Tears of joy and sadness, flares and celeberations.

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Lisa Blair

The crew on board Gold Coast Australia said there farewells
for the last time as they departed from the cannel lined city of Den Helder, setting
out for home port of Southampton, UK in the 15th race of the Clipper
2011-12 Round the World Yacht Race.  The
race start was delayed so we sailed around a bit organising a few last minute
items on the boat like getting me dangling of another rope again as I went up
the back of the main sail to re-run the reefing pennant.  The winds were building to around 30 knots
and it was likely that we would need to reef (shorten the sail area of the main
sail).

Thankfully as we rushed down for the line we had some fantastic
speed and shot across in second place seconds behind Singapore but with all of
our momentum we were back where we belonged in 1st place again only
minutes later. A couple of minutes into the race we sailed past the team
Welcome to Yorkshire who were heading in the wrong direction, unfortunately for
them they missed the 10 minute call on the VHF radio and were madly trying to
get to the start line.  We held the lead
through as the night the as the winds eased down to 5 knots allowing for those
of our crew who had once again been struck down by the dreaded sea sickness to
recover slightly.  With the dramatic
change in wind strength we were all kept busy doing all of the sail changes to
keep up with it.  Trust me this was a
lot.

The following morning with our light weight spinnaker flying
in a calm 5 knots of wind, we were faced with a new navigational hazard as the
sun peaked over the horizon at 4am. Large wind farms lined the water ahead just
off the coast and there was also another TSS (Traffic Separation Scheme) a high
way for the super tankers and something that we were restricted to enter.  Whilst trying to keep clear of the wind farms
we fell into a wind hole which gave the golden opportunity to four other boats
to overtake us.  Due to our race success
so far (11 wins) the other boats would relish in the opportunity to be ahead of
us.  At one stage team Edinburgh
Inspiring Capital overtook us and just as there stern cleared our bow they all
cheered enjoying seeing us behind them for a change however 5 minutes later we
quietly overtook them back.  I didn’t
hear anymore cheering from them after that…

It was now the afternoon of day 2 at sea and we could now
see the white cliffs of Dover ahead and were about to sail down the Dover
Strait.  With three boats ahead of us we
made a tactical call to sail as close to those white cliffs as possible and
with some tidal calculations done Skipper Richard Hewson decided that it was
safe to sail over a sand bank with a depth of 1 meter on the chart.  This would mean that we would need to tack
less than the other boats allowing us to hopefully make up some ground.  Trusting in our tactical decision and the
fact that we did not run aground Edinburgh Inspiring Capital decided to follow
us. This tactic payed off for both of us as we exited the straits we were once
again in 1st place.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon we steadily increased
our lead on the rest of the fleet expect Geraldton Western Australia who stuck
to us like glue.  At around 8pm we sailed
once again into another bad wind hole offering up gusts of 0.3knots of wind.  Geraldton held the winds slightly longer and
gained the lead whilst behind us the rest of the fleet came steadily charging
up closing our 4 nautical mile lead down to a mere 500 meters.  Trying to do everything in our power to get
the boat moving we got Veronica up on deck to perform one of her wind
dances.  It must have worked because with
her arms failing and weird noises emanating from her vocal cords I felt a
slight hint of a breeze on my cheek.
Soon enough it was enough to get moving but we were once again back to
the middle of the fleet.  This was agony
because we had been working so hard to get the lead and then something small
like this would happen and you were straight back to the middle again and in these
light and fickle winds it was just so hard to catch the bad guys ahead.

We were now near Southampton and entering into the elastic
band section of the course. This was a series of marks that could be lengthened
or shortened to ensure that we arrived in Southampton in time for the race
finishing celebrations.  Our course went
from being a straight line to a triangle course that we ended up travelling
around twice having finished the first one with time to spare because the winds
were sitting nicely at 10 knots.  We were
not so lucky on the second time around as the winds once again dropped down to
near 0 causing our boat speed to do the same.
So the rest of the fleet caught up and we drifted towards the last mark
that we needed to round before we were able to go for the finish line.

We were reaching on our way to the mark with Singapore half
a mile ahead of us, once we went around the mark we would be able to hoist our
spinnaker and if we hoisted this before Singapore than we would have a chance
of overtaking them, the only chance before the finish.  Lucky for us it went off like clockwork and
was a beautiful piece of racing to watch. Rounding just inside Singapore we had
our kite up and set before they had started hoisting theirs, costing them
valuable time and allowing us to take 1st place again.

Once we were around the last mark the slight breeze that we
had once again dropped away causing us to drop our spinnaker and hoist our wind
seeker sail.  With a boat speed of 1.4
knots we were now drifting 0.2 knots faster than the rest of the fleet and very
slowly closed in towards the finish line.
Just after the sunrise on the dawn of the 22 July we sailed across the
finish in 1st place 200 meters ahead of the rest of the fleet.  What an intense and close race this final one
was but the adventures did not stop here because 3 miles further along is the invisible
line that we sailed when we left Southampton 12 months earlier.  Sailing over this line would officially make
5 of us on board circumnavigators.  20 minutes
after the race ended we became circumnavigators with tear filled eyes we all
embraced each other and remembered the journey that we shared across the world’s
oceans.  And what an adventure it has
been.

