Since it was our last day in the water we decided to try to do an early start and by 9 we were already out of the dock. We hoisted the main, the staysail and the yankee 2 and started the day by doing several gybes. All went perfectly, we were really working very well as a team. The weather was really nice and the wind was the perfect wind for learning. Every day I was feeling more confident and it felt like I really understood all the steps of what we were doing.
After lunch we hoisted the spinnaker and it went really well, it did not open at all when hoisting it and opened beautifully when we pulled on the sheets, you could tell that we did a really good job the previous day when wooling it. We took turns trimming the kite and I spent several minutes controlling it, it felt really easy, it was really fun.
Hannah knew that I wanted to helm with the spinnaker up, so she called me to the helm and I spent a wonderful time controlling the boat while we sailed happily with it, even going through several gybes. The only issue was that handling the helm while going downwind takes a lot more effort than when going upwind, you need to keep moving it and correcting the course all the time and the helm is quite hard, so by the time my turn ended I was quite tired and my shoulders were specially sore, I really need to strengthen them.
After lunch we hoisted the spinnaker and it went really well, it did not open at all when hoisting it and opened beautifully when we pulled on the sheets, you could tell that we did a really good job the previous day when wooling it. We took turns trimming the kite and I spent several minutes controlling it, it felt really easy, it was really fun.
Hannah knew that I wanted to helm with the spinnaker up, so she called me to the helm and I spent a wonderful time controlling the boat while we sailed happily with it, even going through several gybes. The only issue was that handling the helm while going downwind takes a lot more effort than when going upwind, you need to keep moving it and correcting the course all the time and the helm is quite hard, so by the time my turn ended I was quite tired and my shoulders were specially sore, I really need to strengthen them.
When it was time to lower the spi we did it much better than the previous day and the wooling down below also went much faster, you can tell that practice helps a lot.
After dropping the spinnaker we turned back and started sailing upwind to get back home in time for dinner. The weather was perfect and the evening was really beautiful, with the sun going down slowly. You could tell that we were all a bit tired after these days of sailing because everyone was mostly just lying around and resting under the evening sun. Well, not everyone, Ella must have drank a lot of coffee because she was hyperactive, jumping up and down and doing stuff while we all looked at her with amazement.
Since it was getting late to get back to port in time, we decided to start the engine and we dropped all the sails. When it was the time to flake the yankee we had a not very brilliant idea and we decided to do it on the low side of the boat. The idea was that the wind would help us move it, making the task easier. But, of course, what happened is that the wind shifted the whole sail on top of the people who were sitting trying to flake it. I was completely under the sail, unable to move, in a not very comfortable position. It was not dangerous at all because the weight was very manageable, but it was not fun. But we managed to find the funny side of this and we gave a name to what happened, we decided that I had been "barelised". All the while Mike was looking at us from the other side of the yacht, with a smile on his face, letting us go ahead and understanding that we would be able to realise how dumb what we tried to do was. Lesson learned: always flake sales on the high side of the boat.
We arrived into Gosport with just enough time for a quick shower before our last group dinner which we did at The Castle near the Clipper office. Lots of fun, lots of laughs and lots of cheers. We all had had an amazing time and were really happy.
Nevertheless, I believe that this training week is a bit short. It is six days but in the end, with the initial course and the final cleaning, you only spend four days in the water and by the time that the team is working perfectly together and everything has fallen into place, then you have to leave. I think that an additional day in the water would have been ideal to cement everything that we had learned.
The last day we just did the boat cleaning, all went really well, everyone working together as a team and really well organised. By 12 everything was ready. The last thing that we did was take out the main sail which needed to go out to do some repairs. It was easier than I expected, we first disengaged everything from the sail, all the lines, halyard, outhaul, reefs... and dropped it on the deck. Then we passed it over the boom little by little, using this to flake it in an organised way. We were able to pack it beautifully and then we used a halyard to pass it down to a cart in the pontoon so that it could be taken away.
We said our goodbyes and it was really sad to see all this people go, I had had a really amazing time with them and I would not mind at all for any of them to be my crew mates during the race. Same with Hannah and Mike, I would not mind any of them being my skipper.
The last thing I did before going back home was to pay a new visit to the Musto Lighthouse store in Portsmouth. It had been more than three years since I did my fitting for the crew kit and I thought that some of my sizes might have changed. And I confirmed that this was the case. It was specially interesting to learn that they have now created what they call the "broad" sizes for those people who are wide but not tall, this is great because it means that I won't end up with a size that is too long just because it needs to be wide. I encourage everyone whose fitting was a long time ago to repeat it and confirm their sizes.
After dropping the spinnaker we turned back and started sailing upwind to get back home in time for dinner. The weather was perfect and the evening was really beautiful, with the sun going down slowly. You could tell that we were all a bit tired after these days of sailing because everyone was mostly just lying around and resting under the evening sun. Well, not everyone, Ella must have drank a lot of coffee because she was hyperactive, jumping up and down and doing stuff while we all looked at her with amazement.
Since it was getting late to get back to port in time, we decided to start the engine and we dropped all the sails. When it was the time to flake the yankee we had a not very brilliant idea and we decided to do it on the low side of the boat. The idea was that the wind would help us move it, making the task easier. But, of course, what happened is that the wind shifted the whole sail on top of the people who were sitting trying to flake it. I was completely under the sail, unable to move, in a not very comfortable position. It was not dangerous at all because the weight was very manageable, but it was not fun. But we managed to find the funny side of this and we gave a name to what happened, we decided that I had been "barelised". All the while Mike was looking at us from the other side of the yacht, with a smile on his face, letting us go ahead and understanding that we would be able to realise how dumb what we tried to do was. Lesson learned: always flake sales on the high side of the boat.
We arrived into Gosport with just enough time for a quick shower before our last group dinner which we did at The Castle near the Clipper office. Lots of fun, lots of laughs and lots of cheers. We all had had an amazing time and were really happy.
Nevertheless, I believe that this training week is a bit short. It is six days but in the end, with the initial course and the final cleaning, you only spend four days in the water and by the time that the team is working perfectly together and everything has fallen into place, then you have to leave. I think that an additional day in the water would have been ideal to cement everything that we had learned.
The last day we just did the boat cleaning, all went really well, everyone working together as a team and really well organised. By 12 everything was ready. The last thing that we did was take out the main sail which needed to go out to do some repairs. It was easier than I expected, we first disengaged everything from the sail, all the lines, halyard, outhaul, reefs... and dropped it on the deck. Then we passed it over the boom little by little, using this to flake it in an organised way. We were able to pack it beautifully and then we used a halyard to pass it down to a cart in the pontoon so that it could be taken away.
We said our goodbyes and it was really sad to see all this people go, I had had a really amazing time with them and I would not mind at all for any of them to be my crew mates during the race. Same with Hannah and Mike, I would not mind any of them being my skipper.
The last thing I did before going back home was to pay a new visit to the Musto Lighthouse store in Portsmouth. It had been more than three years since I did my fitting for the crew kit and I thought that some of my sizes might have changed. And I confirmed that this was the case. It was specially interesting to learn that they have now created what they call the "broad" sizes for those people who are wide but not tall, this is great because it means that I won't end up with a size that is too long just because it needs to be wide. I encourage everyone whose fitting was a long time ago to repeat it and confirm their sizes.
