Volvo Ocean Race - Team Brunel prepares for possible gale force winds

by Team Brunel on 16 Oct 2014 'The first leg really is something for you,' says bowman Gerd-Jan Poortman shortly after the start of the Volvo Ocean Race in Alicante. 'It’s the perfect leg to get into your workflow.' Poortman gives me a pep talk because he knows I have zero experience in ocean sailing. 'At Gibraltar we put the gennaker on it and then ride downwind to Cape Town. A piece of cake.'

His words reverberate in my head as I shuffle forward on my knees on the hard carbon floor. I am eagerly looking for my seasickness pills. In the back of the boat it is pitch black and my bag with personal belongings is filled with saltwater. On deck I hear Jens Dolmer shouting instructions. I can hear his words 'ready for hoist' just above the howling wind. We are sailing upwind. The boat pitch wildly. Every time when the hull is crashing on a wave or if a sail is trimmed apocalyptic sounds are heard through the interior of the 65 foot long carbon fiber hull. The water swirls wild foaming through the gangways. Below deck everything is soaked.

Skipper Bekking had warned me earlier that day: 'Be sure that you have sent all your files for tonight. Tonight we are expecting gale force winds and that will separate the men from the boys.'

And there lies the boy in his bed gasping for breath, while the men are working on deck. The muscular Dutchman is behind the helm, which he enjoys.

I am soaked to the bone. I was afraid to put on my foul weather gear a few hours ago. The chance of getting seasickness was too big. But the sea has won. The seasickness ghost grabbed me with both hands and now I have hung over the railing a few times. My dry clothing is now 'stacked' on the high side to generate extra weight, of course under 500 kg of supplies and materials.

When I gently crawl through the hatch I see smiling faces the next morning. Gerd-Jan Poortman laughs. Even Andrew Cape cannot suppress a smile. 'We have also had a rough night' Poortman reassures me. 'And I'll tell you, you were not the only one who got sick,' Pablo Arrarte agrees. 'But we did it for a good cause. We are in the lead, 'grins Poortman. In one night from sixth place to pole position! I get a warm feeling inside and I momentarily forgot my Brunel Sailing