Training Level 4, days 6 and 7

 

The night watch during the race was probably my lowest point of the week. I was really tired after all the excitement of the previous day and I really did not feel like being there, all I could think of was of going back to sleep. But after almost 4 hours of deep sleep I woke up fully refreshed and ready for the new day.

That morning I felt full of energy, enjoying the sailing and the sunrise. I was able to helm for a while and everything looked wonderful. We then went down below for some breakfast and some rest and when we came back on deck we found that we had dropped from second to sixth place! Some of this could be explained by how the wind and tide had worked for some of the teams but Ineke and Josh thought that we must have been dragging something or had some kind of issue with the rudder because we could see that we were sailing in a very similar way as other boats yet they were able to be more than one knot faster than us. Josh tried to use my go-pro camera to check if we were dragging anything but he could not get a good view.

We approached our next mark near Weymouth and we did a quite complex evolution: round the mark, gybe, drop the yankee and hoist the kite. A lot of activity, I was in charge of the yankee active sheet and the new kite active sheet and all went really well, great teamwork from Team Nano.

We continued sailing with the spi up and we all had the opportunity to helm with it and we all did quite well. I really enjoyed the time that I was able to helm with the kite, I love how powerful these yachts feel under such power. I was also able to spend some time trimming the kite which is something that I also enjoy a lot.

After our watch we went down below and spent a great time laughing, dancing, having fun. The team was working wonderfully and you could feel that long lasting friendships were already being formed. All under the lead of Nano who is a wonderful person and an amazing skipper.

We started preparing dinner and while we were finishing it they asked for volunteers on deck because they wanted to do a gybe. I volunteered and went to help with the main sheet. The gybe was a bit of a disaster, the lazy sheet of the kite had been set up with too many turns so that when it became the active sheet it had a riding turn which was stuck. We ended up broaching but Ineke managed to control the boat beautifully until we were able to get rid of the riding turn and return the boat to a stable position.

I went down to finish my dinner and prepared to go on deck. But then I was told that we were going to drop the kite as we were reaching the end line for the race. So I stayed down below to help receive the kite. Once it was all down below I started working with David and Steve to wool it. We were able to find the head, clew and tack and put them in the right places and then follow the luff and leech but we found a big knot in the middle that for a while none of us was able to figure out how to untie. Finally Steve found the way and we were able to fully extend it ready for wooling. I was really hot and sweating because I had already put on my salopettes to go on deck and had not had the time to take them off before starting the task.

Josh came down and explained us how Team Ineke wools the kite. Instead of wooling starting from the tack, head and clew until they meet and then wooling the bag that is left in the middle, they work from the luff, starting at the tack and rolling the sail with the luff on the outside working all the way up to the head. I could see that the advantage of this method was that the sail was more evenly distributed, with no middle bag with a lot of sail. But I could also see that it was easy not to do this correctly and end up with a twisted sail, which is what I think happened the first day when we weren't able to open the kite after hoisting it.

By the time we had the sail wooled and in the bag we had already docked. Not too happy with our position (we were sixth in the end) but really happy after an amazing experience. It was past midnight, so too late to go to the pub but we bought some drinks in an off-licence and spent a great time in a nearby park with people from all the different yachts that were doing level 4, remembering all the good moments of the week.

Next day we did a deep clean of the boat under the lead of Maren who volunteered to lead the job. I worked on the galley with José and then helped with the bilges. All the other teams were also working and I was able to say hi to Mike and Hannah and they seemed really happy to see me, which was great.

Josh took our foulies to the Print & Sew shop to get our names and initials printed on them and they did a great job. It really looked like it was part of the original design of the clothing, very professional.

I had my briefing with Nano and I was really happy because he told me that he had enjoyed working with me a lot, that he thought I had done really well and that I had done a great job with the team. Music to my ears!

Once we finished with the deep clean we all got together for a group picture and some team building moments all together, forming a circle and doing a big group hug before some of the members of Team Nano had to leave. We had already formed deep bonds and it was sad to see some of this people go. 

We then went to get some lunch at the Wetherspoons and enjoyed our last moments together. Then big hugs and sad goodbyes. It had been an extraordinary week, the best training so far. We left as a strongly bonded team, with lots of knowledge gained and all looking forward to see each other again during the race.

Training Level 4, day 5

 

After our anchor watch at midnight I was able to sleep for more than 6 hours and felt well refreshed. It was finally the day to do the race and we all were quite excited about it.

