meredithcbi

4th position..... That's where we finished race 14, the final race! With the winds getting lighter and lighter, we were quickly losing boat speed, and before I finished my night watch.... Australia had over taken us, and Qingdao was breathing down our neck!
Congrats to Cork skipper and crew, as the pulled out their first win in the whole year! But its disappointing to not stand on the podium for this last haul! I really thought we had it.

This is still nothing really to complain about.... We will be on the overall podium receiving a blue 3rd place banner for all the skill and hard work over the past 10 month from a variety of people from all over the world!

I will continue the updates after we dock, the prize giving ceremony has commenced and I have had a shower before the final crew party tonight!!

I know this is my second post for today... But I forgot to mention the advantage we had over Jamaica since this morning! We watched them blow out their spinny right in front of us!! It was spectacular sight! Sad for them.... Helpful to us!

We are slowly bobbing here just off the coast of Bridlington, and Cork is in the lead. But we are in a persuit race where they started early due to their handicap. So I'm not counting them! Haha! Then Hull & Humber is ahead of us, and Spirit of Australia is chomping at our heels! With 2nd position so close in this race, the window for 2nd overall seems so obtainable!

Both watches are on deck now as the final hours of the 09-10 race are upon us! Its quiet, wind had lightened.... And we slowly inch closer to that podium we've craving!

Stand by for more.....

After our disastrous start to this race, and fight upwind through the wind farms last evening, we managed to gain some mileage back on our competitors! On my night shift, we flew our heavy weight spinnaker in what even I(known as Spinnaker Woman at home) would call 'testy' conditions!

We had the chop that was forecasted, but not quite the winds! Thank goodness! We had steady 20 knots with gusts into the 30 knot range, but we were determined to get back into the race! It was a rocky ride, similar to coming in to the Holland finish line, only we had 160 miles before this finish line!

We gained ground on the Singas, passing them throughout my watch, and closed in the gap on Hull & Humber and Spirit of Australia! As my watch ended, all the other boats had dropped the spinny's due to the building winds, but thankfully Jan (our skip) took the helm and watched to drive it a little longer as our progress was unbelievable!

So here I sit on the morning watch; we are currently sitting in 3rd position in the fleet, with Hull & Humber off our bow about 2.5 miles ahead of us, and Spirit of Australia one mile off our beam. In the last 30 minutes we have pulled .5 a mile out on our lead over Singapore, and continue to drive er' home!! Jamaica and Team Finland being our major podium rivals at this time and behind us; I intend to keep them there!

We're holding onto what we have, and working our tails off to climb to the top! We're about 80 miles to the finish.... And our last day of racing... I think the emotions are rising, and the excitement of the finish is on everyone's mind! But it's not over yet! Keep cheering!

Well here we are in IJumuiden, Holland (about 40 minutes outside Amsterdam). This was a short stopover, and really only scheduled as a muster point for the fleet after Cork, and before we head to the grand finale in Hull. Our race into Ijmuiden was much faster than anticipated. Therefore the crews had a little time to relax and explore!

The night of our arrival was probably the best night I have had with the clipper gang since I joined the boat! It was random and we partied with the Singas mostly, and it was a blast! Sadly, we all know it was one of our last times to enjoy time together on shore! (besides this weekend after the finish!)

I did take a day and make the trip into Amsterdam. Another city I had not yet been to. Unfortunately, there was so much to do, and huge crowds everywhere, I didn't get to do any of the historic or scenic things I had desired. Which only means I'll have to come back sooner than later!

Anyway, back to the sailing.... We slipped lines at 4pm only to allow the race committee to catch their flights to Hull. And then the fleet just bobbed and lingered outside of the marina for over 3 hours, waiting to start the race. We couldn't start immediately due to the high winds expected; we would then arrive in Hull at the finish line before the arranged time! Sounds like a huge hassle and inconvenience right? Well yeah... all the waiting around is a drag and can often get everyone's mind wandering and off the focus of the race. The weather forecast called for high winds 35-40 knots for the first 12 hours, and knowing the English Channel, that meant rough seas and steep chop! The excitement of the race was all fresh on our minds that morning, but maybe the forecast and the stress of the last race got to us a little. There were some errors and disaster across the fleet just prior to the race start, which only added to the overall Clipper scene!

