Race 7 - Day 7
Crew Diary - Day 7, Race 7
01 March
It is Day 7-ish, I have lost track, in our race from Subic Bay out and back. Yesterday, we rounded the top of the Japanese islands and are now on our way towards the Luzon Strait and then back to Subic Bay. There is some speculation that we could be back In four days time. I don’t believe it given the track record of wind holes in the two precious times sailing the waters between Subic and Luzon.
We are now after some 1100 nautical miles firmly locked in contention with Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam, Punta Del Este and Zhuhai for third thru sixth positions as we have been within AIS and often visible range of each other. Qingdao and Unicef are further ahead and have been out of AIS range.
It is a challenging morning as our watch got started in pitch black pre-dawn darkness. Watch Leader Rick, is at the helm and needs a second crew person to go man the main sheet and traveler and also check helm. I volunteer and make my way back as soon as prior watch persons have cleared the deck. Winds are in the 17 to 20 knot range and we have white sails up, Yankee 1, staysail and full main. For a while i just hang on and don’t let the lean of the boat catch me by surprise and bang me around. I experiment with one of the new tethers we have attached to fixed points at the base of the “A Frame.” This helps me to balance while resting my back against the leeward helm cage.
I await orders. There is often a lot of waiting but Watch Leader Rick seems to be in his usual constant search of best sail trim. Most orders go to the cockpit persons to get proper trim on the headsails. Not yet much for me to do. I shine my white headlamp up at the mainsail leech to have a look. Rick barks “Don’t touch the main!”
Some while later, we have an issue with cargo ships crossing the bow. Jorge shouts up through the hatch by the nav station multiple times with new wind angles and courses to sail for collision avoidance. At some point Seumas is also concerned and his order from the companionway is to aim for and follow that cargo ship. Rick and I are both thinking “No, surely not that!” But the order is followed and the situation resolves itself soon enough.
Later, I take the helm as we are just getting the first signs of daylight, it is still quite windy and I struggle to get into a rhythm with the conditions at the helm. Sail trim has left me with some neutral to leeward helm which I am not used to, as I try to dial into a 45 to 50 degree wind angle. 45 seems to slow the yacht and likewise, anything over 50. But the sky is completely solid grey, leaving me no steering targets on the horizon to aid my helming.
As the daylight emerges we are on port tack and I can now firmly see Punta del Este on our port beam about a mile or so out. I begin to match race with increased concentration on speed but they seem to be faster and also pointing a little higher.
Then the rain comes. At first slowly, but soon harder, and I struggle even more to see the wind instruments but I do fairly well at maintaining good speed. I see crew in the cockpit hunkering down in the rain and I look up at the heavens and in an almost out of body experience I reflect on the situation. I think “Any sane person would say this is miserable. Why would one want to do this? But my immediate response is to grin ear to ear and raise my hands and defiantly say “Bring it on, this is fun!”
Soon, Richard is asked to come for his go at the helm. As he is making his way along the high side approaching the taught running back stays we get blasted by a big gust I struggle with the helm to bear away as Rick dumps some Mainsheet and I call for a little more ease.
Richard gets on the helm and very soon Punta del Este is falling back and seems to be now pointing down to us and I think. “Yes,this is exactly what we want!”
All in a day’s racing. Life is good!