Actually our third day on the water, but only the second day of racing. As
I mentioned in the last post, we opened with a Potemkin start. Conditions
around Qingdao are terrible for racing, with loads of fish traps and a lot
of commercial traffic. However, the city is an important partner for
Clipper, and appearances matter, so after the speaches and departure
ceremony (broadcast on live TV!), we faked a race start. Most boats,
including us, didn't seem to be trying very hard, as absolutely nothing was
on the line. A few boats hoisted kites for the downwind leg. I can't
imagine why. After sailng out a few miles, we dropped headsails, turned on
engines, and motored along the shipping channel through the night.
The next day, at 9am, we started the actual race. It was a Le Mans start,
something invented by Clipper, where the boats line up with mains up, crew
near the stern, and engine running. With one minute to go, you cut engine.
At race start, crew can move forward and hoist sails. For ten minutes, you
maintain course and sails, but you can get ahead through better trim. After
that, you're free to do whatever you want. We had a pretty good start, with
sails up really quickly, but we then lost a bit of ground, probably due to
trim. A few boats hoisted kites early but had to bear away to keep them. We
waited, but eventually a wind shift came and our kite went up too. Initial
racing went well. I was driving as we passed Ichorcoal. (They seemed to
have put someone on the helm who couldn't hold a straight course.)
Night watch got a bit more complicated, as we came into a region full of
fishing nets. We were just a little way behind Da Nang as they got caught
in one. We offered assistance, but they said they were managing OK and
seemed to be moving again after 30 minutes or so. Meanwhile, we picked our
way through, not really sure what the lighting conventions were (if any),
sometimes spotting unlit lines of floats just a few feet from the boat and
turning to avoid. Winds were light, the sea was calm, and the moon was
bright, which all helped. No idea how we made it through here on the way
up.
I've been on mother duty today, cooking and washing up, but the sailing has
remained pretty quiet. We're moving, but not fast, and the sea is nearly
flat. Actually not a bad way to start, as we've had four people in various
stages of getting over stomach flu, plus Matt with a head cold. Easing
people in without seasickness problems as well, but we'll see how that
holds as conditions pick up. We're expecting 25 knots or so tomorrow, from
a good direction. The long-range forecast is looking promising for when we
round Japan, but we're not counting on that at all.
With the light winds and the move south, the cold hasn't been too bad yet.
By "not too bad", I mean 10C (50F) down below this morning (we now have a
thermometer) and maybe 5C (40F) on deck. So definitely not warm, but not as
cold as on the way up. And, unfortunately, not as cold as it's going to be.
We have a "virtual beach" at N 45 latitude for much of the course, but
that's still about 700 miles north of where we are now, and I expect we're
going to be going that way faster than spring does. But that's Future
Mark's problem. For now, I can sit in medium-weight thermals, a mid-layer,
and wool socks in relative comfort... as long as I'm below deck.
One final note for today. Words can't express how much better the
atmosphere is now than on the last leg, and I like to think I'm pretty good
at expressing things with words. It's still early, and we haven't been
tested, and I'm sure that as things get tougher, some cracks will appear.
But I'm as confident as I can be that they won't be serious. The new and
returning guys are all looking very good. People are not only pulling their
own weight, but they're actively looking for places to pitch in. People may
be slightly rusty after a while away, but they're all much sharper than
some people on the last leg after a month and a half of sailing. Sure,
there's still a range of capability, but overall it is much, much better.
And with that comes much better inter-personal relationships as well. In an
environment like this, if someone doesn't earn your respect with their
work, it's pretty much impossible to look past that to how them might be a
nice enough person in a different context.
So, feeling very positive. Looking forward to it continuing.
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