Race 8 - Day 11
Skipper Report
15 March
Hello team,
How are we this “end in sight” Thursday? Although the “in sight” we are
currently experiencing is about 400m, due to fog.
We are currently moving along at just under 2 knots, under the Code 2
(mediumweight spinnaker) with 75nm to go at the time of writing. We are just
4nm behind Nasdaq (morning Rob) and
4nm in front of Dare To Lead (morning
Dale). Ah, “Nasdaq to the front of me
Dare To Lead to the rear of me, here
I am stick in the middle, with …...” name that song?
So whilst the leaders are across the finish line, we await a weather transition
to roll over the top of us. We are expecting the winds to back from south to
the north-east as the next low, with the associated front, comes across the
race track and dominates the weather. So, after a number of days under the
kite, the last push is expected to be an uphill beat in 30 knots of wind.
As the Post Script to yesterday’s blog indicated, , we did not get the
opportunity to get bored, as we worked our way through the biggest stretch of
net fishing that we have encountered to date. There was a bit of a break-through
for us, as we believe we have broken the Chinese riddle in terms of the system
of how they lay the nets.
Unfortunately, that didn't help us break out of them any more quickly, but
allowed us to make our way north and west through them. Phil Gunn thinks we did
more gybes under spinnaker yesterday then the whole trip from Liverpool so far.
Then, just to make it slightly more interesting we had a brief technical
hiccup, which meant we lost our AIS system, (now resolved) just as the fog
started to thicken. So, a great day on the GREAT Britain boat, to stretch the
comfort zone for some and develop decision making process for others.
By the time we did break out of the Great Fishing Fleet Maze, most of the crew
were ready for their off watches and sleep didn't come soon enough.
Well, in other news, the ladies on board got very excited overnight as they
eagerly awaited a visit from Johnny Depp. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be for
them as, the “Black Pearl” that went hurrying past us wasn't the three- masted
schooner from the Pirate films, but a 240m tanker. Still, they had all brushed
their hair and the saloon looked very tidy.
So, as this potentially is the last blog for this race, I would like to say a
shout out to Pip O’Sullivan and Alanna Ticknor for some Great Watch Leading (Alanna
is just beginning to work out my sense of humour), Jon Milne and Phil Gunn for
assistant Watch Leading. To Jayne Harding and Emma Kelly for victualling in
Sanya, and especially for making wraps so last race, although they did have an
appearance in two lunches. Tessa Hicks for being the “all over it” medic. For
Jeremy Hilton, who put his hand up in Fremantle to be the Additionally
Qualified Person onboard our boat and for occasional listening to my
suggestions, then raising an eye brow and uttering the phrase “Do you think
that's entirely wise Skip?” To all the crew who have shown they can push and give
the extra “one percent”, the development has been impressive on all fronts.
I think we have shown we can be competitive; we need to be able to do it all
the time until we cross the line and not just when things are going our way. We
need to tighten up on some basic skills and attention to detail. Taking our eye
off the ball has potentially cost us our hard earned “Scoring Gate” points as
both lightweight spinnaker sheets were allowed to disappear over the side, a
hard-learnt lesson.
Finally, a big thank you to you, our family, friends and supporters who without
your support and understanding we would not be able to take part in this race.
(Lorraine, my wife, you get a bonus ''House Point' for your understanding and
patience you have displayed over the last 12 months). Hope you can all join us
on the boat, when we slip lines for the “Mighty Pacific” Leg next
Friday for our trip to Seattle.
Oh, did you know: Starbucks was named after Starbuck, the strong and steady
ship's mate, in Herman Melville's novel 'Moby-Dick'. Who knows one day there
might be a chain of fine Great British tea shops called “Hiltons”.
Standing by the channel – out.
Dave