From the yacht Adventure - Overnight, 26 December 2006

• NEWS
• 27 Dec, 2006 06:13:00 AM

From the yacht Adventure - Overnight, 26 December 2006

After the excitement of the start and following few hours we were looking forward to settling in to the race and getting into a routine.  However, as darkness fell the wind continued to rise and we were starting to get a slightly ominous feeling.  The increasing wind led to various sail changes, with the foredeck crew being hauled out of bed to come and help on deck.  With a  call for a sail change at about 0200 hrs we hurried to our assigned positions on the boat to fulfil our tasks.  As part of the cockpit crew I had envisaged myself staying there, so when I found myself on the foredeck wearing neither of the oily jackets I have on the boat I was somewhat unimpressed!

The seas were quite big so we were receiving regular soakings from the waves breaking over the unprotected bow.  In no time we were all drenched, something we had not foreseen happening only 12 hours into the race!  The only blessing was that the sea is still surprisingly warm and we were definitely working up a sweat wrestling with the No 1 Genoa, a sail that rivals our main sail in size.  However, we have all learnt our lesson and I am certainly loathe to go up on deck without wearing my full foul weather gear.

The bad weather had obviously affected other boats to, so at least it was some comfort that at least our boat was designed for this!  We have regular position checks with race control and the weather was reflected in this and at least one boat has already retired by the position check on the first night.  We were quickly realising that despite the light winds forecasted the race was starting to live up to it’s reputation and we were perhaps the only boat hoping for the increased winds to stay with us.

Rachel Clayton
Adventure
www.mercurychallenge.mod.uk