 

Once all of the sails had been packed away we lined up for a
parade of sail into the Southampton Waters, looking around the boat I could see
hundreds and hundreds of boats all shapes and sizes out to welcome the fleet
home.  What a fantastic sight this
was.  As we entered into the Ocean
Village Marina Richard lit a flare and we celebrated with the 30-40 thousand
people who were crammed along the waterfront.
I was simply too excited to cry but almost everyone else had tears in
there eyes and with the greatest adventure of my life now complete you might be
asking me what is to be next?  Well do it
all again of course!

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A nail biting finish to a tough race

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Lisa Blair

It is with heavy hearts that we set of for the 14th race in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race as our journey on the high seas is almost at an end. Racing from Derry Londonderry to Den Helder we line up for the race start under the rich green of Ireland and the multiple of people with their cheers and shouts to see us off. The line is just ahead and the countdown begins, 30 seconds, we are lined up nicely with two boats on the inside of us, 20 seconds it looks like the two boats ahead might have too much speed and cross the line early, 10 seconds, and they are forcing us to stop as they try to slow down. Up we have to come to take the wind out of the sails, woops we came too high and tacked the boat. Bang the start gun goes off and we now need to tack twice more to get across the line. Not our finest of racing starts but we soon made up for lost ground as we sailed with Ireland out over our transom off to Den Helder.

With the setting sun we had worked our way up to 5th position and by dawn we were in second place with Singapore working very hard to stay in-front of us. The winds had begun building so a nice and wet sail change was in order as we down sized from the Yankee 1 to the Yankee 2. We added a reef when the winds began gusting in the thirties leaving us with a large messy sea state and lots of very sick people. The number of fit and non-throwing up crew were so few that we ‘healthy crew’ were getting exhausted very quickly with all the extra work.

As I came on deck for the 8pm watch change day 2, I was very happy to find Singapore behind us. Rich was at the helm when he used a sailing technique called Lee Bowing, this is when you take the wind, or disturb it enough from the leeward side that it slows the other vessel down and you can get ahead. At this time we were only ½ a mile in front, not much of a lead but still a lead. I was taking over for a very intense 4 hours as watch-leader where a small oversight or mistake could cost us the lead again. We still had many people sea sick with only three making it on-deck and out of them only two who could do anything. This would also mean that everyone who was able to, was needed on-deck for any sail changes.

So it was that I found myself getting woken early for the 8pm watch change on day 3 so that I could help with dropping the heavy weight spinnaker. And found myself going through the Pentland Firth a tricky section of the ocean. This is a 2 nautical mile channel filled with small islands and reefs to negotiate. Because of the narrowing of the sea, the tides here can run up to 12 nautical miles against you and if you are a sailing vessel with fluky winds this can be a very unfriendly place to be. We came right up to within a mile of the Island of Storma before dropping our spinnaker and hoisting our Yankee 1. Once we were clear of the island we hoisted our Medium weight spinnaker and tried to shoot off however we had 7 knots of counter current slowing us down. Looking back we could still see the sails of Singapore and Visit Finland on the horizon. The two boats that we just can’t seem to shake. The next hazard to overcome will be oil rigs.

By day 4 we held a 6.5 nautical mile lead on Singapore and were on the eastern side of Scotland making our way down the coast to Den Helder. We were still running down wind offering a great opportunity for all the sea sick people to recover and enjoy the scenery of the cliffs of Scotland. On the evening of Day 4 our lead dwindled until we were sitting in 3rd place. We had sadly sailed into a wind hole, Visit Finland sailed in right behind us while Singapore to the right of us were still making ground and overtaking. It was so painful to sit there with 2 knots Speed over ground and have one boat (Visit Finland) not even 500 meters away making 3 knots and someone only 1 mile away making 5 knots. Although this was disheartening there was still 235 nautical miles left to run and we were not giving up that easy!

From then on we were kept working very hard playing catch up and on the midday to 4pm watch we went through 6 sail changes and wooled 2 spinnaker and still the gap between us and the leader remained the same a dismal 10 nautical miles. It did not seem to matter what we did we just could not close that gap. The bad winds did nothing to help the situation as we sailed in 7-9 knots with 30 degree wind shifts in seconds, just trying to keep us on our toes. By nightfall on day 5 the winds filled in giving us a fresh 28-30 knots so up went the Heavy Weight Spinnaker and off we took surfing the small swell at 15 knots plus. The horizon was dotted with bright lights from the oil fields and finally we started to make some ground on the leaders.

By 4am on day 6 we had narrowed the gap down from 10 nautical miles to 4 nautical miles between us and Visit Finland and 6 nautical miles to the leading boat Singapore then the radio crackled to life. There was a cable laying ship that was requesting we divert our from our course by 7 nautical miles to go around the back of them, thus loosing 7 nautical miles on the two leading boats. AHHH and they are so close to. But sticking within the rules of safe seamanship we altered our course and sat watching the competition get away. There was still a small chance that we might catch them because there was still 35 nautical miles left to run so instead of just taking the third place position we re-doubled our efforts and tried once again to catch the competition.

In the distance the land began to grow as we came closer to the finish. Singapore crossed ahead 5.8 nautical miles ahead of us and Visit Finland crossed a small 3.8 nautical miles ahead. Gold Coast Australia crossed the line to the cheers and smiles of the crew in third place at 0843 in the morning not at all disappointed with our position because we had come so much closer as a crew and worked so much harder in this race than any other, so for us third place was feeling great.

