Race 7 - Day 7
Crew Diary - The Lakewood Hills Zhuhai Race
25 February
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CV28 Blog – Thursday 23rd January 2020.
Author: TC (Tracy Corkett)
Race Start:
For the The Lakewood Hills Zhuhai Race we’re a few Zhuhai crew members short, however extremely lucky to have been joined by 4 round-the-world volunteers from other teams for this short 8-10 day race. Welcome to our honorary crew Sandra from UNICEF, Iona from WTC Logistics, and Mary & Andrew from Punta Del Este, and a huge thank you to their crews for allowing them to support us!
We are obviously disappointed not to be racing to our host port of Zhuhai, which we would have been doing now if it weren’t for circumstances beyond our control, however having new faces aboard has brought a welcome freshness (and excitement) to the day to day routine. We now have four new but very experienced crew members, each with small tips and tricks (obviously not too many ;-)) from their own teams, and who have brought fantastic energy and with a huge smile to our small crew. Just a couple of the tips we’re enjoying so far are some new culinary delights from Sandra with the added bonus on a new place to store our eggs, Mary has shown us how we can attach the bluetooth speaker inside the boom to the reefing line, and have it transmit music to both the foredeck and the helming cages – our very own ‘boombox’, and Andrew has found a hanging device for the white paper roll in the galley, all genius ideas, now this is how to make a boat go faster! I’m excited to see what we can achieve together (aboard Kevin).
As far as the race goes, our departure from the lovely Subic Bay Yacht Club was probably our least glamorous departure so far, however after some fantastic support, a great fender team, and some magic (once again) from the Clipper Maintenance team, we were soon with the rest of the fleet and ready to race from Subic Bay.
The initial plan was to ease our way into this race and not push too hard at the get go. Soon after the Race Start it became clear that we couldn’t let those who had chosen to hoist their Code 2 (Spinnaker) gain too much of an early gap on us (we had chosen to go for the Yankee 1 and Staysail), and so we made our way down to the first race mark with our original sail plan, and also now with a new sail plan in mind… Soon after passing the mark (probably positioned in the top half of the fleet at this point), we gybed and decided to get more competitive with the faster teams – up went our Code 2!
We made our way to the next race mark trying to gain on, or at least catch the three or four ahead of us, while keeping ahead of the rest of the fleet who were all scattered across the bay, and hot on our heels. Over the next couple of hours the whole fleet remained very competitive (and very close at times), with the fluctuating wind challenging all 11 yachts to keep a sail full and to still make course! For me however this is all part of the fun (and the learning), and I particularly enjoy it when the fleet is in eyesight, it’s both an amazing sight, and a constant reminder to keep focused. It’s also a great chance to get up and (sometimes very) close with the other teams, of which now many are familiar faces.
After making the first few marks, it’s then been time to make our first big decision: go inshore seeking more localised land breezes, or stay coastal and try to take advantage of the current (and according to the data) the winds filling in first from this direction. We originally went a little in shore, however at the time and looking at the performance of the boats on AIS around us, we decided to avoid the coastal option. The next decision will be which sprint gate to go for. It’s early days yet, lets see how these decisions pan out for us this time...
On a personal note, thanks to my family and friends for an amazing time in Subic, and for bringing the toaster – you have made the entire crew very happy! Thanks to Tanya and Tina for your continued support, and particularly for getting the boys so excited about this adventure. I hope they’re working hard on whatever’s been set as the current Junior Clipper challenge.
Until next time, keep following… TC out!