I'll start by saying where we stand in the overall standing... we're in 3rd, with Team Finland only 8 points a head, leading Jamaica by 5 points (which we gained on the last race! waHoo!) and Hull & Humber are trailing us by 8. So for an overall podium finish, we need to maintain our lead over Jamaica and H&H to ensure third position overall. However, while we lingered waiting to start yesterday, Team Finland shredded the lower portion of their mainsail! It was devastating to the crew onboard, I'm sure, but raised a little excitement onboard Cape Breton! Opening a HUGE window for a second position over all! The race start was then delayed due to main halyard failure on Uniquely Singapore! Finally near 8pm local time, we were all lined up and ready for our La Mans start out of Holland.

Cape Breton drew the best windward position in the line up and knew it would be a huge advantage over the fleet. So as we hoisted our headsails simultaneously with the rest of the fleet, we noticed our Yankee sheets tied to our staysail and vice versa! What a nightmare! We had to drop both sails, sort the lines, as the rest of the fleet increased speed and gained a lead!

Very frustrating indeed! It was one small error, and we're paying for it now! Currently Jamaica is just off our starboard bow, with marginally faster speeds, and there is about 5 others ahead of us. As my watch ended, I wanted to stay up, but it is too stressful. I think I need the sleep more! It's a close and intense race... so much up for grabs! Cross your fingers, we need to gain those miles back!

Holding Strong

I have to write this blog while it is fresh in my head because, wow! what a race! When we left Cork on Friday, we had all decided, the only way we would have a chance to be on the overall podium is to defend our points over Jamaica. So we set out with that goal in mind. We, or I had no idea it would come down to battling for 2nd place finihs into Ijmuiden! Talk about bonus!

Last night, after we all gathered for celebrations and drinks, I was asked, "how did you like the race" by a friend from Uniquely Singapore. I can honestly say, the only thing I could compare the pressure and stress of that final day to the finish to the rce where we were neck-in-neck with Sthe Singas into NYC! it was so intense! In the last 24 hours of the race, we saw every type of weather, wind conditions and half of the fleet come and go in any direction in and out of sight! There was a point where I thought we had lost the race completly!

its so hard to put it into words for those of you at home. Comin int the finish line, we had Team Finland about 3 miles ahead, and Hull & Humber off our port stern. They hoisted their heavy weight spinnaker and bear away to the west (away fom the finsih line and the direction we were headed).
Analyzing this maneuver, we debated following their lead. but we were holding the same speeds and on a mroe direct course. It was a gamble, but we knew one little mistake and we would lose this podium for sure! so we held off with the hoist, to be safe. Basically handing 2nd position over to H&H. Through all the shipping lanes and anchorages we managed to steer steady and hold speeds.

It as when we noticed the encrouching 4 clippers off our stern, we really cranked it into high gear again! with quick hoist we were back side by side with H&H and steaming!!!!

We were haulin' ass, a solid 12 knots towards the finish line!! Spinny up, skipper on the helm, and the winds building, the milage was diappearing as fast as we could count down! Rockin and rolling watching H&H like looking in a mirror, 2nd place was up for grabs!

Crossing the line just minutes aftr H&H, we cheered for another triangle penant to fly high and proud on our forestay! It was intense and exciting! knowing Jamaica was well behind us, and we were on the podium again!!

Now, one more race to go... Srace start is on Thursday, we will finish in Hull on Saturday to mark the end of a circumnavigation!

ok... so keeping up with the blogs is NOT as eay as I thought it would be. I have one on the boat which I need to email and then post. it belongs here... im trying to stay on top of them to keep you all as well informed as possible. you would think when on shore it would be easy, but without a laptop or notebook, and limited access to wiFi, its more often easier to do them on the boat and email them to have them posted!

anyway... so I will update you on my times in Ireland and my travel shortly, and I will do the nxt one which was the race from Cork to Holland!