We pulled up the gigantic anchor, we did that as a team, all pulling together forming a line and it was much better than the back-breaking work of the other day, even with a much bigger anchor. While we motored to the race start point we started preparing the boat for the race, which included making sure that all our bilges were super-empty. I spent a long time in the lazarette with a bucket and sponge, making sure that it was all dry.

After a visit from the race committee to make sure everything was ok (we received them with coffee, tea and cookies) we practiced a Le Mans start. In this type of start all boats line up with the help of the one who is leading, just with the main sail up and the head sails ready to be hoisted. All the crew must be aft of the coffee grinders. At race start the crew jumps forward to raise the head sails as soon as possible and we all continue racing with the same heading for 10 minutes, with no sail changes allowed. After these 10 minutes you are free to change course or do any evolutions.

During this practice start, since we had enough people for all roles, I remained at the back of the boat, recording everything and taking pictures. The start went really well, it was very exciting even if it was just a practice, everyone jumped to their positions and the head sails were up in no time. After several minutes we only managed to be fifth, we reflected on our performance and thought that the problem was that the head sails were not properly trimmed and should have been eased.

We then did a normal race start practice and immediately after that the real race start itself. In this type of start there is just a line which is formed between the race committee boat and a mark (a cardinal buoy in this case) and there is a start time and your goal is to try to cross this line and start sailing as close to this starting time as possible. All while trying to avoid all the other boats surrounding you. Pretty complex and pretty exciting too!

I did participate in these race starts, taking care of one of the backstays. It was incredibly exciting, with lots of things going on at the same time. We passed the start line in second position and after a few minutes we were in the leading pack of yachts, in third position.

About an hour later it was my turn to be on the helm and we slowly gained on the boat that was second until we took that place. We also noticed that the boats in front and behind us did not have any reef in the main, so we shook our reef while managing to stay in second position. Really satisfying!

During the rest of our afternoon watch the wind remained very constant and we were sailing upwind with almost no changes. I went to the bow to call trimming but there was nothing to call, the wind did not change at all and the helming was really good so the yacht was performing at its best.

Finally, just before the end of our watch the wind died a little, so we decided to exchange our Yankee 2 for the Yankee 1. We did a racing head sail change, where you prepare the new sail before dropping the old one so that the yacht is without a head sail the minimum time possible. I was at the bow and handled everything with the help of Maren, it all went really well and I was proud of a perfect evolution.

We then went down below to enjoy a well earned rest. At the end of this time we reached the coast of France where we rounded our next mark. Then it was the time for a little of downwind sailing, so Ineke's team hoisted the spinnaker. Then Nano told us that it was very interesting on deck. The boat that was third had caught up with us and they were just behind us. I got some really god pictures while they slowly overtook us. They were using the Code 2 spinnaker and we were using the Code 3 because Ineke was still not sure that there had been no damage during the kitemare of the previous day.

Just before watch change we reached the next mark and there were five minutes of high level activity: hoisting the yankee, dropping the spi, rounding the mark, tacking and hoisting the staysail. All perfectly executed by Ineke's team. The boat that had just overtaken us decided not to tack yet and that seems to have been a bad decision because when they finally tacked they ended up behind us.

I was too excited to get any sleep, so I remained on deck taking pictures of the sunset and enjoying perfect sailing, waiting for our 10:00pm watch.

Training Level 4, day 4

When we got up to go on deck for our midnight watch we found out that Ineke's team had hoisted the spinnaker. We spent some time sailing downwind with the kite up, trimming it under the deck light, which was quite interesting. I was not able to helm that night, which was a bit disappointing. Then came the time when we needed to drop the kite, it all went quite well with no issues. We then spent a long time down below learning how to wool it.

When it was the time to end our watch we did a man over board drill at night, which came as a surprise to Ineke's team which was sleeping peacefully down below. We made it very clear that it was a drill, we did not want anyone to get a fright! It all went really well, and it was great to see how useful are the lights in the danbuoy to locate it.

We then went down below for a well earned rest. In the morning we did a lot of upwind helming and then in the afternoon we did more downwind helming, lots of gybes and lots of reefing practice. It was all working really nicely, you could tell that the team was working like clockwork and we were all learning a lot.

For lunch we had mediterranean quinoa with chorizo and cheese, a recipe from Nano and it was a great success, everyone loved it and we all agreed it was the best meal of the week. This is a recipe that we are going to do in our boat during the race for sure.