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Fog, Lobster pots and 1st again.

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Lisa Blair

The fog hangs thick and heavy for the crew on board Gold Coast Australia our view was reduced to 300 meters, sailing downwind with the Heavy Weight Spinnaker in a healthy 25 knots of wind on our 10th day at sea. Racing across the North Atlantic, competing in the 13th race in the Clipper 2011-12 Round the world Yacht Race. Throughout the sail from Halifax in Nova Scotia to Londonderry in Northern Ireland the fog had become a regular occurrence, experiencing only sunshine once so far we often feel, as our skipper Richard Hewson suggested, that we are in a simulator or bubble, our own little 1 mile long world.

By the following day we had changed up to the Medium Weight Spinnaker and were sailing along happily when the winds once again built to 23-25 knots at the lunch time happy hour so with all the crew on deck we once again hoisted the Heavy Weight Spinnaker and were able to come up slightly on our course so that we were sailing directly for the Northern Tip of Ireland that we needed to round before arriving in Londonderry. Still holding our lead with Welcome to Yorkshire a comfortable 89 nautical miles behind. The rest of the fleet still stretched out over 500 nautical miles.

With these long ocean crossings chafe was always a concern with the watch Leaders performing routine chafe checks of all the lines and sheets around the deck. Something that we had been unable to check for a few days had been the working spinnaker guy so once again I dawned the safety harness and climbed out to the end of the spinnaker pole. Because the guy rope was in use I attached a new line to the end of the spinnaker and climbed back down. Safely the deck we performed a half guy dropping the pole down and changing out the Guys, then re-setting the spinnaker pole. Just a simple matter of climbing out to the end of the spinnaker pole again to retrieve the old guy. This time there was no chafe on it but it pays to be careful with these as they take a lot of strain and it become very messy when they break, broken spinnaker and poles ect.

Still a good 95 nautical miles ahead of Singapore on day 12 at sea sailing in a lovely 17-20 knots once again under the Medium Weight Spinnaker. By the afternoon the winds backed around so much that it became impossible to maintain course under the spinnaker so we dropped the spinnaker and hoisted the Yankee 1, altering our course further to the north and on a direct line to the finish. The fog lifted long enough for us to have a very small patch of blue sky but then it once again came down. The winds also lightened to 6-12 knots and became shifty making it hard of the helm to try to maintain a direct course but trim, trim, trim and we will get there in the end. Only 388 nautical miles left to run so we are all anticipating the hot showers and even better a hot meal with a cold beer.

As the sky’s lighted on the morning of day 13 at sea with a constant drizzling rain. I was awoken at 0330 am for watch only to come on deck and find the boat drifting in 2-3 knots of wind going nowhere. With 150 nautical miles left to run this was so painful as we potentially could sit here all day while land was so close. It was a case of wind seeker up, wind seeker down, Light Weight Spinnaker up, Light Weight Spinnaker down, wind seeker up, wind seeker down and finally Yankee 1 up with a nice 7-9 knots of wind by the end of the watch. Meanwhile Singapore was still sailing with nice winds and reduced our lead down to 60 nautical miles.

By the afternoon watch we had less than 70 nautical miles left to run and were merrily sailing in 17-20 knots of wind with the Heavy Weight Spinnaker flying under blue skies with sunshine, something that we have seen very little of these past two weeks. The winds continued to be fluky as we closed in on the finish line. At around 11 pm that night the horizon was filled with the lights of Ireland. I was on the helm when out of the corner of my eye I saw something drifting down the side of the hull. Oh Ho it was two buoys marking a lobster pot, something that we definitely did not want to get stuck on. I watch as we sailed past and looked behind to see if we were dragging it with us. “Rich, Rich, we have caught a lobster pot.” He comes up on deck just as the buoys disappear into the darkness. I assumed that we had shaken off them as our speed was the same. Only a few minutes later we went from 7 knots to 0knots of boat speed as we were halted all together. Big bummer.

Potentially we could sit here for hours trying to work it free and allowing the rest of the fleet to catch us up. Not good. After 40 minutes of trying Rich was just about to jump over the side when we tacked and sailed free. What luck. Keeping a very careful eye out for anymore pots we continued to the finish. Finally after lots of fluky winds we arrived at the finish at 0330 am to a flotilla of boats to welcome us in, the Irish Coast Guard gave us a gift of whiskey and another supporting boat gave us some Champaign. Let the celebrations begin as we receive one of the best welcomes yet. For two hours people lined the river bank and waved to us as we made our way to the marina. What a lovely place.

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Chris……The Tropical Depression with a Name!

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Lisa Blair

The crew on board Gold Coast Australia are working hard to keep their lead as they enter into day 5 at sea.  Racing in the 13th race of the Clipper 2011-12 Round the World Yacht Race, the teams are sailing from Halifax in Nova Scotia to Londonderry in Northern Ireland.  After experiencing a few days of heavy weather the crews finally have the opportunity to recover from there seasickness and the rigours of life on board.  Sailing in moderate seas with winds of 19 20 knots on the bow the crew spent most of there time hiking on the high side to try and make the boat go just a fraction faster.  Remember when you are sailing in the thousands of miles range, 0.2 knots faster adds up.

By the afternoon we were visited by a pod of dolphins merrily playing on the bow.  As they raced to meet with the boat they would be leaping meters in the air time after time with such grace and agility. 

