After the crew party on Friday night all crew gathered in an auditorium of the University of Portsmouth on Saturday morning. During a little more than one hour we were informed about the race course, were told about the specialities of the first stage and learnt about the weather from the race meteorologist. And it became clear to everyone that these first fee days would not be easy.

After the crew briefing we had the naming ceremony of our boat. A large delegation from South Korea including the mayor of Tongyeong came down to the boat to wish us luck and bid their farewell. Despite some showers during the ceremony the mood was good and the crew enjoyed a small snack afterwards. 

Start Blast for Race 1

Sunday followed a strict schedule. To start with there was a group picture of all those who set out to circumnavigate on this race. This was followed by individual team pictures before each team was led up to the stage for the team introduction. After that each boat left the marina at the foot of Spinnaker Tower to the cheers of the crowds which came down.

The parade of sail led us from the inner part of Portsmouth Harbour past our previous berths and out into the Solent. To showcase all sponsors on our sail the main sail was fully hoisted. And despite the protection inside the harbour and no headsails flying, it was quite a struggle to keep the boats aligned in the narrow harbour passage. Thus we decided to reef prior to race start as to not be overpowered.

The start took place at exactly four o’clock. Unfortunately, we were not quite ready and had not even hoisted our second head sail at that time. As a consequence we were last across the start line. However, we were catching up third through the forts, leaving behind the inshore course. As the winds were picking up further we had to change to a smaller headsail and lost a few places in that time.

English Channel and Bay of Biscay

The next days we battled our way west in the English Channel. Due to the south-westerly winds it was always clause hauled, making life on board a real struggle. Every move just gets more difficult when heeled over 40 to 45 degrees. In addition there were the waves which shook us up quite regularly.

By reaching the Bay of Biscay the waves got a little longer. But they also increased in size. And the wind picked up as well. With winds of around 35 knots and gust well into the 40s, individual waves reached heights of more than 8m. We knew it would be tough. But I believe everyone had hoped for the weather to turn out less severe than what had been forecasted.

As a results basically everyone on board had to deal with seasickness at some point. For some it was simply a not feeling too well, while others could not keep any food in. And correspondingly simple were the days. You got woken and would get dressed. After standing your watch you would crawl right back into your bunk. While on deck you would try to do your best to get as quickly out of this weather as possible. Of course there was eating and some other maintenance tasks in between. But basically anything which was not crucial was not getting done.

Already on the second day our freezer box had freed itself from its mount and fallen over. In doing so, the plug had been broken off. So it was not powered anymore. After the box had been properly tied down, I took charge of reconnecting it to the board system. As the plug was completely destroyed and we did not have a replacement onboard, there was no other option but to connect each wire to the respective terminal on the box directly. What sounds straightforward and would take less than 10 minutes on land, took me over an hour under these conditions. However, I am really glad we could get it fixed and it is still working fine a week later.

Round the Iberian Peninsula

When we reached the south-western end of the Bay of Biscay, the wind had almost completely died. We were all happy about some lighter conditions. However, they are also less forgiving in terms of helming and trimming the sails. Every small mistake is getting punished and when a multi ton yacht is stopped, it is incredibly difficult to get it moving again with hardly any wind. And in that low wind night we passed one of the other Clipper boats with just a few metres distance. That was a truly special movement given that you don’t really get close to any other boats while sailing. 

But also that episode did not last forever. Upon passing the northern tip of Portugal the next low was incoming. It brought another patch of strong winds, high waves and again a bit of upwind sailing. This time however, we were used to conditions like that and everyone was coping much better. And yet it again it passed. By now we have nice wind from behind and make best speed towards Puerto Sherry. The current estimate is that we will arrive tomorrow evening. Therefore, we do our best to catch a few of the other boats before reaching the finish line.

Due to the lengthy upwind battle in the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay the entire fleet did not progress as expected. Thus all dates for the Puerto Sherry stopover have been postponed by two days. This will also affect the next stops but the organisers believe we will be able to leave again according to the previous schedule from Cape Town.