6th May 2014

That's it, race  over at 21.20Local SF time, 04.20UTC   9th Place

It was quite a night. We had the double watch, 18.00-22.00 and 02.00-0600

We had been briefed by our glorious leader, Gareth, earlier in the day that it was likely the race would be called at the next gate some 50+ miles ahead. We have been suffering under the weight of wind holes virtually the whole trip down. Gareth having made the decision to spit from the main fleet and take a coastal gamble had left us in the company of PSP, Mission and Invest Africa.

GB had stormed ahead with Henri Lloydd and One DLL from the start. There was a middle pack and us. In truth we were never 'in it' and we all knew it.

Anyway, our race became between, the three boats and us at the rear. There is no doubt we pulled off a good race. We hoisted and lowered sails to accommodate the fickle wind. Win seeker for light speeds, up to 8 knots and then varying combinations of Yankee and staysail. We trimmed to course and we helmed to trim. These being the 2 helming options. You either trim the sails and then get the best boat speed and course or you set the course and then helm to get the best speed. All this changing the sails has moved my knowledge of helming and trimming on in leaps and bounds.

We had hit a squall earlier in the day which seemed to have stirred up some 'odd' wind. We made use of that short lived lift. We were all sitting on the high side, watching the most amazing lightening display, for about 90 mins, when up went the shout "tack". Within minutes we were hitting speeds of 10, 11, 12 knots, unheard of. And we kept going. We knew we were in with a chance of 9th place and we grabbed the moment, the prize was ours. From 12th to 9th by sheer concentration and good seamanship.

I don't think Gareth is very pleased, difficult to tell!

For me, I now recognise it all went wrong at race start and again that day when we lost 4/5 hours with the 3 spinnakers broken. I quite understand that decisions are made based on knowledge and information. I believe due to Gareth's personality he makes the judgement call without canvassing wide enough to use other people's knowledge, therefore he is not taking advantage of all his assets. Foolish! 

I fully intend to sail into New York. I will put up with all this 'crap' and it will be worth it. GO Qingdao

Ps. We are now motor sailing with PSP towards Costa Rica to refuel.