. Not to mention an Indian tent outdoors – for the badly behaved I suspect.

Mac himself is proving a great success on the culinary front with more great dishes from the food suitcase he brought on board. Following his initial 'Mac's Mac & Cheese', he has followed up with a delicious chilli and a beef stroganoff snack dish.

Back to today, and things are hotting up on the racing front with the finish line almost in sight. The weather as usual is playing a pivotal role is how we do and how we are matched against the other teams around us. For the last 24 hours we have been trying to outrun front that was bringing light airs, whilst the teams in front were sufficiently ahead to keep good winds and thus better speeds, and at the same time, the teams behind us were sufficiently far enough back to be unaffected by the lighter conditions. Thus, the three teams in front of us are maintaining their lead and the current weather front means that it is becoming harder for us to catch them but at the same time Dare to Lead is closing the gap and are now only 30 miles back and sailing faster. It is all nail biting stuff and all we can do is keep trimming and sailing the best course we can. Lets see what the next 24 hours bring

Chris (Q) Grant