At the midday happy hour we were informed that the low pressure system that was just to the south west of us had just been upgraded to a Tropical depression (1 down from a cyclone) and was named Chris.  My general thoughts on this is if it has been given a name than it is likely to be very nasty to be sailing in.  Due to this weather we all needed to be ultra focused on trim so that we could place ourselves on the right side of it and get the benefit of down wind sailing instead of 30-40 knots on the nose which would make life very uncomfortable.  By that evening the winds had built to 30 knots and Chris was not even there yet but by the sounds of it we have much milder conditions than the rest of the fleet as we have stayed further south allowing for the calmer seas and winds.
 

Sailing with Chirs

Sailing with Chris

 

Still sailing upwind on the morning of day 7 at sea with miserable foggy conditions we put in a tack.  Unfortunately the person on the windward sheet failed to hold any tension on it until the Yankee had stopped flogging so the sheet (the piece of rope that we trim by) was tangled in a big knot around the working sheet.  So ‘Bow Girl’ once again dawned the harness and was hoisted out the sheet to try and untangle the lines.  I can tell you that it gave my abs a great workout as I needed to hold on just with my feet as we bounced through the swell so that my hands were free to work on the sheet.  Problem solved and I was once again back on deck and able to enjoy some hot porridge for breakfast and to get out of my completely wet clothing.

By the afternoon the winds abated to 7-12 knots (the calm before the storm) so our watch was very busy trying to go as fast as possible in the light conditions.  At one stage we hoisted the light weight spinnaker and were sailing shy with it.  As we were setting up the spinnaker on the foredeck I looked out to sea and spotted the back of a large gray sperm whale coasting through the water not even 10 meters from the boat. “Whale, Big F\+?ing whale.”  I guess it didn’t take kindly to my excited shrieks because it showed us it’s tale as it dived below us into the gray depths.  Only 10 minuets after the spinnaker was hoisted there was a big riiiiiippppping sound as I looked around I could see one half of the spinnaker flying towards the back of the boat and the other half bellowing out towards the bow.  “ALL HANDS ON DECK” We all madly scrambled around trying to get the spinnaker down before it tore the very last bit and landed in the sea.  Everyone was really quick and a few minuets later it  was getting passed below and laid out to be assessed.

Our saloon was then turned into a sail loft with the spinnaker repair team of 4 working on rotations around the clock to get the spinnaker repaired as soon as possible.  They certainly had quite the challenge as the spinnaker was torn from the foot all the way up the middle and was held together by a 10 cm section at the top.  On the plus side we are still in the lead.

By day 8 the winds had built back up to 20-23 knots so we changed down in sails and put a reef in the main.  This was the beginning of  Chris’ but lucky for us we had managed to get the right side of it and were sailing on a reach while the rest of the fleet were sailing close hauled in much heaver winds.  By the afternoon the winds had veered so much that we could re-hoist the Yankee one so we changed back again and shook out the reef in the main.  We were now sailing down wind in 28 knots of wind with gusts in the thirties.  The afternoon sked showed us in third position (not good) however this was due to the fact that most of the fleet were further to the north so there distance to the finish was shorter but they would be sailing directly into it rather than having a nice down wind run like us. Welcome to Yorkshire were in the lead at 20 nautical miles ahead and Geraldton next at 10 nautical miles ahead.

At 0500 am on the morning of day 9 at sea, just as the sun offered enough light to wok on the deck we hoisted the Heavy Weight Spinnaker in a healthy 23 knots of wind, gusting 28 knots.  The swell was around 2-3 meters and very confused from all the wind through the night making the helming quite tricky but the boat loved it as she flew over the waves.  We were also making a course directly for Londonderry now heading north east.
This was a great day as the Light Weight Spinnaker was finished thanks to the fantastic efforts of the sail repair team and the latest sked showed us in first place with a 35 nautical mile lead of the rest of the fleet. The whole fleet was now spread out over 600 nautical miles the longest in the  race history.  Still 650 nautical miles to run.

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Chronic Sea Sickness for Start of Race 13 Across the Atlantic Ocean

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Lisa Blair

As the Crew on board Gold Coast Australia wave goodbye to the lovely and welcoming people from Halifax, Nova Scotia we all look forward to the race start for the 13th race in the Clipper 2011-12 Round the World Yacht Race.  We are racing across our last ocean of the series bringing it home as we sail across the Atlantic Ocean one last time racing from Halifaxto Derry Londonderry.

Bang goes the start gun as the fleet surges ahead there is a jumble of boats all trying to be the first over the line.  For once it is not us but Edinburgh Inspiring Capital who make the line first, quickly followed by the rest of the fleet.  We are sailing on Starboard tack and are almost last to cross the line but as soon as we are across we tack heading north to line up for the next mark while the rest of the fleet stay on the Starboard tack.  There are two marks that we need to round before we can start to sail out of the bay.  After a few minuets we tack back to the Starboard tack and like magic we are in front.  In the lead now we tack once more and round the 1st mark leaving it to starboard, 200 meters later we round the second mark again leaving it to our starboard and set up to hoist the spinnaker.  We were not the first boat to get our Spinnaker up because there was some tangles with the lines however as soon as that was cleared we hoisted and were treated to the words Gold Coast Australia in big bold letters stretched across our Medium Weight Spinnaker as we hold our 1st place position.  Increasing our lead by the minuet we Gybed out of the river with Halifax to our backs and the North Atlantic straight ahead.

