Race 1 - Day 24
Skipper Report
13 September

Chris Kobusch
Chris Kobusch
Team Qingdao
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Good morning!

We have been racing hard and pushing the boat as much as we dared to get through the Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint as quickly as possible. Looking at the position reports of the other Clipper 70s, everyone else did too and it will be interesting to see who got the fastest time.

Just before sunset last night we got hit by a couple of big gusts and I realized then how comfortable the crew is already with the boat. The wind quickly jumped up to over 30 knots and Qingdao started heeling a lot with the guard rails and stanchions under water.

Looking back at early training levels in Gosport, this would have caused slight havoc on deck with crew having wide eyes and hanging on for dear life. Now the guys barely get excited! When I gave the call for the reef, everyone just went into position, stayed calm and concentrated and quickly put the reef in. Business as usual.

We are getting close to 10 degrees South now which marks the end of the Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint. Another 15 nautical miles and we will know our final time.

Let’s hope it is good enough for the top three!

Fair winds and a following sea!

Chris