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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Saturday, 12 June 2010
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
Monday, 31 May 2010
Jamaica to New York
We departed from Jamaica in glorius sunshine but very little wind. After
the usual media pictures in the bay and some refresher training for our new
leggers - Nigel, Martin, Anna and Rick ( the new 1st mate) it was back to
the business of serious racing.
We had our usual great start turning 1st around the mark in the bay before
we headed out towards New York approx 1400 NM away.
Conditions on board have been hot and humid and as usual life below decks
has been very uncomfortable. The sun has been shining as we pick our way
through the Bahamas Islands, very tempting to stop off and have a swim on
some of the deserted ones - Acklins Island looked particulary good.
Now into Day 4 and we have had our usual slip down the leader board due to
yet another wind hole that left us becalmed for about 12 hrs before a heavy
squall picked up the boat and fired us forward like a cork that has
been released from a champagne bottle. Unforunately the damage to our
position had already been done and we found ourselves in a disappointing 7th
position. This was a case for not leading into the Islands, those boats that
were 30 odd miles behind us could see that we (and Australia) were not going
anywhere fast and chose to go further east.Although this route added more
miles on to their passage, they managed to pick up consistant winds
which put them 100 miles ahead whilst we bobbed around for hours on end. I'm
sure that if we were in a similar position we would have done exactly the
same. We have been in this postion before and it only needs the leading bunch
to hit a similar weather system and we will start to reel them back in.
Day 7
We now have approx 390 miles to go and the leaders have not found any wind
holes, therefore it is likely that we will stay in this very disappointing
7th position, the leaders are too far ahead and we are now looking forward to
getting to New York where we can regroup and get ready for the next race to
Nova Scotia. We have to be in NY on the 2nd because there are various
corporate sails that we have to provide to Clippers corporate partners, I
think we are scheduled to do 3 or 4 over the course of our stay there. So not
alot of downtime before we head off to Canada.
The results from this race will mean that there is a real dog fight for the
overall 2nd and 3rd positions, we think Cape Breton will leap frog over both
ourselves and Jamaica to claim 2nd position with us dropping back to 3rd
overall.
Weather hot and sunny and we have seen more wildlife, dolphins and sharks and
masses of jelly fish.
All well on Team Finland, frustrated yet again but we carry on sailing and
smiling.
the usual media pictures in the bay and some refresher training for our new
leggers - Nigel, Martin, Anna and Rick ( the new 1st mate) it was back to
the business of serious racing.
We had our usual great start turning 1st around the mark in the bay before
we headed out towards New York approx 1400 NM away.
Conditions on board have been hot and humid and as usual life below decks
has been very uncomfortable. The sun has been shining as we pick our way
through the Bahamas Islands, very tempting to stop off and have a swim on
some of the deserted ones - Acklins Island looked particulary good.
Now into Day 4 and we have had our usual slip down the leader board due to
yet another wind hole that left us becalmed for about 12 hrs before a heavy
squall picked up the boat and fired us forward like a cork that has
been released from a champagne bottle. Unforunately the damage to our
position had already been done and we found ourselves in a disappointing 7th
position. This was a case for not leading into the Islands, those boats that
were 30 odd miles behind us could see that we (and Australia) were not going
anywhere fast and chose to go further east.Although this route added more
miles on to their passage, they managed to pick up consistant winds
which put them 100 miles ahead whilst we bobbed around for hours on end. I'm
sure that if we were in a similar position we would have done exactly the
same. We have been in this postion before and it only needs the leading bunch
to hit a similar weather system and we will start to reel them back in.
Day 7
We now have approx 390 miles to go and the leaders have not found any wind
holes, therefore it is likely that we will stay in this very disappointing
7th position, the leaders are too far ahead and we are now looking forward to
getting to New York where we can regroup and get ready for the next race to
Nova Scotia. We have to be in NY on the 2nd because there are various
corporate sails that we have to provide to Clippers corporate partners, I
think we are scheduled to do 3 or 4 over the course of our stay there. So not
alot of downtime before we head off to Canada.
The results from this race will mean that there is a real dog fight for the
overall 2nd and 3rd positions, we think Cape Breton will leap frog over both
ourselves and Jamaica to claim 2nd position with us dropping back to 3rd
overall.
Weather hot and sunny and we have seen more wildlife, dolphins and sharks and
masses of jelly fish.
All well on Team Finland, frustrated yet again but we carry on sailing and
smiling.