Start of Race 13

Race 13 Start

As we leave the shelter of the land we drop our spinnaker and hoist the Yankee 1 (our largest head sail) and the stay sail. By 8pm that night the winds are around 20-26 knots and the sea state is moderate to rough causing all those who suffer, to succumb to the dreaded sea sickness.  We changed to our Yankee 2 and put a reef in the main sail so that the boat was not too overpowered by the winds.  By midnight we had put the second reef in the main sail and held a fantastic lead or 2 nautical miles.  Not that the crew cared much about the race positions at that time as 70% of the crew were chronicly sick and half of that number not being able to get up on deck.  By the morning we were down to three people on each watch that were functional, not great but able to hold it together enough to do the helming, mother duties and bilges.

It was really hard not to be sick because you would have most of the crew dry reaching or vomiting next to you while you quietly try to eat your breakfast or lunch.  I would go and hide in the navigation station to eat so that I would not get sick myself.  On the plus side our lead had increased to 8 nautical miles by the end of the second day at sea.  To add to the many challenges there was lots of water in the bilges that needed cleaning but unfortunately every time a crew member went below they tented to get sick.  There were three on each watch who could not even get out of bed until we dragged them out for our happy hour on day three.  They did improve dramatically even though it was Gray and cold on deck with lots of sea fog making it hard to see more than a mile ahead.

By day four the 3 meters of swell had dissipated down to around 1 meter and the winds lightened until we were sailing once again with the full main, Yankee 1 and the stay sail.  The visibility is still very poor however we are making good grounds to the east and still holding 1st place and to top it off no one is throwing up any more.

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Two more golds for the team

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Lisa Blair

After sailing into the Hudson River leading the fleet to the finish of the 11th race in the Clipper 2011-12 Round the World Yacht Race the crew on board Gold Coast Australia are once again firmly focused as we line up for a La Mans start for the 12th race in the series sailing from New York to Halifax in Nova Scotia.

On both sides of us the Clipper fleet form up in a line with only their Main sails up and flying. Hanked on the foredeck is the two headsails ready to be hoisted the moment the starting horn blares. It’s 1940 in the evening when the 1 minuet countdown begins, 30 seconds, 10 seconds, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Bang. I am running to the bow as fast as my legs will carry me to release the two sail ties holding down the halyards. I shout Stay Sail free as I pull the slip knot and continue forward to the Yankee sail. At the same time the two people sweating up the sail start, the person in the snake pit is tailing the lines and the two people on the grinder are grinding with all there might. Shortly after the sails are up and set , chests heaving from the effort we all look around at the rest of the boats to see who is also finished and who is still hoisting their sails. We were not the first to have the sails up but that doesn’t matter as we pull into the lead.

With a La Mans race start we are not allowed to alter our course or sail plan for the first 10 minutes of the race so as soon as the necessary 10 minutes of time had elapsed we hoisted our Medium Weight Spinnaker with the sunset to our backs and sailed into the evening holding first place. Looking behind us the other boats were all silhouetted with the sunset, the sky is red with the spinnakers flying on this lovely clear evening. This race is completely different from the previous races in the series. For a start the race track is only 600 nautical miles long so this takes away a lot of the tactics making it a drag race. Get in front and stay there…

This is exactly what we tried to do but as with sailing the weather had something to say about that. By the 2nd day of racing we were playing cat and mouse with the other lead boats so it was that at sunrise we found ourselves in 2nd place behind Qingdao but by the end of watch we were back in the lead if only by 200 meters. The entire fleet was spread out over 9 nautical miles allowing for any boat to take the lead. By the afternoon the winds had dropped to a miserable 2-4 knots making it very hard to hold our lead as we tried to play the little bit of wind that we had. By the sunset the winds started to fill in giving us some lovely boat speeds of 9 knots and the horizon was glowing with a spectacular lighting show with flashes of red and white lighting the sky and when the sky was dark it was pin pricked with millions of stars.

On day 3 we had some lovely steady 13 knots of wind allowing for some trade wind spinnaker sailing averaging 10 knots of boat speed allowing us to work our lead to a slightly more comfortable 5 nautical miles. Just as we had gone below for our beds at midnight we were once again called back on deck to drop the Medium Weight Spinnaker and hoist the Yankee 1 and Stay Sail as the winds threw in an unexpected 80 degree wind shift causing us to sail completely in the wrong direction until we could get the spinnaker down. Two hours later we re-hoisted the spinnaker.

By Day 4 we had only 99 nautical miles left to run and we are still holding first place however it is with a very small lead of 6 nautical miles it is still anyone’s race. At 7am we dropped the spinnaker and hoisted the Yankee 1 and Stay Sail for the final run tacking up the coast with Visit Finland and Welcome to Yorkshire right behind us. At 0138 am on day 5 we sailed across the finish line in 1st place after successfully increasing our lead from 6 nautical miles the previous morning to a fantastic 28 nautical miles giving us another great victory.

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Fickle winds again…

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Lisa Blair

The Clipper fleet depart once again at 6pm to begin race 11 sailing from Panama to New York the two left behind were Gold Coast Australia who were still awaiting a new Gear Box to arrive and be fitted after many a complication on trying to receive this from America. The second boat was Team Finland who stayed behind to make sure that once we were under-way that our gear box would be functioning as it should be. Finally we slipped lines at 0015 in the morning and motored all night and all day to catch the rest of the fleet.

