Leg 1 the first few days
Forgive the typos spelling but this is as it was
IT IS DAY 3 OF THE FIRST LEG OF THE VOLVO OCEAN RACE SFN WE HAVE ALREADY LEFT ONE SEA AND ARE HOONING ALONG IN AN OCEAN. I SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISED BY NOW AT HOW QUICK THE BOATS GO AND HOW MUCH DISTANCE WE TRAVEL. SO FAR WE HAVE SEEN DOLPHINS, PILOT WHALES AND MORE EXCITINGLY FOR ME A WATER SPOUT!!! HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT THE SOUTHERN OCEAN WILL OFFER UP.
I WAS SURPRISED AT HOW EMOTIONAL I WAS WHEN I CAME TO LEAVE, I THINK THE LONG DRAWN OUT PROCESS OF SAYING GOODBYE GOT ME THINKING I WAS OFF TO SOME IMPENDING DOOM OR SOMETHING. BUT ONCE WE GOT RACING THAT DISAPPEARED. BIG THANKS TO MY FAN CLUB....DEFINITELY THE BEST ONE THERE!
SO WHAT A START AND NOT O NLY THE ACTUAL START OF THE RACE ( BIT OF A MANOUVRE MESS UP) ON THE IN-PORT PART OF COURSE BUT I THINK IT ALL DEMONSTRATED HOW NIP AND TUCK THIS RACE IS GOING TO BE AND 3 DAYS IN THERE IS NO RESPITE WITH THE FLETT ALL WITHIN 10 MILES OF EACH OTHER....DOESN'T MAKE LIFE EASY ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU SPLIT FRON THE FLEET AT NIGHT SO EARLY ON IN A RACE
HOWEVER A LITTLE BIT OF BELIEF IN WHAT WE KNOW AND THE GIRLS SAILING THE BOAT HARD AND LOW AND BEHOLD WE WERE IN THE LEASD, TRICKY STRAITS AND THE WRONG SIDE OF A TSS (DONE THAT BEFORE) AND WE ARE BACK IN THE MIX
SO NEXT STAGE IS TO CONVERT AND CONSOLIDATE AS COULD HAVE MADE THE NEXT DAY A WHOLE WORLD EASIER
DAY FOUR, DOH DAY 5!!, IN THE MAGNETA BOAT RACING AGAINST 54 OTHER SLIGHTLY MAD PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD. WELL I SAY SLIGHTLY MAD BECAUSE I KNOW I AM AND I ALSO KNOW WHEN YOU ARE TRYING TO STACK SAILS IN 37KT OF WIND IN THE PITCH BLACK AND PISSING RAIN YOU HAVE TO BE A WHOLE OTHER LEVEL OF MAD.....ROUND BRITAIN AND IRELAND HAS NOTHING ON THE FIRST OF MANY FRONTS I WILL SEE AND THIS ISN'T EVEN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN!
THE RACING IS UNBELIEVABLY CLOSE JUST WHEN SOMEONE FALLS BEHIND OR PULLS AHEAD BY 8-10 MILES THEY SUDDENLY ON YOUR DOORSTEP AGAIN. I HAVE TO SAY THAT AFTER THOSE FIRST FEW DAYS AND GETTING OUT OF THE STRAITS IN GODD SHAPE (WELL GREAT SHAPE) POSITON WISE I WAS COMPLETELY BROKEN SLEEP WISE WHICH IS NOT IDEAL. ANYWAY I HAVE VAGUELY MANAGED TO CHARGE MY BATTERIES AND RECOIL MY SPRING WHICH IS GOOD AS WE HAVE BEEN PASSING BOATS WITHIN IN CHATTING DISTANCE OF EACH OTHER.
THE NEXT BIG STEP IS LEAVING AFRICA FOR THE DOLDRUMS I BEGIN TO WONDER WHETHER THIS IS WHERE THE EXPERIENCE OF THE OTHER NAVIGATORS MAY PAY OFF BUT THEN SAM HAS GONE A COUPLE OF TIMES ROUND THE WORLD...THOUGH DIFFERENT MONTH.
wHAT IS NICE ABOUT OUR CURRENT POSITION, DARE I SAY IT AS I DON'T WANT TO JINX IT, BUT WE ARE LEADING THE FLEET SOUTH ADN WE POSITIONED OURSELVES HERE THROUGH SAILING THE SHIFTS AND THE FLEET WELL.......ONLY ANOTHER 20 ODD DAYS OF DOING THAT!
Clearly jinxed it! This morning was a morning of snakes and no ladders after sailing seriously well in the night I positioned us into a big fat light wind hole. This is hard and I am struggling with the reality of these big gains and losses and not being able to consolidate within the fleet. On the plus side it does mean if we can still gain back a couple of miles day for the next 20 days then we wil be straight back into it and we are the come back kids. I don't mind losing miles through being beaten but I do mind through throwing them away which I seem to be doing an ever so slightly marvellous job at the moment. Pretty sure we could win the prize for most miles gained adn most miles lost in this leg so far. Though I have to keep telling myself that it is about looking forward not backwards and how we are going to make that next gain.
There will no doubt ther will be places where we can gain more miles at once than that. But it is very hard. I had a complete brain fart adn went against everything I knew, no amount of checks are keeping on track it seems at the moment. Chin up m'old mucker is what some of you would say.