Saturday, 22 May 2010
Panama to Jamaica
As usual in this part of the world things do not always go to plan. We had our transit time throught the canal, but we were delayed on the Pacific side and missed our slot to exit on the Atlantic side. This meant that the three boats - TF, Cape Breton & Singapore who transited together spent a night moored in the Gutan lake. Not so bad really since an impromtu party was started which end in the small hours on the morning. After breakfast we waited for our pilot before entering the locks on the Atlantic side, a significant moment for many since this signaled the start of the return trip home. As the gates opened, some cheered and some had a tear in their eye as a realisation that this great adventure was now entering it's final leg.
After a brief stopover on the Atlantic side we departed for the sprint up to the island of Jamaica. After motoring for several hours (to find wind) all of the boats collected at the designated start point for the race start. Most races our started by the gun through a defined start line, this race was different, in that, we used the "Le Mans" format. All boats motor in line with main sail hoisted and head sails hanked on and prepared for hoisting, all crew are situated behind the "coffee grinder and are only allowed forward on the start signal. On the one minute to start signal, all boats cut the engines and maintain their course, on the start signal there is a frantic race forward to hoist the head sails and power up these monsters. We had a great start moving into the lead and maintaining that position as we hit very bumpy seas with 25 knots on wind on the nose. This made for a very uncomfortable ride and several people suffered with sea sickness.
We had a good ride up until we managed to put a hole in the main sail, this meant dropping this sail down to the third reefing point and repairing the sail.This lost us some vital miles which ultimately affected our final race position. Again, really frustrating that another equipment failure cost us vital points. In the end we entered Port Antonio in Jamaica in 4th position which put us back in 2nd position overall. The Australians continue to pull ahead and we have to put in a concerted effort to catch them.
We say good bye to some leggers, Cathy, Carole, Carolina and Colin, all have contributed to the Team Finland cause and I'm sure that we will see them again somewhere, sometime. We welcome new leggers, Martin, Nigel, Anna and John who are all eager to get going.
Race start to New York is scheduled for Monday at 14.00hrs local time.
All well on Team Finland.
After a brief stopover on the Atlantic side we departed for the sprint up to the island of Jamaica. After motoring for several hours (to find wind) all of the boats collected at the designated start point for the race start. Most races our started by the gun through a defined start line, this race was different, in that, we used the "Le Mans" format. All boats motor in line with main sail hoisted and head sails hanked on and prepared for hoisting, all crew are situated behind the "coffee grinder and are only allowed forward on the start signal. On the one minute to start signal, all boats cut the engines and maintain their course, on the start signal there is a frantic race forward to hoist the head sails and power up these monsters. We had a great start moving into the lead and maintaining that position as we hit very bumpy seas with 25 knots on wind on the nose. This made for a very uncomfortable ride and several people suffered with sea sickness.
We had a good ride up until we managed to put a hole in the main sail, this meant dropping this sail down to the third reefing point and repairing the sail.This lost us some vital miles which ultimately affected our final race position. Again, really frustrating that another equipment failure cost us vital points. In the end we entered Port Antonio in Jamaica in 4th position which put us back in 2nd position overall. The Australians continue to pull ahead and we have to put in a concerted effort to catch them.
We say good bye to some leggers, Cathy, Carole, Carolina and Colin, all have contributed to the Team Finland cause and I'm sure that we will see them again somewhere, sometime. We welcome new leggers, Martin, Nigel, Anna and John who are all eager to get going.
Race start to New York is scheduled for Monday at 14.00hrs local time.
All well on Team Finland.
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Panama
Alas, the wind gods dealt us another blow when they delivered yet another wind hole as we approached the revised finish line. This made for a very tense few hours as we tried to keep the boat moving in no wind and temperatures in the high 30´s. We felt that we were good for a podium place but in the end we had to settle for 4th place, only 6 mins behind Qingdao in 3rd place after 3000 miles and 19 days of racing!! Cruel but in the end a fair result after the majority of the crew had been at sea for over 50 days without a sustained break to recharge the batteries.
After the finish we waited for Cape Breton and both crews swam in the Pacific - water temperature an unbelievable 34c. We then motored to Panama over the following two days where we hit rough weather with about 25 knots on the nose which made for a very bouncey 48 hours. Arrrived in the Flemenco Marina based on a small island off the mainland at about 21.00hrs where we were welcomed in by the crews of Australia, Jamaica and Cape Breton and the obligatory celebration drinks.
We are awaiting our transit time up the Panama Canal, it looks like it will be sometime tomorrow morning local time, we are told that there is a live webcam so you may even see us go through!! We slip lines at 06.30, so expect to be entering around 08.30, as usual anything can change this schedule!
All well on Team Finland and looking forward to the sprint up to Jamaica.
