Race 3 - Day 20
Crew Diary - Race 3 Day 20: Cape Town to Fremantle
20 November

The Squall

On Day 20, we entered the Ocean Sprint. We were one of the most Southern boats. It meant we had the strongest winds from the right direction to allow us cross 300 miles between two latitudes (88E and 95E), the shortest possible route, sailing almost due East. We entered the sprint around 11 am local time. The winds were getting stronger and we reduced the sails to only main and stay sail.

My team was scheduled for 8 pm to midnight and 4 am to 8 am watches that night. We were pleased to see stars when we arrived on deck for our 8 pm watch. It’s so much easier to navigate by stars than in the darkness where one relies on compass only, especially with big waves throwing the boat around in every direction.

We realized the stars would not last for too long. Dark clouds would cover them from time to time. I was second to take the helm. Shortly after I started manning the wheel, giant black cloud started heading in our direction. The sky went pitch black. The wind speed increased from 30 knots to 40 knots. I followed Nikki’s standing orders to keep the boat as much downwind as possible to reduce the apparent wind. Suddenly the wind gusted to 55 knots. It’s started to rain. Because of high wind speed, the big rain drops felt like hail. The ocean was boiling around us. It felt like we entered hell (some would say I well deserved it