Just before sunset on the 15_5_12 we formed up in a line for a Le-mans race start. A French racing start where all the boats line up with their head sails attached but only their main sail hoisted. All the crew are to wait behind the coffee grinder for the start gun and then race forward and hoist the sails as quickly as possible. It is the first boat with the sails hoisted and set that takes the lead.

As we were forming up for the Le-mans start our new gear box decided not to engage so with 15 minutes until the gun sounds Skipper Richard Hewson is down below pulling apart the engine box to try and find the source. A few minutes later he come back on deck asking for a thin piece of wire or safety pin, someone suggested that he get a sewing pin from the sail repair kit and use that. Back down the hatch he flys with less than 7 minutes until the start. With 5 minutes to go he comes back on deck with the gear box fixed after working magic.

All lined up we await for the countdown. Because I am the bow-person I was to race to the front of the boat and free the sail ties of the two head sails and call the Halyard tension and trim. During our training with Clipper Ventures we practised these race starts a number of times but never have we done one so fast with no mistakes. The Gun sounded and a minute or so later our sails were up and set, as I looked around there were other boats who had only just got one of the sails up and were still working on the second. Go Gold Coast Australia.

A few short hours later we were fighting to keep 3rd place as we battled with a very close fleet with all the boats within 5 nautical miles of each other. By midnight we were back in the lead after executing a perfect sailing manoeuvre called Lee-bowing where you sail underneath your competition and take the wind from there sails allowing us to out sail them and extend our lead.

We had a lovely 15 knots of wind at sunrise however this dropped to a dismal 4 knots by the afternoon allowing all the other boats to catch up to us. Luckily they also had the same wind. Along the horizon that night the sky was dotted with 9 red or green lights marking the fleet. The game of Cat and Mouse began as one boat would fall into a wind hole and get overtaken and then we would fall into a wind hole and be over taken our selves. These conditions are so frustrating as nothing is stable, not the wind strength or the direction so we needed to make a lot of sail changes. Averaging about 6 evolutions a watch totalling 36 sail changes in one day. That is tiring work and little did we know that this was going to be the conditions that we would be sailing in for the next week. Focus is the key because even a slight advantage in speed can make a big difference.

On day 3 at sea we crossed the scoring gate in first place earning our selves another 3 points to add to our tally a narrow 5 nautical miles in front of De Lang Landen. Through this night Team Finland realised that they were not going to earn any points from the scoring gate so they took a tactical flyer and sailed along the Cuba coastline inside the TSS (Traffic Separation Scheme) and found them selves a healthy 30 nautical miles in-front of us as they managed to find wind all night while our sails flapped and we went through the customary 6 sail changes a watch. Big bummer.

By Day 5 Team Finland had opened up this lead to a whopping 40 nautical miles and were increasingly difficult to catch. By this time we had left most of the fleet behind however De Lang Landen was sticking to us like glue. If we Tacked or Gybed then they would Tack or Gybe… On and on this went until this morning , day 7, when we decided to sail to the west of San Salvador Island and they decided to sail to the east of it. We soon lot our visual on them and a sort time later they sailed out of range of our AIS (Automatic Identification System) that would normally be able to tell us there course over ground and there speed over ground. The next sked however held some good news we have now closed the gap slightly on Team Finland as they are now only 23 nautical miles ahead.

Utilising the opportunity with no boats in sight we enter into stealth mode tonight as we exit the Bahamas and sail into the slight Atlantic Swell.

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Innovation of the era, The Panama Canal

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Lisa Blair

My feet were dangling 90 feet in the air, hoisted to the top of the mast as we enter the first lock of the Panama Canal. After passing under the American Bridge with blue sky’s dotted with white fluffy cumulus clouds and the sunshine already letting us know that it is going to be a hot day we rafted up to Welcome to Yorkshire in preparation for entering the first lock. A short time later and with our Pilot on board we put our engine in ahead and guided our vessel which looked insignificant in comparison to the huge tankers that are over 200 meters, into the lock. We had a smaller ship in the very front followed by Geraldton and Team Finland who were rafted up together and then us and Welcome to Yorkshire at the back. To assist us in securing our like there are people assigned to throwing us a line for us to tie our mooring lines to and then they can pull this back to the Lock edge, attached at the end of these throwing lines are little bags with nits and bolts inside so you don’t want to try to catch them or to step out in front as one of our crew members almost learnt when she stepped out from behind the mast just as the person threw the line narrowly missing her nose.

As soon as we were in the hydraulic doors of the lock began to close. Once closed the water began to boil as the lock filled, churning up the mud from the lock floor. While the lock fills we needed to have the lines taken in at the same time, if we don’t do this the boat can start to skew in the wash and even slam into the Lock wall, so to save us all the paper work and the effort of explaining to Clipper Ventures how we sank there yacht in the Panama Canal we take up on the lines as the lock fills.

Once the first compartment or section of the Lock is filled we then motor through to the second section of the first Lock where again the doors close behind and we are raised another 15 or so meters. After completing this second section we are then freed to motor the short distance to the second Lock a few miles ahead. We again transited through in the same manner still rafted up to Welcome to Yorkshire only this Lock had one section instead of two. Safely through with no mishaps we travel further up river and under the centenary bridge whose construction was completed 100 years after the Panama Canal.

