Race 4 Day 13 Skipper Gordon Reid – Edinburgh
“Yesterday we saw the barometer fall 24 millibars in as many hours, a sure sign that some seriously heavy weather was on its way and sure enough it came,” The winds rose to over 40 knots with gust of up to 50 knots, the sea boiled with white foam everywhere, wave after wave covered the boat and everyone on deck, the cockpit filled with water and ran below, the boat was side swiped repeatedly and everyone below shaken but not stirred. … This is adrenaline rush central. Even though you need to dig deep and do things you might think twice about back in the other real world the rush is inspiring.”
Race 4 Day 13 Skipper Olly Osborne – Visit Finland
“Down below the mothers struggle in the galley to produce a hot meal for the off coming watch as the unpredictable motion of the boat sends the contents of every locker slamming from side to side."
Race 4 Day 13 Skipper - Ian Cochie – Qingdao
“This morning finds us in strong winds and big waves which makes it exciting. But looking out over the waves when you are riding a crest the ocean looks amazing and, at the same time, one of the most inhospitable places on the planet.”
Race 4 Day 14 Skipper Richard Hewson - Gold Coast Aust
“Sailing in the Southern Ocean, whilst very beautiful, is very draining on the body’s energy levels, the bitter cold sifts through layers of thermals, mid-layers and shell to bite away at the skin causing crew to get terribly cold. When one gets cold your ability to think and concentrate is depleted leading to small mistakes that unfortunately sometimes can compound to larger mistakes.”
Race 4 Day 14 Skipper Ben Bowley - Singapore
“The last 24 hours we have not really been racing, more a case of being taken for a very wild ride by one of the most extreme parts of the world in which to go sailing … Once again it was the waves that provided the greatest challenge: this is not to say that the experience was wholly unpleasant: seeing the awesome raw power of Mother Nature in all her fury is an experience few are privileged to see in their lifetime.”
Race 4 Day 14 Skipper Mark Light – Derry-Londonderry
“What an experience for everybody on board, big winds, big swells, large waves, very physical helming and all round demanding conditions! This Southern Ocean is definitely one place that you must see and experience….but not necessarily come back to.”
Race 4 Day 14 Skipper Gareth Glover – New York
“Sometimes a wave hit the side of New York and it must be what is like to be hit by a bus at 40pmh: the whole yacht would stop in the water and crew were thrown around like dolls from one side of the yacht to the other. You can try and hang on but you just got ripped from where you were to where you got put by the sea. Most of the time it was more like racing a sub than a racing yacht.”
Race 4 Day 14 Skipper Gordon Reid – Edinburgh Inspiring Capital
“Sometimes it gets a bit splashy and a bit splashy and you have to dig a little deeper, once more the team delivered the goods when it counted! If you think it sounds dramatic and scary reading the blogs, get yourself down here and feel the awesomeness of Mother Nature in her full untamed. Wild, furious glory!”
Race 4 Day 14 Skipper Olly Osborne – Visit Finland
“Occasionally when you reached the peak of a wave as it passed beneath the boat you could see for what seemed like miles over the furrowed, white streaked seascape, and it does serve to remind you how remote this place really is. … The sea state was rather confused at times, boiling with anger as the winds came roaring through."
Race 4 Day 15 Skipper Ian Conchie – Qingdao
“After this we had to change halyards to lower him but unfortunately his control line (to stop him swinging) broke, causing him to swing from side to side violently. One swing he came my way and managed to wipe me out giving me a nice nose bleed all over the deck! Seven hours later and we managed to recover most of the kite and began racing again, but unfortunately we lost a lot of time drifting around with no sails up which has cost us dearly.”
Race 4 Day 15 Ben Bowley – Singapore
“The Clipper Race now represents the greatest collection of boats and associate crew in this part of the world, no one else being crazy enough to venture down here.”
Race 4 Day 15 Skipper Gordon – Edinburgh Inspiring Capital
“In this extreme environment things get broken, we can’t just leave it or ask someone else to fix it so today we had a visit from Bob the Builder, when Bob has a problem what does he say ‘Can we fix it?...Yes we can!’ No is never an option, not here, not ever!
Race 4 Day 15 Skipper Richard Hewson – Gold Coast Australia
“Gold Coast Australia has been good to us, as she has received more of a pounding over the last few days than in the first three races put together and is looking forward to some love and maintenance on her arrival into Geraldton.”
Race 4 Day 16 Skipper Mark Light - Derry-Londonderry
“We are well and truly in know ice fields so vigilance is critical. Our nights are very, very dark so a keen radar watch is set and we have out powerful searchlight plugged in and ready for routine use, sweeping the area in front of our boat at regular intervals. Down below the watertight bulkhead doors are kept shut and the crew have been well briefed.”
Race 4 Day 16 Skipper Richard Hewson – Gold Coast Australia
“It is not surprising that we are cold as our position is nearly closer to Antarctica than Australia.”
Race 4 Day 16 Skipper Stuart Jackson – De Lage Landen
“We are all looking forward to making some miles north soon to warmer climes as it seems everyone has happily ticked the Southern Ocean off.”
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