Race 2 - Day 28
Crew Diary - Race 2, Day 28
13 October
The Clipper Race weather forecast for tonight shows 15 knots of breeze backing us nicely to Punta del Este ... forecasts are always right, right?
I spent today from lunch till dinner (12-6) getting my six hour sleep. After four weeks at sea, we're all getting to the point where we can sleep through even some of the messier evolutions, but upon waking for dinner I heard the news of an emergency Code 3 drop after we were overpowered by the latest in a series of larger squalls. WTC Logistics, who are only a few miles away and easily visible to us, apparently left their drop a few minutes too late and blew their kite allowing us to take a marginal lead. This doesn't sound like 15 knots of wind.
We arrived up on deck to be given warnings of another major squall approaching. It certainly had all the makings of a good movie scene with dark looming clouds filled bolts of lightning. How bad could it be though? Half an hour later we'd find out. With strengthening winds the order was given to drop the Yankee, a manoeuvrer that requires several people lined up on the low side of the foredeck to physically grab the sail and pull it in over the guard rail. Of course, the stronger the winds, the more power in the sail, and so the harder it is to do this.
Imagine the worst storm you can picture at sea. Not necessarily large waves (no more than a few meters) but howling winds, lashing rain that makes it difficult to open your eyes and spray reduces visibility to boat lengths. Imagine that; double it.
Ready to drop: I found myself at the pulpit (the very front of the bow) for this one. Ineke was just behind me and in a quick brief made sure we all had our short tethers pinning us to the deck. With the wind still building, the sail starting to come down, we reached out to bring in the foot and ... in a second the wind tore it out of our hands. Wow, there's some power in that canvas!
"Big Wave Hold On ..." In an instant, the boat rose underneath us doubling gravity and slamming us into the deck. Then before we had a moment to recover, it fell away from under our knees creating a negative g-force twice that of any, pulling us down and throwing everyone upwards as far as their tethers would allow, well clear of the deck in motion I can only compare to skydiving. Our flight was interrupted as the reason for this movement introduced its self; BAM a wall of water now hit us, throwing those at the pulpit towards the mast. It's common to be soaked by the odd wave in this position but this time water just kept coming until I found my self completely underwater and gasping for air. When the wave passed the spray and rain didn't make breathing any easier! All this in less than a few seconds and repeated randomly every minute or so. It's safe to say without my tether and Ineke grabbing my lifejacket from time to time I would have gone overboard.
After 10 minutes of no progress we were called back; The Yankee would have to be left as it was; staying on the foredeck was simply too dangerous. It took us a further five minutes to make the journey crawling from bow to cockpit. We got back to find the vang (a pulley system designed to pull the boom down) had blown, a D-ring the thickness of a pinky finger sheering clean in two. On the helm Ben watched the true wind speed rise above 70 knots before the spray became too much too read the instruments.
The wind eventually eased although the sky continues to erupt with spiders webs of lightening spreading over the darkening night sky. I'm now sitting in the Galley downing my third cup of tea, soaked to the skin and filled with adrenaline. Just over 100 miles to go till Punta del Este.