Race 1 - Day 8
Crew Diary - Race 1, Day 8: Liverpool to Punta del Este
27 August
I'm sure many of you have now read the news regarding our skipper, Dave. As you can imagine, we are absolutely gutted for him and many of us have been reflecting hard on the events of the last 24 hours. The resounding emotion coming from the crew is pure admiration for Dave as an individual and our skipper, but also the critical nature of having safety as our number one team priority.
He has undeniably created a highly motivated team who are inspired behind his own personal story and his dream to skipper a team around the world. He has galvanised a spirit within Team Greenings like none of us have experienced before. We are there for each other, we help each other learn and improve, he's created belief in ourselves, we've even got used to his slightly OCD nature on how he runs the boat (with military precision let's say!). But what is probably the most striking is the spirit and sense of fun within the team. Small things like the 'Joke of the Day' (or 2 if we're unlucky), his love for music on the boat, his personalised mug for his tea, his obsession on our race performance, his 'emotional' moments, and the fact he truly cares about us as individuals and a team. Dave has created the Team Greenings spirit from the very outset of our campaign to race around the world. It's that spirit that is holding us together now.
Many of us are going through emotions of what we could have or should have done differently. Some are debating what they do next. The realisation of the dangers at sea have hit hard. All team members were put to the test that night, and experiencing the medical evacuation procedure for real brought home to reality the risks we have all chosen to take on with the Clipper Race adventure. Big praise should be mentioned for many of the crew that night, and in particular Miles and Jemma who got Dave treated quickly, Jeremy who is now 'steering the ship' in Dave's absence, and Don our team coordinator.
As a team, we will dig deep. We are currently making our way to Porto, Portugal and we hope to quickly turn around, and get our race campaign on track. We are so proud of our improvement in our position prior to the accident, as we were on track to be in the top four boats within the next 36 hours.
We know we have the capability. We have the spirit. Team Greenings will be back.
We love you Skip. Speedy recovery. We'll be “Rocking all over the World” in your honour.
Jenny and CV24 Crew