GryphonSolo2 fights vertical seas

by Joe Harris on 26 May 2011 GryphonSolo2's skipper Joe Harris shares his thoughts on the day's events and the team's progress in the Normandy Channel Race.

Joe Harris:

Today's news from the boat is 'keep your day jobs ; do not experiment with offshore sailing as it is stupid.' After a lovely day yesterday touring the South coast of England, and a fast reach up the Celtic Sea, we rounded Tuskar rock at 6am this morning and it has been pure upwind hell since then fighting against a 30 knot cold front with 15' vertical seas.

The boat is slamming horribly- pancaking its flat forefoot as we eject through waves and launch into mid-air only to land with a bone-jarring crunch that rattles your fillings and crunches back discs and vertebrae.

Repeat over one-thousand million times until you are ready to hurl chunks. Moving around the boat is very difficult and akin to bouldering - at least three attachment points needed or you are adrift in the LEM module. There are many better things to do with your time - like getting a root canal or swimming with sharks. There is water everywhere as leaks develop from unknown sources. I hope the boat can take this pounding.

So folks that's about where are here today - sorry I couldn't deliver a more uplifting message but I can barely type. There is cause for optimism in that the wind is forecast to back from the south into the west, making our sail down to our next mark at the island of Gurnsey a reach instead of a beat. We are anxiously watching the wind direction as we crash along, hoping for a GryphonSolo2 Normandy Channel Race website