Dongfeng Race Team- Joining the exclusive southern ocean club
by Dongfeng Race Team on 24 Mar 2015
Onboard Dongfeng Race Team Yann Riou / Dongfeng Race Team
Perhaps (as Pascal has explained) we are not sailing as well as we’d like, perhaps fourth position isn’t exactly what we’d hoped for almost a week in, but there’s still a long way to go and actually there is something bigger happening.
For Chinese sailors Yang Jiru (Wolf) and Liu Xue (Black) they have yet to discover the Southern Ocean at its best (or worst depending on how you look at it!). The water and air temperature still has several degrees to drop yet, the waves will get much bigger, the surfing will get faster and the visibility will reduce. At some point the wind will kick in, become less stable, and eventually become the heavier, denser type that the Southern Ocean is known for.
By sailing this leg Wolf and Black are becoming members of a very exclusive club. A club that was brought to our attention this morning by a simple message to the boat by a Dongfeng fan:
Hey Wolf and Black,
You are joining a very exclusive club – people that have raced through the Southern Ocean BUT every club has a membership fee.
The fee to join this one is cold, wet hardship, hardship that the vast majority of people are not willing to pay. That is what makes this club (and its members) so special and so exclusive.
Dig deep, you are purchasing that wonderful thing ‘experience’ and there is no way to gain it with any lesser cost.
Just think of the memories you will have when you reach Itajai, memories that no story can tell as vividly as they will be in your mind.
Lucky Guys!
Sail fast, sail safe
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