Race 1 - Day 26
Skipper Report
15 September
I promised the crew the boat would eventually flatten off - and I nervously waited, hoping I hadn't guaranteed too much. What do they say, it's better to exceed expectations than disappoint? There was an audible gasp of relief yesterday afternoon as our 45-degree tilt finally eased. Everyone's belongings flew everywhere from their wedged positions, people nearly fell out of bed as they were tilted so as to be flat at 45 degrees, hatches were opened and we remembered what it's like to sleep with real fresh air in your lungs and with only a small puddle of sweat cooling you down, rather than a near swimming pool. Ahhh... As well as less acrobatics for toilet 'head' visits, moving around the boat, and my general favourite, Nav Station Pilates *see Lance's blog a few days ago for plank typing position.
I've just spent the night sleeping soundly in my bunk apart from a few "what do you think about that cloud" questions, and the crew have sailed the boat themselves, responding to 30-degree wind shifts, gusts and a difficult sea state. When we lost Ariel, our Code 2 mediumweight spinnaker (always followed by a look of sadness/guilt), we discussed our strategy as a team for this Leg. At the time, we were faced with two weeks of downwind sailing, without one of our main downwind sails, so we decided to focus on training and improvement. Getting everyone doing everything helming, trimming, bow work. This has paid off massively, well definitely with regards to my beauty sleep. I taught some of these guys their Level 1 courses (the Clipper Race’s first training course) so it's absolutely AWESOME to see them now - so chuffed for them all!
In our happy hour today, Chris read out a message from fellow team mate Eric Frogatt who is joining us for Leg 6. Eric, it was fantastic to hear from you. He said there has been a lot of support for us on social media. I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been willing us on, we have felt it and you have sailed every mile with us. Last push now (well relatively speaking) so we are digging deep and doing our absolute best to make you all proud.
Sailing with style - Nik