More to follow
After the finish we waited for Cape Breton and both crews swam in the Pacific - water temperature an unbelievable 34c. We then motored to Panama over the following two days where we hit rough weather with about 25 knots on the nose which made for a very bouncey 48 hours. Arrrived in the Flemenco Marina based on a small island off the mainland at about 21.00hrs where we were welcomed in by the crews of Australia, Jamaica and Cape Breton and the obligatory celebration drinks.
We are awaiting our transit time up the Panama Canal, it looks like it will be sometime tomorrow morning local time, we are told that there is a live webcam so you may even see us go through!! We slip lines at 06.30, so expect to be entering around 08.30, as usual anything can change this schedule!
All well on Team Finland and looking forward to the sprint up to Jamaica.
More to follow
Friday, 7 May 2010
Temperature is rising.
True to form, the British have both eyes firmly on the weather and we
have now gone to the other extreme of my first leg where the weather
was very wet and freezing, to blazing sunshine and temperatures in the
40s. This presents us with different sorts of problems, the main one
being, keeping our spinakers filled with air as we navigate down the
Mexican coast. We have 3 on board which are flown individually depending
on the wind strength. These bits of cloth that are the size of a tennis
court are very fragile and are prone to damage, on this leg we have
managed to rip the heavyweight in 3 pieces, the middleweight has had to
be repaired twice and the lightweight has also had 2 repairs! Dropping
and raising these monsters keeps us busy and the constant trimming that
is required means that there is always something to do.
Thankfully everyone seems to be keeping their fluids up as dehydration
cannot be ignored, the living accomodation resembles a sauna and some
nerves are becoming a touch frayed, however, we are all collectively
pushing hard to make a big impression on the fleet as we go through our
43rd day at sea without some recovery time.
We are confident of a podium finish in this race and we are really
pushing for the top spot, we are further south than any other vessel and
our course suggests that we are in a great position even though the
clipper figures have us either in 2nd or 3rd position. So keep your
fingers crossed and watch this space!
Day 49 - what a differance a few days can make, as I write this at
02.00hrs we are in our 2nd day of no wind as the rest of the fleet either
extend their lead or catch us up and pass us! The prospect of a podium
finish in this race now looks pretty remote.
we have gone through the 100 degree temperature on deck and we have had
our first casualty of heat exhaustion.
I had the pleasure of being on mother watch later today, this is when two
of the crew have to cook all of the meals for the crew of 19, we measured a
temperature of 44 degrees n the galley, despite drinking 9 litres of fluid I
still could not keep up with the output through the skin!
We are now on Day 53 and the tension on board can be cut with a knife.
We have caught up with the Aussies and the race has been shortened by the
race comittee, so we have a straight drag race of about 100 miles to the new
finish line where anyone of 5 boats could win this race.
We like some of the fleet are currently stuck in a wind hole and we are
doing a massive 1.7 knots!! It's going to be a long and tense night as all
the boats seek some elusive wind that will propel them to the new finish
line and the coverted 10 points.
Watch this space...........
have now gone to the other extreme of my first leg where the weather
was very wet and freezing, to blazing sunshine and temperatures in the
40s. This presents us with different sorts of problems, the main one
being, keeping our spinakers filled with air as we navigate down the
Mexican coast. We have 3 on board which are flown individually depending
on the wind strength. These bits of cloth that are the size of a tennis
court are very fragile and are prone to damage, on this leg we have
managed to rip the heavyweight in 3 pieces, the middleweight has had to
be repaired twice and the lightweight has also had 2 repairs! Dropping
and raising these monsters keeps us busy and the constant trimming that
is required means that there is always something to do.
Thankfully everyone seems to be keeping their fluids up as dehydration
cannot be ignored, the living accomodation resembles a sauna and some
nerves are becoming a touch frayed, however, we are all collectively
pushing hard to make a big impression on the fleet as we go through our
43rd day at sea without some recovery time.
We are confident of a podium finish in this race and we are really
pushing for the top spot, we are further south than any other vessel and
our course suggests that we are in a great position even though the
clipper figures have us either in 2nd or 3rd position. So keep your
fingers crossed and watch this space!
Day 49 - what a differance a few days can make, as I write this at
02.00hrs we are in our 2nd day of no wind as the rest of the fleet either
extend their lead or catch us up and pass us! The prospect of a podium
finish in this race now looks pretty remote.
we have gone through the 100 degree temperature on deck and we have had
our first casualty of heat exhaustion.
I had the pleasure of being on mother watch later today, this is when two
of the crew have to cook all of the meals for the crew of 19, we measured a
temperature of 44 degrees n the galley, despite drinking 9 litres of fluid I
still could not keep up with the output through the skin!
