CAN'T UPLOAD ALL OF MY PHOTOS OR VIDEOS AT THE MOMENT UNFORTUNATELY. THEY WILL BE ADDED RETROSPECTIVELY SO PLEASE CHECK BACK SOON AS THERE ARE SOME GREAT SHOTS FROM THE SOUTH ATLANTIC. For the moment, here is the leg 2 report...enjoy..
So having had a great stopover in Rio, a somewhat luxurious one it might be said after conditions on the boat, we found ourselves reconvening again to do final boat prep and get ourselves ready for what would undoubtedly be a harder race, with faster downwind sailing and bigger seas. We were joined by our new crew members, Mark Davies, Marc Scrimshire and Michelle Henderson replacing Greg Bond, Tom Reddaway and Ed Carley. Sad to be saying goodbye to those guys after a great first leg but it was important for all that we make sure the new crew were as welcome as possible so it was great to have a beers together on the last night before leaving.
Soon enough though the time had come to slip lines and say farewell to Brazil. We motored out underneath the fabulous Christ Redeemer and Sugarloaf mountains for a short course race round the cans before pointing Jamaica towards Cape Town, trimming sails and sailing as quickly as we could. We had a great start, out-foxing some boats that took a course further inland and got stuck in light airs from shadow of the coastline.
With only California and Edinburgh ahead of us we were confident it was a leg where we could really excel again and hopefully go one or two places better than last leg. Although the leg was not set to offer as many options tactically to the fleet there was soon a split of boats with
ourselves, Edinburgh and California making a more Northerly course, another 5 heading further South, with Cape Breton Island between the two groups. It was an early decision that was
to pay off as within 48 hours, despite being in the same wind system as Edinburgh and California, we were taking consistent miles out of them and leaving the southerly group even further behind. It was the first time in the whole race where we have been in first place for a consistent period and we were well places to pick up a full 3 points at the North-South gate 700 miles away.
It was a constant source of discussion on board as to how far south we should sail to be well placed between the South Atlantic High and low pressure systems that circle above Antarctica. Alas, one period of 24 hours, where we got that balance slightly wrong was to be our undoing; becalmed, 4 of the boats further south overtook us and we were left settled into the middle of the fleet as we got further and further offshore. It was a real wake up call as we had gone from a great start to a position now where we would potentially not pick up any gate points!!
Sure enough our route did begin to take us further and further south east and as expected, conditions soon deteriorated and we began a period of very strong winds, peaking at nearly 50 knots. Unfortunately this was not a happy time on board Jamaica as a stomach bug was going round the crew, and before long it was my turn to be ill - not pleasant when the heads are crashing round heeled over at 30 degrees! Whoever said this ocean racing was glamorous!
So I was disappointed to miss 72 hours of the last leg with a combination of sea sickness and a stomach bug. It was during this period that Hull & Humber, Singapore and Cork crossed over the scoring gate ahead of us, and so morale on board was not the best!
As mentioned there were to be few, if any, tactical decisions this leg, so gaining places would come down to a combination of good sail trim and accurate helming and we were more determined than ever for a strong finish into Cape Town after the disappointment of the gate. So with new found determination I slipped back into my watch system and role as one of the key helms and it was absolutely amazing to be sailing Jamaica along at speeds of over 20 knots! The only way I can describe it is like water exploding all over the boat. Needless to say
everyones foul weather gear was getting a true test of what the ocean can conjure up.
No sooner had a really got back into my watch system than I was back down below doing motherwatch duties!!! Not something I looked forward to in Force 8 winds and the boat crashing all over the place. Within 5 mins there was coffee, tea, hot chocolate and cuppa soup all over the floor as we bashed right through a wave and the trend was set for the next 24 hours! With pans, plates, the kettle, endless pieces of cutlery, food
, sauces, drinks, absolutely anything thats not fixed down flying all over the place it was a great relief to have a good nights sleep. Mark and I headed off to our bunks just trying not to think about having to repeat the whole performance again for breakfast.
The one benefit I had of being on Motherwatch is that when I did have a break I could catch up on the navigation side of the race and find out where we had got to in the last day or two. It was great to know that just as I was serving my last cup of tea, aqua-vaccing my last bilge and heading out on deck that we were about to break the 1000 mile barrier.
We had 1 more day of lighter winds before the next Low pressure system caught up with us and we were off again surfing up around the 20 knot mark. Its amazing how quickly the miles get eaten up at these sort of speeds and before long we were only 3 days from Cape Town, having nearly crossed the Atlantic for a second time!!! Each of us were daring to dream just a little of the creature comforts that awaited us. It had been a rough leg, with one of the other boats having a man overboard to serve as a constant reminder and we were all looking forward to a break.
But there was still sailing to do and we were driven into a final push as we closed on Hull and Humber and overtook into 4th place approaching South Africa. Similar to the first leg it was weird to be able to see another Clipper boat having sailed thousands of miles from the last stop, and when we could see Hull and Humber behind us we should have done more to cover them and get ourselves into a match racing mode for the finish. Ultimately not flying our lightweight spinnaker during the final night meant we crossed the finish line only 55 minutes behind them, in a solid 5th place.
It was great to arrive on dry land after what was a very different leg to the first. There was a different dynamic on board as I was with a different watch and so it was interesting to be sailing with new crew on board. There was rough weather, fast down wind sailing, breakages and illness so it really feels like we've earned our stopover in Cape Town. Over the next 72 hours the remaining Clippers arrived, California doing so in a phenominal 67 knots of wind under emergency steering. We were to learn that despite not finishing on the podium that we were one of the only boats to arrive with virtually no damage. Several of the other boats had destroyed sails, lost wind instruments, lost steering capability and crash gybed several times. The Jamaican strategy of looking after the boat to make sure it gets us all the way round the world had paid off.
Leg 3 over to Australia is set to be more of the same, if not an even more extreme version as we head down to the roaring forties, and I can't wait!
Hopefully there'll be some more photos and videos to follow.
Pete
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