Race 1 - Day 5
Crew Diary - Race 1, Day 5
08 September

Ripping Along

Firstly, I would just like to take this opportunity to thank all my family and friends for their support enabling me to realise my dream of racing across an ocean. Mine has been a two year wait but now it’s really happening I intend to give it my all and enjoy it to the full.

As you will have read in previous blogs from my crew mates, the first couple of days were a bit of a baptism of fire – especially for those who succumbed to sea sickness. Sailing into the wind in short choppy seas in the English Channel cannot be described as a pleasure cruise. It was uncomfortable and we had to learn very quickly how to function at an angle of 40 degrees when everything is more difficult. Simple tasks like getting into or out of our bunks or putting wet weather gear on take far longer than normal.

So, now we are in the notorious Bay of Biscay and rather ironically everything has calmed down as we are sailing downwind and the boat is more stable and generally a more pleasant place to be. Everyone's morale has suddenly improved. People who had been laid low with mal-de-mer have recovered significantly...

...and then we managed to rip a hole in our Code 2 Spinnaker during a gybe, our first sail damage, which was repaired by our sail repair gurus. We are now flying it again and CV23 is going like a train in the right direction!

***STOP PRESS***

I have just returned from being called back to deck to help take down our newly repaired Code 2 and no sooner had we got it down, the Bay of Biscay has changed completely and all hell appears to have been let loose again. Looks like we may be in for a bumpy night again!

Apparently, that’s ocean racing!

Love and hugs to all at home. We on WTC Logistics remain right here, right now!

Bye for now, Matt.