So we won! What a relief to finally get a 1st under our belt. This places us second in the championship and the firm boat to beat by our rivals for the next race to Australia.
We started off from Rio with the familiar nerves and sadness to be leaving such a great city. We had an inshore race start which took us past Copacabana and Ipenema beaches. Racing against eleven other purpose built 70ft racing yachts, close quarters, in a moderate sea, with the sun shining and the view looking back of the Christ statue was a memory that will be hard to forget.
We made some great tactical decisions and left the beaches, heading offshore to Africa in 3rd place. We battled for 3 days to windward with the boat at 30 degree for most of the time which was painful. Everyone perfected there spider man skills as you need both hands and feet to navigate around the boat and the simple things like brushing you teeth become a 10 minute battle with gravity, with you loosing most of the time by having saliva and toothpaste down your front when finishing up.
As we got further south we found the westerly's and headed South East moving to 1st in the pack. It's always stressful being at the front as everyone is chasing you, especially nerve racking when you can see another boat hunting you down. We had PSP Logistics on our starboard quarter for a day and a half which was nice to have a companion, but any mistake would have meant them taking the lead from us.
Another tactical call was made to head due south as there was a region of low wind ahead. This meant we would go right down the pack as we were ultimately heading away from the finish whilst everyone else headed closer. We trusted the skippers direction and headed past 40 degrees south into the "Roaring Forties", which actually was no worse than what we saw off Cape Finesterre in Race 1 to everyone's relief. Here the wave size increased and as one of the specialist helmers on board, days were spent surfing at up to 22knots catching back up to the fleet in front, which brings a smile to the face at all times.
As we were heading east we passed to the south of Gough island, a small island, owned by Great Britain, where a team of 9 scientists were based studying birds. How different our lives were, them on an inhabited island in the South Atlantic studying wild life, us on a high tech racing yacht passing by. We chatted on VHF for a while discussing the weather, their studies and our race, then got back to the important job of racing to the Cape.
Down in these longitudes, the temperature dropped and full foulies and mid-layers were worn by all. I still wore my flip flops, but I certainly wrapped up. I found it difficult in these days to understand people as I rely so much on lip reading to pick up the other half of the conversation due to my deafness. I continually had to ask people to move their jackets down so I could see their lips when talking. It was strange at first to realise this about myself but nice to see the team accept it and work around the issue.
We set a northerly bearing to Cape Town and we made it up into 1st place as the other boats had slowed in the light airs, the tactical call had paid off but it was not won yet. One day we were flying the number 3 spinnaker when a problem occurred which meant it came free from one of it's control lines. As Watch Leader I ran forwards to lead by example, to try and get the kite under control. Cue the rope smashing me on the side of the face leaving me without hearing for a good minute. This was very scary and such a relief when it came back. I headed into the fight again and got hit again twice which knocked me to the floor. After re-examining the situation we found another way of getting control and managed to rescue to the sail, although it now had a 20m rip in it which left it un-usable for the rest of the race.
Luckily as we were heading North, the wind eased so we fly our number 2 and still made swift progress to the finish. With the end in sight it was a very stressful period, with only 20 miles separating us from second place. Any mistake and the race would be lost, so we held our nerve and happily crossed the finish line in the wind shadow of Table Mountain in the early hours in first place. What a massive achievement.
Looking back on the race so far, as a team we have been through so much and to get our first win was incredible. I feel I'm progressing as a person realising the things that made me stressed at home are not really issues to get caught up in. On the boat you go right back to basics. The only things you worry about are food, sleep, keeping warm and shelter from the environment. Everything else is just noise. What isn't noise though is the kind support from friends and family. It's so nice to hear everyone back at home is following the race and supporting me on my adventure. Thank you to you all.
So, the next race is a real test. The Southern Ocean for real with a 4800mile journey to Albany, Australia. Wish me luck!!
Ben
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