Saturday, January 18, 2014

Clipper race day 4

Sailing day 4,  No blog from the Cap't today, probably because he made a tactical error and went from 1st to 6th place, so I'll tell you about the race instead. 

Twelve identical 70' cutter rigged sloops are racing around the world, each with an experienced Cap't. The crews are people like you and me, some never having been on a boat before but who just wanted to experience something awesome in their life. So they pay for the privilege of getting to live with 20 others 24/7, in cramped quarters, in a stripped out racing boat on 4 hr shifts with mother duties (cooking and cleaning for the crew) thrown in at 24 hour shifts on a rotational basis. Oh yes, the bathroom is only separated by a curtain (with no showers) and all this is done on a 30 degree angle. Crew sign up for 1 leg or 2 or 3 or the complete round the world experience so the crews keep changing. The race has 8 major legs, with 15 individual races, points earned from 12 to 1 depend who is first across the line at each race. Total points earned at the end in London is the overall winner. Heather is signed up for 2 of the legs which takes her from Australia, to Singapore, to Quindao China, and ending across the Pacific (winter) in San Francisco sometime in early April. Not all fun and games as in the Southern Ocean they hit storm winds of 130 MPH with 40 foot seas and today they entered the Solomon Sea which is notorious for piracy, so they are practicing their boarding procedures. Want to follow the race??? http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/



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