We are now on Day 53 and the tension on board can be cut with a knife.
We have caught up with the Aussies and the race has been shortened by the
race comittee, so we have a straight drag race of about 100 miles to the new
finish line where anyone of 5 boats could win this race.
We like some of the fleet are currently stuck in a wind hole and we are
doing a massive 1.7 knots!! It's going to be a long and tense night as all
the boats seek some elusive wind that will propel them to the new finish
line and the coverted 10 points.
Watch this space...........
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Racing at last
Mother nature threw us a curve ball as we approached San Francisco in
the form of a wind hole, this meant that we were delayed another day
getting into port since we had virtually run out of diesel and the wind
gods had let us down again. Thankfully, Cape Breton put to sea with
emergency supplies - beer, food, cigarettes and of course, the vital fuel
that would propel us under the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.
The race was then on to get into port before the tide changed, if we
missed the tide this would have meant which another 5 hours out in the
bay!! At 05.00hrs on the 19th we
passed under the Golden Gate bridge and docked just before 06.00, Anna
along with other crew relatives were shouting words of welcome from the
breakwater. Once we tied up we waited nearly 3 hours until the immigration
officials arrived. After a few beers we were eventually cleared and
headed off for a well earned shower and a shave. We had given
ourselves the chance of making the race start (18.00hrs on the 20th)
even though we had many jobs to complete before we could sail - water
maker, generator, new main sail etc etc.
And so, on the 20th we prepared ourselves for the start, the sun was
shining but there was a stiff breeze with gusts predicted at 40 knots as
we got out into the bay - no change there then!
As the gun went off, with collective team adrenaline pumping through our
bodies we headed back under the Golden gate bridge for the next
installment of this ultimate white knuckle ride.
There was much debate amongst the rest of the fleet as to how the Team
Finland crew would perform after being at sea for 35 days and without any
"downtime",well, we made our intentions very clear by heading the fleet
after 24 hrs. We have had the predicted battle with Spirit of Australia
for the lead in this race, at the last reported positions they were 4
miles ahead of us as the fleet race towards the scoring gate.
After a few problems with our spinnakers - we ripped 3 of them, we managed
to secure 2nd place through the scoring gate and earn an additional 2
points, unfortunatley the Aussies pipped us and therefore extend their lead,
the good news is that we are well and truely back in the race!
The weather has turned to clear blue skies and light winds which will
present all of the teams with the challenge of keeping these 35 tonne
monsters moving.
Love the comments on the blog, I can only access them when we reach dry land
but keep them coming.
All is well on TF.
the form of a wind hole, this meant that we were delayed another day
getting into port since we had virtually run out of diesel and the wind
gods had let us down again. Thankfully, Cape Breton put to sea with
emergency supplies - beer, food, cigarettes and of course, the vital fuel
that would propel us under the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.
The race was then on to get into port before the tide changed, if we
missed the tide this would have meant which another 5 hours out in the
bay!! At 05.00hrs on the 19th we
passed under the Golden Gate bridge and docked just before 06.00, Anna
along with other crew relatives were shouting words of welcome from the
breakwater. Once we tied up we waited nearly 3 hours until the immigration
officials arrived. After a few beers we were eventually cleared and
headed off for a well earned shower and a shave. We had given
ourselves the chance of making the race start (18.00hrs on the 20th)
even though we had many jobs to complete before we could sail - water
maker, generator, new main sail etc etc.
And so, on the 20th we prepared ourselves for the start, the sun was
shining but there was a stiff breeze with gusts predicted at 40 knots as
we got out into the bay - no change there then!
As the gun went off, with collective team adrenaline pumping through our
bodies we headed back under the Golden gate bridge for the next
installment of this ultimate white knuckle ride.
There was much debate amongst the rest of the fleet as to how the Team
Finland crew would perform after being at sea for 35 days and without any
"downtime",well, we made our intentions very clear by heading the fleet
after 24 hrs. We have had the predicted battle with Spirit of Australia
for the lead in this race, at the last reported positions they were 4
miles ahead of us as the fleet race towards the scoring gate.
After a few problems with our spinnakers - we ripped 3 of them, we managed
to secure 2nd place through the scoring gate and earn an additional 2
points, unfortunatley the Aussies pipped us and therefore extend their lead,
the good news is that we are well and truely back in the race!
The weather has turned to clear blue skies and light winds which will
present all of the teams with the challenge of keeping these 35 tonne
monsters moving.
Love the comments on the blog, I can only access them when we reach dry land
but keep them coming.
All is well on TF.
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