Hello to family, friends, crew, and crew supporters, what an outstanding and rewarding race our Race 12, Panama to Washington, turned out to be. We finished fifth and were just two nautical miles behind Dare to Lead! We’ve had an excitingly close race with Dare to Lead for over a week, regularly swapping places for fifth and sixth place, with Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam holding fourth place. In the final 24 hours Dare to Lead and ourselves passed Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam to take the fourth and fifth places. The wind and the weather have been as varied as our positions, with several weeks of hot and sunny weather, t-shirts and shorts, sunglasses and sun cream, and surprisingly strong winds as we passed Jamaica, Haiti, and Cuba. However, the last three days were quite a contrast. Three days from the finish, our first heavy downdrop of rain caught everyone on deck by surprise with its intensity. The watch came off duty absolutely drenched and full foulies suddenly became essential. Welcome to the North Atlantic! On the final day of the race, the sun came out and blue skies returned. We also enjoyed a stronger than expected breeze to drive us to the finish, and so we avoided the common wind hole finish that has been a feature of some of our previous races.
It is fair to say that everyone in the Our Isles and Oceans team is pleased with our fifth place, especially as this was achieved without the use of wind instruments that chose to stop working after we left the Panama Canal. The lack of instruments required us to be more focused on how the sails were reacting to the wind and I felt that we all learned more and became better sailors because of this. It seems that the more challenging the race becomes, the stronger our sense of achievement with every successful time on the helm, or sail change and gybe.
For me personally, Leg 7 from Seattle to Washington, D.C has been a fantastic experience. I was originally signed up for the full round-the-world race, however, I flew home from Hong Kong at the end of Leg 5 having completed six months, from Portsmouth, UK to Zhuhai, China. At that point, I was feeling tired and somewhat apprehensive about the Pacific crossing. I also realised sometime later that I was missing my family and for me, it was the right decision to miss Leg 6. After two weeks back in the UK the challenges of the race faded and I began planning my return to join the OIAO team in Seattle. This went incredibly smoothly and after several more weeks of rest and Karate training, I was on the dockside in Seattle welcoming the OIAO crew into their berth in the Seattle marina.
Now, as we head into Washington through the Chesapeake Bay and into the Potomac River, I can reflect on this last month and remember a great race and some fabulous stopovers in Costa Rica and Panama!
I am also looking forward to the stopover in Washington, D.C. the final two race challenges across the Atlantic to Oban, and the return to Portsmouth, where my race will end as it began with family and friends.