Race 13 - Day 2
Crew Diary - Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland to Den Helder, Netherlands
19 July
When I thought we'd seen it all, been everywhere and there's not much left to learn and experience I was wrong, of course! Even after having sailed over 45k nautical miles on our beloved yacht, Visit Seattle, this race from Northern Ireland to The Netherlands brings lots of excitement and tactical racing as never seen before during this Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. The start was so much fun, closely rounding two marks on the River Foyle with twelve yachts hoisting spinnakers in such a tight area. We all had flashbacks from the Sydney to Hobart Race back in December, great fun!
Where everyone hopes for a smooth transition from life on land to sailing there was no such thing, no time to lose, no time for a warming up. The wind picked up quickly and it was a challenge to keep our spinnaker up while ploughing through the waves. Leo, one of our navigators for this leg, came up on deck to ask if we were getting insane. I think we were but we just managed to keep it all under control. The result was that we found ourselves in a great position in the fleet by the first daylight (in these longitudes around three in the morning but never mind). After we rounded the next two marks we could bear away to a bit more relaxed downwind course going in an easterly direction over the top of Scotland.
The great thing about these multi-race legs is that the crew on board know each other really well and communication and teamwork is quick and easy. That's exactly what you need during a short and action-packed race like this. Last night was probably the most important and tricky part of it.
Getting through the tight gap between the mainland of Scotland and the Orkney Islands is not an easy route to sail as the tidal currents are strong and timing is everything. The decreasing wind made for the entire fleet to come to a halt and there aren't more difficult conditions than light breeze and current against. I lost count of how many tacks and gybes we've done under our lovely windseeker to keep pointing in the right direction, but by the end of our sunrise watch we finally found ourselves moving forward. As the tide turned in our favour we were picking up good speeds. By midday we managed to sail into the open waters of the North Sea and towards the finish line off the coast of Den Helder. About 400 nautical miles in a straight line. That sounds easy, but the last stage of this race is still full of challenges as all teams are so close to each other. With our current position in the top half of the fleet we're going to give it absolutely everything we've got to sail towards a possible second podium finish. Personally I will give it my double, no triple(!) everything because it won't happen often to sail into my home country after such a trip with family waiting on shore...
Everything, everything, everything on Seattle!
Jan