Race 11 - Day 16
Crew Diary - Race 11 Day 16
23 May

16 days at sea have passed and we are nearing scoring gate 1! Slowly. But progress is progress. As we are nearing the first finish line, many of us can already taste the beers and cocktails we are going to have in Panama. Chatting about the race we are still in, most of us can’t keep the days straight. Everything seems to be one big blur of memories. 16 days seems short but also so long. With upwind, cold, wet, and seasickness the first few days. Described by the round-the-wolders as the real racing experience, changed to the Clipper Race advertised brochure of champagne sailing for a few days. As we are moving south the weather is getting warmer and warmer. Sleeping down below, the fans aren’t a luxury but a necessity. Or sleeping in the best place with airflow, the sail locker. So funny how the most hated place on the first few days of the race seems like a cool Valhalla now. Same for the time between the sunset and sunrise seems to have changed from being difficult to now my favourite time to be on deck. Not only because the boat cools down but between these moments we see the most wildlife and magnificent colours in the sky which change to magical starry nights I would have never seen at home. Before the start of Leg 7, Ineke promised me that Leg 7 would involve loads of sail changes. Which until 3 days ago I started to disbelieve as we had been sailing on Code 1 on the same gybe for over a week. Now a watch consists of headsails down, Code 1 up, down again, wind seeker up, tacking, wind seeker down, Code 1 up, gybing, Code 1 down, headsails up, and so on. Another change is the position we are in now. As we are nearing the Scoring Gate 1 with PSP Logistics 1 mile behind and Dare To Lead only three miles. The last 50 miles are still everything to play for. This means that mentally everybody needs to be in race mode! Sharp helming, constant trimming, and sitting in the heat are instead of shade to keep the boat in a better balance. There are six Mandatory Gates, and no Finish Line is called yet. So, every Mandatory Gate needs to be taken seriously. I am very proud of all the progress we made as a team, and I am sure we will do everything in our power to get as many points as possible! See ya in Panama - a very sweaty Sea Dog.

(Wil)