The great thing about the shorter races is that some of the fleet are usually in sight for some, if not, most of the race. This can lead to very exciting racing and keeps most of the crew focused.
The temperature is now dropping as we head north up the eastern seaboard of the USA and we have maintained 2nd position as we push on. The wind is coming from a southerly direction as we hoist spinnakers to maximise our sail area in the lightish winds, we can see Hull & Humber in front and Cape Breton Island, Singapore, California and Australia are behind us although they are only 2 or 3 miles to our stern.
Had the "excitement" of mother watch today, this involves providing food & drinks for the crew of 18. Woken at 05.30 to make breakfast (porridge) and then start to look at what ingredients we have for lunch and dinner.
Lunch - Pasta and tomato sauce
Dinner - Corned Beef Hash
Fresh bread is cooked each day and we (Mark who is mothering with me) excell by baking a cake, all whilst the boat is powered up and often heeled over.
Since Mark and I are both recognised bowmen we are called up on deck to assist in the dropping of the spinnaker and hoisting of the "white sails" (head sails) and then the reverse, this is fairly normal pratice as we try to max out as much speed as we can.
Great excitement today in the dappled morning sun as pilot whales were spotted off the starboard bow, about 5 or 6 were feeding off the vast quantities of squid that proliferate these waters at this time of year, it is a real privilege to see these amazing creatures in their natural habitat.
We should be in on Thursday afternoon with a bit of luck, although the winds are getting a little flukey which does not bode well for us and our previous management of the same - only time will tell!!
We have done it again...., I went off watch at 22.00hrs with TF in 2nd place and was woken at 02.00hrs with us back in 4th!! We gybed the boat straight into another wind hole and lost 7 miles on Australia in 4 hrs, this is becoming SO frustrating to the point where we are starting to question some of the tactics.
We have Cape Breton 50 metres off the starboard qtr as we are both racing neck & neck through the waves at approx 10 knots, constant calls for sail trim are heard and responded to, then they drop their medium weight spinnaker as the wind picks up, we know that they have trashed their heavy weight spinnaker in a previous race so we pull ahead of them, all very exciting stuff.....
More wind holes off the coast of Cape Breton Island have now seen us drop down the fleet to a very very disappointing 6th position, all we want to do now is get in and get off the boat, have a beer and get some sleep - Oh the joys of ocean racing.
Anna & Debbie are on the pontoon as we arrive at about midnight, we clear customs and immigration and head off to the nearest bar to seek some solace.
Hull & Humber win, with Australia 2nd, Cape Breton 3rd, Singapore 4th, California 5th and TF 6th.
Having a great rest in Cape Breton where you can get fresh lobster for $5 in the supermarket and the scenery is spectacular.
Pleased to hear that Peter Johnston is making great progress after "dying" on the 17th at AGC, I knew we let all those medics in for some reason! Pete the original SAG is alive and kicking and I'm sure we will share a beer when I get back.
For now, all well, as we again prepare for another Ocean crossing - the Atlantic and await the craic in Ireland, I wonder if David O'Leary will be there to welcome us in !!!!!!
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Thursday, 17 June 2010
Saturday, 12 June 2010
New York to Cape Breton Island Nova Scotia
Following our memorable stopover in New York the fleet prepared to leave the Big Apple for the sprint up to Nova Scotia, this race had an added significance for the crew on the Cape Breton boat since they were racing into their home port. After the usual Clipper departure where boat songs are played at top volume as each boat slips their lines and boat crews salute the other boats we headed out into the Hudson River and left the Manhattan skyline behind us. After the sail past in fleet formation we headed towards the Statue of Liberty for the usual Clipper picture opportunity in front of this iconic landmark, before heading out to open waters for the race start. The weather was cold and the sea state very lumpy as expected 25-30 knots of wind straight on the bow.
After a few hours of motoring the boats collected at the start point for another Le Mans start, not a problem for us as we generally do very well and usually find ourselves in first postion. The Le Mans start sequence goes something like this - all ten boats are powered by motor with the main sail hoisted. The two headsails are rigged but are packed on the deck ready to be hoisted. We get various time warnings ie 10mins to race start, 5 mins to race start and the tension starts to rise. All the crew on each boat have to be behind the main winch (coffee grinder) and each crew member has a predetermined position - I am one of the two "beasts" ( Emil being the other) that hauls up the Yankee 1 by hand, believe me, no mean feat in a strong headwind with the boat heeled over! We then get the 1 min warning from the race start official (one of the skippers at sea, in this case Hannah Jenner on the Cork boat) and the engines are switched off and the real countdown begins. On the signal of the race start, all the crew leap into action to get the sails up which in turn allows us to power up the boat and hopefully get away from the other boats. For the next 10 mins each boat has to maintain its course before they can peel away and start to plot their way to Nova Scotia.
