Unable to Continue the Race

Having consulted with the shoulder surgeon twice now it is with regret that I have had to advise that I won't be able to rejoin my Clipper crewmates for any of the remaining legs of the race.

Christine & I will still be there to welcome them as they arrive back in Southampton in July - wouldn't miss that for the world!!
For now I'd like to wish all the current and ongoing crew members a safe & happy journey for the remaining legs.

The whole adventure and challenge is a credit to Clipper Venture and all my crew-mates (on Gold Coast Australia) plus the other nine yachts who have or will take part in this memorable round the world (or part thereof) race.
Challenging, tiring, frightening and rewarding are just a few of the adjectives that can be used to describe the journey. Humorous, determined, mad and adventurous is how you can describe the crewmates.
Thank you Clipper, thank you crewmates & thank you to my support crew at home, particularly my loving wife of 40 years Christine and our dear friend Jan Dennis.
Last but not least thank you to everybody who has supported me in raising funds for Melanoma Patients Australia through my Everyday Hero site. I will be officially closing down the fundraising page on 30/4/12 and at this time forwarding the balance of funds to MPA. If there is any body who has been meaning to donate, this is your last few weeks to do so. Just go to www.everydayhero.com.au/barry_moore and follow the prompts.
Cheers for now Bamo.

Gold Coast stoppover

My temporary? withdrawal from the Clipper race has done nothing to dampen my enthusiasm for the race itself and my Gold Coast Australia crew mates.
Having travelled to NZ to see them come in to Tauranga at 2.30am and the end of Race 5, Chris and I drove up to the Gold Coast for the finish of Race 6.

We were on the seawall just after 4am on Dec 13 to witness the thrilling end to Race 6 from Tauranga. Visit Finland denied our team (and the home favourite) Gold Coast Australia, their 6th consecutive victory and a coveted home port win by crossing the finish line just 6 minutes ahead at the end of the 1,300-mile race.

We spotted the 2 masts on the horizon just before sunrise - it was a beautiful clear-sky morning with the sun glinting on the distinctive Gold Coast skyline.
Our friends and fellow GCA supporters Jan & Julian Dennis were with us to wave the team in.
There was a small group of enthusiastic 'Clipper followers' with us on the seawall including family and friends of the victorious Visit Finland crew who were extremely excited.

Once at the Southport Yacht Club we did our best to give a warm welcome to all the teams as they arrived. We waved our 'boxing kangaroo' flags madly and there's no doubt Chris's hooter added to the atmosphere.
It was great to see the Gold Coast crew again - clearly the leg under the Australian continent from Geraldon WA to Tauranga NZ was a tough one for everyone on board.
Chris & Jan enjoyed meeting and chatting to 72-year-old NZer Fred Tooley whose participation in the race fulfilled a lifelong goal. He told the girls he wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
“If you are thinking about fulfilling a dream or taking on the challenge of a lifetime, don’t just think about it - just do it. You won’t regret it,” he said.



Fred Tooley



 

 

 

Dockside greetings



Chris & I stayed at the Gold Coast for a couple of weeks, spending time relaxing and catching up with some of the crew. The Southport Yacht Club did a fantastic job looking after the Clipper crowd. Everyone agreed it was a superb stopover Spending the lead up to Christmas in shorts and t-shirts no doubt seemed a little surreal for a number of crew members as they relaxed ahead of the marathon leg to Singapore.
We waved them all off for Race 7 on Christmas Eve and relaxed ourselves with Christmas lunch at Palazzo Versace.
It's back to physio for me - we'll see how well this shoulder of mine can repair itself. My Clipper adventure may not be over yet!?


Christmas Eve farewell



Race Withdrawal

My shoulder had caused me some grief again on the last leg so I put my name forward to visit the medicos to get it checked out. My appointment with the local hospital was the following day and the consultation with the doctor led me to have an MRI scan on my right shoulder.

The scan report was not what I was expecting. In medical terms it showed a partial thickness tear involving the supraspinatus tendon, moderate fluid collection in the subacromial and subscapular bursa, subscapular tendinopathy and severe osteoarthritic changes in the acromioclavicular joint causing impingement of the supraspinatus tendon.

As a result the doctor couldn’t sign off on my going back on the yacht. I was off. I was (for now) out of the race.

My first reaction was obviously great disappointment, but the reality is that safety must come first. To continue with my condition would mean I’d be no good to myself or anybody else on the yacht - I can’t lift my arm above shoulder height without pain and I only have about 50% strength in the arm & shoulder below shoulder height.

I feeI like I have let the crew and my support team down, but they know if I could be there, I would be.

The plan is to see my own doctor and a specialist in Sydney with the hope to rejoin the yacht later in the race. I will let you know the outcome.

I ended up showing Andrew the doctor who did the MRI and Paulette over the yacht