Race 13 - Day 4
Crew Diary - Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland to Den Helder, Netherlands
21 July

Janine Rubie
Janine Rubie
Back to Reports View Team Page

Resilience. Mental fortitude. Will power.

Those who know me well will say that I have these qualities in abundance; that my ability to get through the tough times is second to none. This week these qualities were put to the test.

After a rather nasty bout of seasickness which laid me low and had me in my bunk for 36 hours I returned to deck thinking I had recovered. While it is true that the sickness had left me and I was feeling much better I was weak from a lack of food. A weakness I had dramatically underestimated.

Being Bow 1 means there is no time for weakness and I found myself working as hard as ever as we dropped the windseeker and raised the lightweight spinnaker in an attempt to get Missi moving faster. Going to the sail locker to put one sail away and get another out left me seeing stars and gasping for breath. Sweating the lightweight up and everything else that comes with getting a kite flying left me exhausted. By the time we were done I was reduced to lying on the deck my breast heaving as I gasped for even more air – the only physical strength I had left used to reach for my water bottle.

My mental fortitude however was intact – just. I have often said that I would break myself for Missi and her crew; that I would push myself to my limit. Until yesterday I had no concept of where that limit lay, of just how far I could push myself before my mental fortitude gave out. Yesterday I came close to breaking. Today I am recovered, my resilience is intact, and I am ready to do it all again.