Race 5 - Day 2
Crew Diary - Race 5 Day 2: Sydney to Hobart
28 December

It took me 40 years of dreaming to enter the Sydney-Hobart race.

At 16 I began racing on keel boats and during the Famous Round Zealand Race in Denmark (233 Nm), with 1500-2000 participating boats in the seventies, I first heard about the Sydney – Hobart race. An unobtainable dream.

Now I am on the water racing towards Hobart. I am working hard to get into the boat rhythm again. After having the best start of the Clipper boats we struggled out through the heads that mark the entrance to Sydney harbour.

So now I have entered Sydney through the Heads and departed the same way again. Very few do that on a sailboat.

During our stay Sydney I assisted during the demonstration and corporate sails. And I could not stop talking about our fantastic sail here and and our participation in the Sydney – Hobart race.

We are now sailing a race revered between sailors all over the world. The race is 628 Nautical miles. 5 Nm in Sydney harbour, 583 from the Heads to Storm Bay in Tasmania and 40 Nm from the corner of Storm Bay to the finish line in Hobart.

Before the start I went to a Christmas dinner with Neil who had sailed the Race 3 times. He said once he sailed the Race, they did five sail changes from start to Storm bay and from Storm bay to the finish line they did 20 sail changes.

Right now we are considering our tactics, offshore or closer to shore? We are in the middle of two groups. If we want to go on the podium we need to do some things different than the four leading boats.

Compared to the information we had when I raced as a young man, it is overwhelming to use all available data we have at hand. I love gadgets, and I also love when we have nothing but looking at the sky and the waves and the other boats. During this race my phone is off and stored away. I still enjoy using this wonderful piece of gear from Dell, a water proof computer for our Blogs.

I have been calm all week until race day. My favourite experience in Sydney was the Royal Botanical Garden.

On race day my stomach did flip flops and my heart rate was up. Our Skipper is supposed to wear a heart rate monitor. Exciting if we get to see the data some day. Now I am more calm again.

Now we are sailing with the balloon sail (Code 2) and the newly repaired mainsail, and do good speed in the right direction. In twenty hours we have sailed 210 Nm. 440 to go. (we are not sailing a straight line.)

We want to use the wind and the current as good as possible.

We talked about staying awake the whole race, that is not going to happen, most of us sleep like small children on our off watch, the snoring is the only thing giving us away. We are grown-ups.

Some have a little flu like symptoms, some are a little seasick, others are working hard at getting boat moving faster. Trimming the sails. I love that we are switching jobs on the boat. I really enjoyed helming with the balloon sail at night, I also enjoy keeping an eye on all details on the boat to minimise the number of mistakes during evolutions(sailchanges), we all get tired and make mistakes. Helping each other makes everything better. All jobs are important. And after doing all jobs I really appreciate when the other do them.

Not all crew members are in my hugging club, but I really enjoy the hugs I do get. I can sometimes feel lonely and then one hug later I feel a thousand times better. I also use Thought Field Therapy on myself to relieve tension, and it works fast and is drug free.

The worst on this boat is the smell where we sleep. So usually I get quick on deck for fresh air when I go on watch.

Everyday our generator run about six hours for the batteries. This also powers a lot of gadgets, speakers being one of the most important, our music. Just love when the generator is turned of and everything is still again, and we just have the sound of the wind and the waves and the cook asking if we are thirsty or want more cake.

Another thing about sailing is how much more you appreciate, chairs, tables, a kitchen that does not move, that you can imitate a starfish in a normal bed and you do not get knee injuries when visiting a land toilet.

Happiness is also when the Skipper says, remember to enjoy this amazing experience. And when you are woken up after five minutes of sleep by a gentle voice, Lars wakee wakee, it's time.

My last thought is, will this adventure change my life? What I value, what makes me thrive and people I care for. Right now I am learning to listen, and ask if I do not understand what is said. And it's not always a language problem, I just can't believe what is said to me, so I freeze or block out the message, I am sure this must annoy my wife a lot, so really hope I crack this one before returning home. I want to become better at communicating. A theme I have had all my life.

The happy sailor :-)