Race 2 - Day 8
Skipper Report
15 October

'Squid in the grid'!

As a team we are quite jealous of PSP Logistics for their spot the other day. Hopefully we will get a pod of Orcas swimming with us too. We have had our own wildlife recently though, I found a squid on the deck during one of my deck checks and last night round the world crew member and watch leader Mike Moore got hit in the face with a squid! "They are not very big but they are heavy and they stink," replied Mike upon questioning of the unfortunate event.

I forgot to mention yesterday that our top speed, which was set by yours truly was an impressive 23.4 knots! We had Khaleesi up (the heavyweight spinnaker) and there had been a number of rollers (long smooth waves) following us. All of a sudden the back end picks up and the bowsprit buries into the water. This isn’t fun for Leg 2 crew member Johan Silkenas as he is on the pulpit about to step onto the bowsprit for some titivation of the tack line!

Anyway the stern and I seem to keep going up and the bow goes down even more then the acceleration begins as weight and gravity take over and off we go, surfing! I can’t imagine that standing on a 6ft board and doing the same is as exhilarating?! I seem to be following Ash’s lead every day, sorry Ash!

I mentioned yesterday that we had a problem with a masthead spinnaker block. Well I thought there was still something wrong with it after it was fixed and that we would use the port spinnaker halyard until I had a chance to go and look at it. Well my chance came this morning before we hoisted the kite again. I got up there with a spare Harken spinnaker block in my pouch and some spectra to make repairs if required. Sure enough one of the bearing cases that ensure the block rotates smoothly had disintegrated and there was no sign of it at all. So after changing it out, rerunning the halyard and re-tying another safety strop all was good and we got the kite up. After I got down the mast of course!

We seem to be following GREAT Britain’s track on a slightly north of east heading with kite up. We are waiting for a change in the wind which will allow us to gybe and put some more south in our course. This should set us up nicely for the Ocean Sprint in around 500 nautical miles!

When I was in the Army, I sailed for the Joint Services Adventurous Sail Training Centre (JSASTC) Try saying that when you are drunk! It was the policy that the Skipper was always well rested in case he was needed on deck for a long period of time. There was of course lots of other qualified guys and gals on board, so that wasn’t usually a problem!

Each boat in the Clipper Race fleet has a number of Coxswains, not necessarily on the boat at the same time but there should be at least one per leg. They have been trained to get the boat to safety in the case that the Skipper is incapacitated in any way. The rest of the crew are trained by us to the standard that we need them to be. So if we want rest we have to trust that they will follow their training and do what you ask of them without too many diversions! It is a very different 'bag of frogs' or 'kettle of fish', whichever you prefer!

Here though we get a massive sense of satisfaction when something goes well or we go fast. When things do go wrong, the Skipper knows it is ultimately their fault! So, it is 0530UTC and we have just changed down from the Yankee 1 to the Yankee 2 after a stint with the staysail up to keep the momentum. We have one reef in the mainsail and we are still doing in excess of 12 knots! It is beginning to get light outside and it is going to be a b-e-a-utiful day!

Until tomorrow......

Mission Performance Warriors Out For Now