Jonathan McKee's account of life on Estrella Damm

by Estrella Damm Sailing Team on 25 Nov 2007 Estrella Damm has had a tough run over the last few days as she tries to keep up with her competitors in the Barcelona World Race. Estrella Damm's Co-Skipper Jonathan McKee gives us an honest account of what life has been like on board Estrella Damm since her passage through the second gate at the Canary Islands.

Below is an interview with Estrella Damm's Jonathan McKee.

'It has been tough for the last four days to be honest. We've been trying to be disciplined with our routing and our navigation and trusting the information, but for whatever reason it hasn't been working out that well, particularly with our little gamble with the Western Sahara. Unfortunately other guys went to the same place and did fine. We're trying not to take it personally. Lately we've been just doing the same game plan, but it has been working out better. Tactically we've been making gains. I guess it's just the nature of the game. Predicating what the wind is going to do is a pretty inexact science, probably more so when you have a sailor trying to interpret the data.

'We're feeling pretty good about our position relative to the fleet and we'll see how it goes over the next few days.

'We also had some issue on board sail handling wise that have cost us some time and also took a lot of energy to sort out. To a slight extent these issues have diminished our capabilities for the future but we're trying to do what we can to mitigate that. We've fixed most things and are on our way to fixing the rest.

'We may be down a sail but at the moment, looking forward, it's not one of our critical sails. We're just going to carry on and forget that it ever happened. Take the lessons from it and move on.

'It feels great after day after day of losses, to actually have some gains is a pleasant thing. We've been working hard and when it's not rewarded it's tough, but when it is rewarded it feels great. Part of it might be an issue of the other guys positioning themselves more to the west and taking a little bit of hit on the 'distance to the finish' measurement, but that all depends on the shift, but at the moment we're happy to interpret it as we're going well.'

Jonathan has passed through the Cape Verde Islands before as part of the Mini-Transat when he was alone and on a boat the third the size. He explains how this passage has been different:

'It has been totally different. Not only has the weather been completely different, but also I'm on a much bigger, more powerful boat, sailing with two instead of one. I really enjoy the double handed, I think it's the future. It just makes so much more sense than single handed for me. These are big powerful boats, there's no questions about that, it's a lot of boat even for two people, you just have to be smart about how you do things, and pace yourself and take things carefully.

'Strangely enough we're passing right through the same part of the Cape Verde's that I passed through four years ago so certainly there's a bit of deja vu there.'

Last night Guillermo and Jonathan found themselves on the foredeck as they struggled to free a stuck sail.

'It's been a pretty full on 24 hours and honestly it's been over 20 knots for more than 24 hours now which means you have to hand steer so you get a lot less sleep and a lot less other things done so that part takes its toll. When things are going well it's not so bad you're kind cruising along its still hard work. But when something goes wrong all of a sudden your life changes completely and it's just a major, major problem.

In our case we have a sail up there that we can't get down. You realise just how precarious of a position you are in when five minutes before, everything seemed totally under control. Things can go bad in a hurry. It's just a very delicate game. The loads are pretty big. It puts the human in the way of a lot of power so you have to be pretty careful.'

After a hard fight last night, the team has managed to get a few hours sleep to recover.

'We took the very end of the night, we put up a smaller sail, because we had some repairs to do before we put a proper gennaker back up again. I slept for about three hours, got up at sunrise I was able to do what was necessary to put the gennaker back up and we've been running with it all day. Sometimes you need to just step back and take the time needed to recharge your batteries before you can think and act properly again. You get so exhausted after an incident like that. The whole time I was sleeping Guillermo was up on deck dealing with things on his own so he hasn't had much rest today. He's still a little bit behind so I suspect the responsibility will fall a little bit more on me tonight.'

For emergency use, Estrella Damm is equipped with a small alarm button at the helm station that when pressed, will wake up the sailor who is sleeping down below.

'The alarm button has become a critical part of our operation, that thing is great! We respect each others rest a lot and you use it when you really need to. You have to put some clothes on before you can come on deck, so you can't instantly expect help, so you need to plan ahead 10-15 minutes if you can.'

In between the hardships of the last 24 hours the team have made a conscious effort to make sure their bodies are well fuelled.

'We're quite conscious of [getting sleep and food]. We're trying to continue to eat and drink water, as those are two critical things. Sleep, eat, drink; without that you're body doesn't function.

'Stepping back a bit, it is fantastic sailing here. 18-25 knots downwind, big waves, classic heavy air trade winds sailing in a great downwind boat, so we're lucky to be here if you just step way from it a little bit you can see that.'

Once in the Canary Islands, 30 miles to left of right made all the difference in the positioning of the boats. Estrella Damm suffered a spate of bad luck after crossing the gate just before the Canary's and in an email sent back t shore Jonathan explained that he was disappointed and frustrated with the boat's progress, but the distances within the fleet remain close and there are further opportunities for lanes to open up in the race.

'We can see the opportunities. At the time it's hard but if you look at the big picture you can see there is still 23,000 miles to go. Keep in the race, keep your capabilities intact, and keep a good attitude. We just need to keep learning to sail the boat better and learning to work together better. Keep focused on the long term.'

Skipper Guillermo has also been holding up in the face of the challenges the team have experience of late.
'When you get a positive position report he perks up a bit for sure. It's been tough on him; he has a lot of responsibility on him. He's taking it well. He's fine, he's a true professional.'

'You realise these guys that we're up against have been doing this for ten years and we have been doing this for three months. They are great boats to sail and it's a fantastic race and when we have a moment to breathe we're having a good time.'

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