Now we are more than 800 meters above sea level travelling at dizzying heights, we motor down the Gatun Lake. At first we are snaking our way down a man made estuary that connects the Locks with the Lake framed on either side by dense Tropical jungle filled with monkeys and sloths. The lush green is contrasted with the wings of butterfly’s as they flutter on the wind. Eventually we emerge in the Lake it’s self spanning 20 miles or more and filled with lots of little islands. We are directed to the far side where we anchor. It is here that we say goodbye to our Pilot and await the next one.

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Us or them who is going to win.

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Lisa Blair

Competing in the Clipper 2011-12 Round the World Yacht Race, Gold Coast Australia have just taken the lead as they race south in race 10 of the series from Oakland, USA to Panama where they will transit the Panama Canal. Entering into our second week of racing the weather beings to get really challenging with variable and fickle winds.

Starting out our morning watch at 8am with the winds all ready light at 7 knots we were still sailing along quite nicely with 5 knots of boat speed under the Medium Weight Spinnaker and full main sail. By the end of the watch at midday the sun had burnt off any chance of clouds with its extreme heat that will only get hotter the further south we sail. Our wind fell to a dismal 2 knots of breeze, if you could call it wind at all, the ocean was like a mirror with barely a breath of wind to mark it as our boat speed fell to a sad 0.4 knots… As the winds dropped we completed the necessary sail changes from Medium Weight Spinnaker to Light Weight Spinnaker to the Wind Seeker trying to catch any little puff. We drifted all afternoon with those who were on watch working hard at catching the wind and those who were off watch were laying in front of their fans trying to cool themselves with very little success. Many of the other boats were in range with each other so a game of eye spy was played over the radio as a way to pass the time until the wind arrives again.

Late in the afternoon a fishing vessel was spotted 7 nautical miles away, as we drifted south with the current this fishing vessel continued its course around us in a big ark. A short time later a dan-buoy was spotted just off the bow, this is a float with a stick marked with a flag on the top and can be use for a man over board or to mark the end of fishing nets. In this case it was the later, making a quick decision we passed the dan-buoy to the right as we could not see any nets there but it soon became apparent that we had sailed right into the centre of a Persene Fishing Net and the only way out was to sail over the net… There was nothing we could do but keep sailing and hope that we did not catch the net. Lady luck was on our side as we sailed smoothly over and did not catch a thing. Later that day we were again encircled with another net but managed to get free without getting snagged. Just another challenging element of ocean racing.

The days and nights began to take on a pattern, with the sun rise any wind that was around is burnt off with the heat so that we are drifting for most of the day in 2-6 knots of wind, in the afternoon there may be a chance of a sea breeze if we are lucky that will offer a nice 10 knots of wind, at sunset the wind will inevitably disappear until the sun is below the horizon and we get what we like to call the Sunset Squirt of 10-15 knots of wind. The evening will start off with a light breeze helping to cool off the days heat and we will likely receive a land breeze late at night and hold this until the early morning where once again the sun will burn the wind away. This is very challenging as we make all the necessary sail changes to suite the frustrating and variable winds.

Just to add to the distractions was the abundance of wildlife in this part of the ocean and on day 8 we were greeted with a pod of Pygmy Killer Whales that decided to join us for lunch. These sleek gray and white whales that are the size of dolphins played on our bow as we drifted in the current. Over a hundred were scattered around the cool blue water surrounding us in groups of ten or more and they stayed with us drifting on the current on the surface as if they were sleeping, later in the day they returned with renewed vigour and jumped and played at the bow. Other animals were turtles, lots of dolphins, tuna, sea birds and even a butterfly.

At sunrise on day 9 at sea we held a lead of 8 nautical miles on Welcome to Yorkshire who could be see over our stern on the horizon. Making us focus more we trim, trim, trimmed to try and make some ground on them and by sunset our efforts had payed off as we held a new lead of 15 nautical miles and once again the only thing with in sight was us as we were surrounded by an unbroken horizon line. Day 10 was the 25th of April , Anzac Day, and for Australians this is a very special day of Remembrance for those who have sacrificed their lives to give us our freedom. Crew member Wayne read out some of the history of Anzac day to the international crews and we held two minutes of silence as we remembered. Lest we forget.

Our days were filled with seeking winds while our evenings were spent counting shooting stars. On day 11 we crossed the first of a series of compulsory gates in first place. Due to the nature of this race and the fact that the winds normally stop as we sail down the coast of Mexico the race officials have a series of these gates so if the need should arise to shorten the race course than they are able to do so without the fleet being spread out across the pacific. De Langdon crossed it in second place 20 nautical miles behind us. Due to the fact that any one of these gates could potentially become the finish line our tactics were to finish first across every one of them, which we did.

On Day 12 we were greeted at dawn with another huge burst of wildlife as a feeding frenzy erupted just of the bow with tuna leaping from the water in desperate efforts to flee the chasing dolphins and circling sharks turning the ocean white from the spray. Sailing most of the day with De Lang Langdon just behind us only 6 nautical miles in the morning and slowly slipping over the horizon as we work the sails as hard as we can to escape them. It was welcome news at sunset to find out that they were now 15 nautical miles away. For once we had wind, a healthy 15-20 knots that stayed with us for the night giving everyone a much needed break from the stifling heat.