When we were resting during our afternoon break we were suddenly raised with a call of "All hands on deck!". Ineke's team had tried to hoist the spinnaker but something had gone wrong and it had all ended up in the water. Also the sheets had become tangled and were stuck under the boat. It took a lot of effort to recover the sail and the sheets but we managed to do it. Ineke said that she thought she had seen a tear in the sail but I helped Nano review it thoroughly and we could not find any damage. Ineke's team then continued with the wooling while we got a little more rest.

When we were arriving back in the bay in the Isle of Wight to anchor for the night, the wind picked up with gusts of 35 knots and it was a bit of a struggle to put in some reefs and then lower the main. Given that it was quite windy we decided to use the bigger anchor which is a monster. We needed to use a halyard to put it on deck and then drop it, I helped Nano with all the setup.

During these two days that we had been sailing continuously I did not sleep much, I don't think I slept more than 4-5 hours in total, so I was a bit knackered. My anchor watch was from 00:00 to 01:00 so I went down below for a short rest.

Traning Level 4, day 3

 

My turn for the anchor watch was much better that night, from 5:00am to 7:00am, which meant that I got to sleep all night and that was great as I really needed some rest. When I woke up I was still quite sleepy so I spent some time on deck with Luís, not speaking much. But then I really woke up and we prepared a great breakfast, very organised and well handled.

After raising the anchor we hoisted the storm jib and the trysail to learn how they were set up. It all went really well and I was quite happy because I was able to help a lot and noticed several little things that we needed to do correctly. Good learning.

I wanted to mention that the new tethers are awesome, really easy to grip and open and much, much easier to use than the old models. No more struggling to connect or disconnect to jackstays, a real pleasure to use, we were soon moving around the boat like monkeys jumping from vine to vine.

Nano told us that what Angus had was not an ulcer but rather appendicitis and that he was going into surgery that same day. We were all glad that this had been discovered in time and really hoped for a good resolution.

After lunch we started doing watches as the plan was to sail straight through the night and the next day. It was great to finally not have so many people on deck and to be able to work with just the Nano team and not struggle to find a place to seat. This also meant that we started hot bunking, so I went down below for a quick rest. 

Before going to my bunk we had a really great moment, Nano put some dancing music on the bluetooth speakers and we spent some minutes dancing and laughing. A great team building moment. Our team was really coming together and we were having tonnes of fun.

When it was our turn to come on deck there was no wind at all, so we dropped the head sails which were just laying there doing nothing. We spent all our watch putting in and shaking reefs, trying to master these evolutions. They are quite complex, so it took a while for all of us to get into the rhythm but in the end we were able to put a reef in 1:40 minutes, which is quite good.

When our watch finished I spent some time talking to Nano about victualling for our boat, as I am going to be one of the persons involved in this task, and it was great to see that we have similar ideas and goals. Then more laughs, banter and dancing

Nano gave us the good news that all had gone great with Angus' surgery and we were even able to call him and have a short chat. He was still a bit groggy after the surgery but was really glad to hear from us.

Finally after dinner we went to bed to try to get some sleep before our midnight watch, really happy with how things were progressing.

Training Level 4, day 2

 

Getting up in the middle of the night wasn't that bad because the rest of the night I slept really deeply and got up refreshed and ready for a new day. And during anchor watch I was able to spend some time talking with Luís, a really nice guy from Portugal. He usually lives in Brazil but has a home base in Porto, which is very close to where I live, so I am sure we will keep in touch.

After breakfast we pulled up the anchor and I helped with the pulling and it was back breaking work, this anchor is really heavy and it is only the small one!

We then spent the morning practicing boat to boat transfers and towing. I can understand that we needed to do this practice but it wasn't too interesting as most of the preparation and handling was done by the skippers or AQP and we were mostly watching.

After lunch we sailed upwind for a long time, practicing tacks. The idea was to go upwind as much as possible so that we could then practice downwind sailing with the spinnaker. I spent some time talking with Nano about the last race, about Qingdao and about how close Punta del Este was to winning the race, it was a great talk that I enjoyed a lot.

It was finally time to hoist the kite and after hoisting it successfully we tried to open it but it got stuck midways and would not open fully. It looked as though it had somehow been packed twisted so that it was wrapped around itself. We tried several tricks to try to open it but none of them worked, so we had to drop it.