DAY 7 has a slight feeling of day 6 about it in terms of losses though I am hoping not as once through into tomorrow morning we will be into some stronger breeze- sadly the rich will get richer at that stage and then be looking to make the decision of when to head west for the doldrums. I have struggled to bolster my confidence since suffering the big loss we did and being a complete retard. The trouble being I can still picture it in my mind and th ethought of debriefing it just pains me. The responsibilty is a lot to handle,. I feel the weight of the world about it. Though Sam does a good job of picking me up
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IT IS DAY 3 OF THE FIRST LEG OF THE VOLVO OCEAN RACE SFN WE HAVE ALREADY LEFT ONE SEA AND ARE HOONING ALONG IN AN OCEAN. I SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISED BY NOW AT HOW QUICK THE BOATS GO AND HOW MUCH DISTANCE WE TRAVEL. SO FAR WE HAVE SEEN DOLPHINS, PILOT WHALES AND MORE EXCITINGLY FOR ME A WATER SPOUT!!! HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT THE SOUTHERN OCEAN WILL OFFER UP.
I WAS SURPRISED AT HOW EMOTIONAL I WAS WHEN I CAME TO LEAVE, I THINK THE LONG DRAWN OUT PROCESS OF SAYING GOODBYE GOT ME THINKING I WAS OFF TO SOME IMPENDING DOOM OR SOMETHING. BUT ONCE WE GOT RACING THAT DISAPPEARED. BIG THANKS TO MY FAN CLUB....DEFINITELY THE BEST ONE THERE!
SO WHAT A START AND NOT O NLY THE ACTUAL START OF THE RACE ( BIT OF A MANOUVRE MESS UP) ON THE IN-PORT PART OF COURSE BUT I THINK IT ALL DEMONSTRATED HOW NIP AND TUCK THIS RACE IS GOING TO BE AND 3 DAYS IN THERE IS NO RESPITE WITH THE FLETT ALL WITHIN 10 MILES OF EACH OTHER....DOESN'T MAKE LIFE EASY ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU SPLIT FRON THE FLEET AT NIGHT SO EARLY ON IN A RACE
HOWEVER A LITTLE BIT OF BELIEF IN WHAT WE KNOW AND THE GIRLS SAILING THE BOAT HARD AND LOW AND BEHOLD WE WERE IN THE LEASD, TRICKY STRAITS AND THE WRONG SIDE OF A TSS (DONE THAT BEFORE) AND WE ARE BACK IN THE MIX
SO NEXT STAGE IS TO CONVERT AND CONSOLIDATE AS COULD HAVE MADE THE NEXT DAY A WHOLE WORLD EASIER
DAY FOUR, DOH DAY 5!!, IN THE MAGNETA BOAT RACING AGAINST 54 OTHER SLIGHTLY MAD PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD. WELL I SAY SLIGHTLY MAD BECAUSE I KNOW I AM AND I ALSO KNOW WHEN YOU ARE TRYING TO STACK SAILS IN 37KT OF WIND IN THE PITCH BLACK AND PISSING RAIN YOU HAVE TO BE A WHOLE OTHER LEVEL OF MAD.....ROUND BRITAIN AND IRELAND HAS NOTHING ON THE FIRST OF MANY FRONTS I WILL SEE AND THIS ISN'T EVEN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN!
THE RACING IS UNBELIEVABLY CLOSE JUST WHEN SOMEONE FALLS BEHIND OR PULLS AHEAD BY 8-10 MILES THEY SUDDENLY ON YOUR DOORSTEP AGAIN. I HAVE TO SAY THAT AFTER THOSE FIRST FEW DAYS AND GETTING OUT OF THE STRAITS IN GODD SHAPE (WELL GREAT SHAPE) POSITON WISE I WAS COMPLETELY BROKEN SLEEP WISE WHICH IS NOT IDEAL. ANYWAY I HAVE VAGUELY MANAGED TO CHARGE MY BATTERIES AND RECOIL MY SPRING WHICH IS GOOD AS WE HAVE BEEN PASSING BOATS WITHIN IN CHATTING DISTANCE OF EACH OTHER.
THE NEXT BIG STEP IS LEAVING AFRICA FOR THE DOLDRUMS I BEGIN TO WONDER WHETHER THIS IS WHERE THE EXPERIENCE OF THE OTHER NAVIGATORS MAY PAY OFF BUT THEN SAM HAS GONE A COUPLE OF TIMES ROUND THE WORLD...THOUGH DIFFERENT MONTH.
wHAT IS NICE ABOUT OUR CURRENT POSITION, DARE I SAY IT AS I DON'T WANT TO JINX IT, BUT WE ARE LEADING THE FLEET SOUTH ADN WE POSITIONED OURSELVES HERE THROUGH SAILING THE SHIFTS AND THE FLEET WELL.......ONLY ANOTHER 20 ODD DAYS OF DOING THAT!
Clearly jinxed it! This morning was a morning of snakes and no ladders after sailing seriously well in the night I positioned us into a big fat light wind hole. This is hard and I am struggling with the reality of these big gains and losses and not being able to consolidate within the fleet. On the plus side it does mean if we can still gain back a couple of miles day for the next 20 days then we wil be straight back into it and we are the come back kids. I don't mind losing miles through being beaten but I do mind through throwing them away which I seem to be doing an ever so slightly marvellous job at the moment. Pretty sure we could win the prize for most miles gained adn most miles lost in this leg so far. Though I have to keep telling myself that it is about looking forward not backwards and how we are going to make that next gain.
There will no doubt ther will be places where we can gain more miles at once than that. But it is very hard. I had a complete brain fart adn went against everything I knew, no amount of checks are keeping on track it seems at the moment. Chin up m'old mucker is what some of you would say.
DAY 7 has a slight feeling of day 6 about it in terms of losses though I am hoping not as once through into tomorrow morning we will be into some stronger breeze- sadly the rich will get richer at that stage and then be looking to make the decision of when to head west for the doldrums. I have struggled to bolster my confidence since suffering the big loss we did and being a complete retard. The trouble being I can still picture it in my mind and th ethought of debriefing it just pains me. The responsibilty is a lot to handle,. I feel the weight of the world about it. Though Sam does a good job of picking me up
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