We had a great start once again and as we were trimming the sails a huge rogue wave hit us and swept a number of crew off their feet, I was standing by the shrouds hanging on the steel cables that hold the mast in place at the time catching my breath after hauling up the Yankee, most of the wave went over my head but the force of the water was unbelievable as my legs were forced forward by the immense power. Nobody escaped the wave, even those at the back of the boat felt the full force, thankfully, everybody was accounted for and we picked ourselves up and continued with our work, soaked to the skin, some a bit shell shocked but everyone fit and well.
All well on Team Finland
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After a few hours of motoring the boats collected at the start point for another Le Mans start, not a problem for us as we generally do very well and usually find ourselves in first postion. The Le Mans start sequence goes something like this - all ten boats are powered by motor with the main sail hoisted. The two headsails are rigged but are packed on the deck ready to be hoisted. We get various time warnings ie 10mins to race start, 5 mins to race start and the tension starts to rise. All the crew on each boat have to be behind the main winch (coffee grinder) and each crew member has a predetermined position - I am one of the two "beasts" ( Emil being the other) that hauls up the Yankee 1 by hand, believe me, no mean feat in a strong headwind with the boat heeled over! We then get the 1 min warning from the race start official (one of the skippers at sea, in this case Hannah Jenner on the Cork boat) and the engines are switched off and the real countdown begins. On the signal of the race start, all the crew leap into action to get the sails up which in turn allows us to power up the boat and hopefully get away from the other boats. For the next 10 mins each boat has to maintain its course before they can peel away and start to plot their way to Nova Scotia.
We had a great start once again and as we were trimming the sails a huge rogue wave hit us and swept a number of crew off their feet, I was standing by the shrouds hanging on the steel cables that hold the mast in place at the time catching my breath after hauling up the Yankee, most of the wave went over my head but the force of the water was unbelievable as my legs were forced forward by the immense power. Nobody escaped the wave, even those at the back of the boat felt the full force, thankfully, everybody was accounted for and we picked ourselves up and continued with our work, soaked to the skin, some a bit shell shocked but everyone fit and well.
All well on Team Finland
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Saturday, 5 June 2010
New York to Cape Breton
The final couple of days into New York found us enveloped in thick fog
and very little wind, however, we managed to hold onto our 7th position
which has placed us in 3rd position overall. There is a rumour going
around that Cape Breton have trashed their heavyweight spinnaker and are
seeking a new one from Clipper, if that is the case then they will be
deducted 3 points from their overall score which will place us back into
2nd position overall - we will have to see if there is any foundations
to this rumour. What is very clear now, is that the battle for 2nd & 3rd
places is becoming very congested.
Thankfully the fog lifted as we motored into New York, the view of the
Manhatten skyline and the Statue of Liberty were truely amazing. The
small North Cove marina is a block away from Ground Zero, building of
the new tower is underway but is someway off completion. You really
sense the scale of the disaster when you look across the site as the
redevelopment takes place.
We leave tomorrow (June 6th) for our short passge to Cape Breton approx
780 miles. We are expecting some rough weather with the wind "on the
nose", this will make for big waves and for those of us on the foredeck,
a very wet few days.
We are all ready for the next challenge and really hope that we can get
into the lead once again and this time, turn it into a podium finish.We
had a head to head "fun race" with Australia during a corporate sail on
the Hudson River, very pleased to say that we beat them!!
All well on Team Finland
and very little wind, however, we managed to hold onto our 7th position
which has placed us in 3rd position overall. There is a rumour going
around that Cape Breton have trashed their heavyweight spinnaker and are
seeking a new one from Clipper, if that is the case then they will be
deducted 3 points from their overall score which will place us back into
2nd position overall - we will have to see if there is any foundations
to this rumour. What is very clear now, is that the battle for 2nd & 3rd
places is becoming very congested.
Thankfully the fog lifted as we motored into New York, the view of the
Manhatten skyline and the Statue of Liberty were truely amazing. The
small North Cove marina is a block away from Ground Zero, building of
the new tower is underway but is someway off completion. You really
sense the scale of the disaster when you look across the site as the
redevelopment takes place.
We leave tomorrow (June 6th) for our short passge to Cape Breton approx
780 miles. We are expecting some rough weather with the wind "on the
nose", this will make for big waves and for those of us on the foredeck,
a very wet few days.
We are all ready for the next challenge and really hope that we can get
into the lead once again and this time, turn it into a podium finish.We
had a head to head "fun race" with Australia during a corporate sail on
the Hudson River, very pleased to say that we beat them!!
All well on Team Finland
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