On the evening of Day 14 we unfortunately got caught up in an unlit long line net and managed to wrap it around our Keel slowing us down, we went for an emergency Spinnaker drop and spent the next hour busy trying to free our selves. Due to the size of the hooks it is likely that this was a line for shark fining where they catch a shark and cut away their fins then throw the still living but now helpless shark overboard to slowly bleed to death. In Australian such nets are illegal and the act is so horrible that I did not feel so bad in cutting some of it away. Once we were free we re-hoisted the Spinnaker and Stay Sail, Later when the winds had shifted again I was in too much of a hurry to drop the Stay Sail and tripped as I walked forward to the bow and sprained my hand so I am now all bandaged up as I rest it.

One of the new jobs we found ourselves doing on board was a Spinnaker anti-chafe watch on the bow where you would sit and catch the Spinnaker before it rips on the Pull-pit. Late on Day 15 I went forward to perform this job and was greeted by 8-9 dolphins swimming under the twilight illuminated only by the phosphorescence reacting to their movement through the water outlining their every move as they jumped, divided and cris-crossed each other under the black ocean looking like spirits of the sea.
The following day the Clipper Race Officials announced that the race was to finish at the Puta Remedios Gate which was only 270 nautical miles away but in this wind it is likely to take us days. We drifted some more and slowly got closer and closer to the finish with De Lang Langdon right on our heels the whole time and every windless day that we floated we did not know if they had found wind and sailed around us or not so the tension was high as we waited for each sked to relieve us of our fears. On day 17 the race officials announced that the last 6 boats were to finish at one of the earlier gates as they were by now 200 nautical miles behind us and we needed to make the Panama Cannel for a specific time or we could be waiting a long time to go through. For us there was only 30 nautical miles to go until the finish and this seemed to take us forever to sail but by 0253 after 18 days at sea we finished taking first place once again and to finish of this beautiful race was a pod of over 200 dolphins hunting together as they herded up great schools of fish putting on an amazing show of leaps and spins for us.

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Light winds and wildlife

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Lisa Blair

For the sailing team Gold Coast Australia competing in the Clipper 2011-12 Round the World Yacht Race, sailing in race 10 from Oakland, California to Panama the week started with some playful guests. Strong, sleek and Gray the dolphins frolic on the bow in droves cutting the water with ease. All the crew watch on as they click to each other and jump up to catch a breath of air amidst the play causing those on deck to squeal with excitement. It doesn’t seem to matter how many time you are visited by these amazing and agile creatures you can not help buy smile every time and it is a fantastic way to start your morning whilst you sail under the early sunshine with the Medium Weight Spinnaker up and and a steady 13 knots of breeze.

Day 3 started with us sailing 10 nautical miles behind the leading boats but the following morning dawned with Welcome to Yorkshire a lovely 3 nautical miles behind us when at the sunset of the previous evening they were 3 nautical miles ahead. A 6 nautical mile gain in light winds during the night was something to celebrate. By the afternoon we watched frustratingly as we bobbed in the lee of Guadalupe, a island of Mexico that stands 12,000 feet high offering a large wind shadow. We could do nothing as we watched Welcome to Yorkshire sailed slowly past as they stayed out of this lee. We Gybed to get out of the lee and very slowly started to make up for the lost ground. With the helmsman pulling out all stops and using every trick in the book to sail faster in light winds not participating in conservation or the usual banter with our watch we simply sailed with maximum focus. We were rewarded at sunset with not only the glorious view of the setting sun colouring the sky with reds, pinks and yellows but we could also see Welcome to Yorkshire once again over our stern as they tried to catch us up once more. It was to be a game of cat and mouse.

Once we had sailed past Welcome to Yorkshire we were now in second place with the leading boat being De Lage Landen who were currently 9 nautical miles to the south of us and 30 nautical miles to the east. By the night of day 4 bow girl was called to action once again as we had been sailing with the Medium Weight Spinnaker on the Light Weight Sheets (rope) when the winds increased to 23-24 knots of breeze at around 2 am in the morning. So using my climbing skills I was hoisted up the sheet in the dead of night under a cloudy dark sky to attach the Heavy Weight Sheet and remove the Light weight once the line had been transferred. Mission completed.

With the boats sailing down wind in warming airs and light breezes it allows for the mothers (cooks) to create all sorts of culinary delights from Tai Green Curry to a Mexican special of Burritos and corn chips. Yummy we have also been having to opportunity to do a lot of helming training and allow people to move around the different positions on the boat and gain the full experience, for once it is not storm conditions and I still wake up each morning and need to pinch myself at the sight of sunshine. We have now lost sight of all the surrounding boats but they do drift in and out of the Radar screen so we are tracking our progress in relation to there’s and the tactical decision was made to go close to the coast line and hopefully pick up some more current and sea breezes.

Almost every day we have been visited by a form of wildlife from dolphins, whales, sea lions and turtles as we sail further south into the warmer waters of the tropics and by day 7 at sea our tactic of going along the coast line have paid off and we are finally in first place with a fantastic 30 nautical mile lead on the next boat. And tactically there is to be more wind to the south of us over the next few days so we should be feeling the benefits of this before the rest of the fleet and hopefully increasing our lead further.

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