Throwback Thursday:  OneDLL encounters Jaws and teams celebrate second Equator crossing

In this week’s Throwback Thursday, we look at the most memorable moments of February during the last edition of the race.

Leg 5 of the 8-leg series en-route to Singapore from Brisbane, Australia saw the fleet get off to a flying start. One of the longest and most challenging sections of the race, teams were warned of cyclones and threats of piracy but not those of the gilled variety.

As team OneDLL made its way past the coast of Papa New Guinea, not even Roy Scheider could have protected it as crew members encountered their very own Jaws. Round the world crew member Rosie Gosling, a 32-year-old from London recalls the incident.

“I was on the helm in a steadily building wind. As the steering got heavier I felt a massive tug on the helm. It felt as if we had hit something. And then it happened again. And again. Three times in less than a minute. We shone a torch over the side but we couldn’t really see the rudder.

“The following day we were well heeled over and we could see marks on the rudder. Our skipper Olly took a look a few days later and reported that we had in fact been attacked by a shark that had left its teeth behind!

“I didn’t believe him and was totally amazed that a shark would really try and take a bite out of our rudder. I guess when we were quite heeled and it was skimming the top of the water, it must have thought it was some sort of tasty, shiny, black fish. Every day of the race is different which is part of the reason I enjoyed it so much. I didn’t think we would be bitten by a shark, but it added to an awesome experience overall and we kept the tooth as a memento.”

During this race the fleet completed its final Equator crossing, returning to the Northern Hemisphere having first crossed during Leg 1, racing from Brest in France to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Each crossing saw a selection of crew go from being a Pollywog (someone who hasn’t crossed the Equator via yacht before) to a Shellback (someone who has).

To celebrate, each of the crews enjoyed a ‘crossing the line ceremony’ and appeared before King Neptune and his court, Davy Jones and her Highness Amphitrite. Teams did all they could to appease King Neptune which included head shaving and offering of food slops.

To view a selection of pictures from the Clipper Race crew crossing the Equator back into the Northern Hemisphere, click here.

To see the bite mark and OneDLL skipper Olly Cotterell talking about the incident, watch from approximately 2 mins 15 into the Singapore arrival video here.

If you want to experience the thrill of racing the world’s oceans, contact us soon as the race is 85 per cent full for this year. To find out more, click here.

We are also recruiting for the 2017-18 race edition. You can find out more information by emailing Della Parsons [email protected]or calling +44 (0) 2392 526000.