Team Ineke went down below to repack the kite while we continued practicing downwind sailing. It seems that they use a technique to pack the spi which is a bit different from the traditional Clipper way and Josh was showing them how to do it. We then tried to hoist it again and we got the same result where it got stuck midways and would not open. But in this case one of the tricks worked and we were able to finally open it fully.

A wonderful time with the kite up, practicing downwind sailing and doing some gybes which all went perfectly. It was a shame that with so many people on board I did not get the chance to helm a little with the kite.

We then did a man over board drill with the spinnaker up and it all went beautifully, we were able to drop it very quickly and though it took much longer than when no kite is involved, it was much faster than I expected and we were able to recover Bob in less than 10 minutes. During the recovery we practiced something that Nano likes to do, which is that the swimmer is not lowered slowly into the water but rather they jump into it when the casualty is close. Interesting and it worked really well.

Today I did twice the same fuck up of trying to grind a winch without having loaded it fully and put it in the self tailor, which obviously does not work. It was weird because I knew perfectly well what I needed to do and yet I did it wrong. Time to learn and improve!

I volunteered to prepare dinner while we were setting the anchor and I spent some nice time with Maren, she is a great mate and we had a lot of fun. After a never ending session of washing up (someone said that the bowls seem to reproduce as you wash them and I think they are right) I went to bed early as I had had a really exhausting day.

Training Level 4, day 1

 

I had arrived in Portsmouth the previous day and after an early breakfast I took the ferry to Gosport where I was able to meet Diego, a really nice chap from Colombia.

When we arrived into the office we were given four pieces of our gear for the race: the HPX smock, the HPX salopettes, the long sleeve t-shirt and the shorts. I was really happy to get them, another step in making this race real! We were then directed to our boat where the bunks had already been allocated, I would be in the middle lower bunk on the port side, not bad.

Once we were all on board, we listened to an introduction from Ineke and Nano. I learned that this week we would be sharing the yacht with team Ineke, there were not enough people from either team for a full boat, so it had been arranged to share one, with half the crew being team Ineke and the other half team Nano. I have to say that I was not very happy with this as it meant that we would not be able to do everything in full following Nano's ways. Also this was actually Ineke's boat, so many things were not laid out or prepared the way that Nano would have liked it.

We also learned that Angus had been diagnosed with an ulcer, which meant that he would not be able to accompany us during this week. He had come to say goodbye and wish us luck and he soon departed to get some rest. This meant that we would have Ineke and Nano as skippers and Josh as AQP.

We split in two teams and Ineke's group went down below for a security brief while we did the same on deck. Nano gave us a brilliant talk, not one of these repetitive talks where you listen to the same things that you have heard many times before, rather a great introduction to the boat with lots of little tips, tricks and advice. And then we switched with team Ineke and did the same down below. A wonderful introduction, I loved it.

We then had lunch and spent some time waiting for the time to leave the dock. It was really hot and I started wondering if I would be able to test my new foulies during this week. I used this time to chat with several people from the crew and to start knowing us each other.

Finally around 2:00pm we departed, all seven clipper yachts one after the other. Once in clear waters we hoisted the main sail, this task was done by team Nano and I think we did a good job. Then our team moved to the back of the boat while team Ineke practiced a lot of tacks. You could tell that we were on level 4, everyone was quite proficient and it was also quite nice to be able to watch while they were doing these evolutions as a kind of refresher. I got to spend 5 minutes helming which was nice but too short.

We then practiced some downwind sailing and some foreguys handling, both teams working at the same time. It was a bit claustrophobic with so many people on deck at the same time, all bumping into each other while we tried to do our tasks. At one point I felt a bit overwhelmed and had to move to the back of the boat for some respite.

It was then the turn of team Nano to do a lot of tacking practice and I think it went really well, I felt really confident in all the jobs that we all got to do as we rotated. At the end of this we did a man over board drill that went really well, again you could really tell that this was level 4 and we all had a lot of practice.

The sun was going down and we set course for the bay where we were going to anchor near the Isle of Wight. We lowered the main and spent a bit of time motoring over there, which was a bit boring. I felt a bit tired and spent this time mostly resting and reflecting on the day.

Once anchored we had dinner and then I spent some time on deck relaxing and enjoying the sunset, it was a peaceful and satisfying time. I had been assigned anchor watch from 2am to 3am, not great, so I soon went down to get some sleep. Since we were not working in watches we could not be doing hot bunking so everyone had to try to find some place to sleep. I moved to the lower coffin bunk in front of my allocated bunk, a nice little spot, and went to sleep.