Race 4 - Day 19
Crew Diary - Race 4 Day 19
07 December

Why I am a single Legger

Day 19 on the Southern Ocean, 4,250 miles so far logged, and circa 850 miles and four to five days to Fremantle (depending on weather and routing).

It is 4:30 pm boat time and 10:30 am UTC. There has been glorious sunshine mostly today so the temperature has climbed to a heady 15 degrees C. That is heady when you have endured the best part of two weeks at 3-4 degrees C in 46 degrees latitude, the race Ice Limit. And best of all it is the first time my foulies have dried out since day three. Small things acquire significant prominence in ocean racing.

I have sailed all my life, coastal sailing in dinghies and yachts, several five to seven day passages, but I have never done anything like this. It is a unique experience that I am very pleased to have had, totally unforgettable and difficult to fully describe to a non-sailor. A combination of privation, exhilarating sailing, teamwork, and yet more privation, the low moments serve to enhance the high moments. And there are many of each, from the 0230 wake-up calls after two hours of sleep, dragging yourself bleary-eyed to the violently rocking and not recently cleaned heads, then forcing yourself into your soaking foulies again … to the exhilaration of surfing at 20 knots down wave after wave.

I would recommend a Clipper leg to anyone, non-sailor or sailor, young and old (we have a 31 and 75 year old on board). For my taste, I do not think I would get anything more out of an additional leg. Hats off to all you circumnavigators, you are made of stern stuff! But ask me again in six months’ time and just maybe I’ll be tempted..