Clipper Round the World Race - The storm and rounding New Zealand

by Lisa Blair on 21 Nov 2011 Clipper 2011-12 Round the World Yacht Race week two of the fifth race has offered many challenging sailing conditions for the crew on board Gold Coast Australia. Sailing just outside the Australian Bight after eight days at sea the weather offered gusting winds that resulted in a broach while we were flying the Heavy Weight Spinnaker.

I was warm and snug in my bunk trying to get some rest in our four hours off watch when the boat healed violently over. Stopping short against my lee cloth just as the shouting started, I could not remain in bed any longer. There was no all hands call this time but help was none the less needed as the off watch arrived on deck in varying states of dress to retrieve a flogging spinnaker.

Both the Sheet and Guy rope’s were thrown off the winch allowing them to fly free releasing the Spinnaker from the pole just in time to stop it from flogging it’s self to death, unfortunately during this time the sheet and guy snapped free and flew into the Southern Ocean never to be seen again. During all of this the crew were madly scrambling around the decks trying to retrieve the Spinnaker when the halyard (the rope that we use to hoist the sail up the mast) jammed preventing us from dropping the kite so the shout went out ‘cut the line’ which Dan Oliver (aka Tigger) duly did. Finally the Spinnaker was safely retrieved and the Yankee 2 sail was hoisted.

Broaches aside we are still holding first place with a 40 nautical mile lead on our nearest rival ‘I love New York’ with 30 knot winds and moderate sea state. The pleasant weather was all about to change the next day as a low pressure system was moving through at 40 nautical miles an hour and quickly catching up to us.

The weather system was dubbed ‘The Storm’ and the crew of Gold Coast Australia went into storm mode. Preparing the boat by removing any projectile objects from the shelves in the Galley in case we are knocked down by a wave, bringing the jockey pole down below, lashing any loose items, bringing the emergency steering tiller on deck so that it would be at hand should the steering fail. My task was to climb out the main sheet to the end of the Boom and attach a new Preventer Line. This is a very important rope as it’s main purpose is to ‘prevent’ the boom from crashing across the deck in a crash Gybe, it was twilight by the time I was harnessed up and ready to go.

During the day the winds had increased to 30 knots gusting 40 knots hitting us just forward of the beam. Our 68 foot yacht was healed over crashing through the swell with endless waves crashing over the deck wetting everyone in sight throwing spray meters above our heads.

Sitting out on the boom dangling meters above speeding water I tried to balance as the boom was bucking like a bronco at a rodeo beneath me. Skipper Richard Hewson was at the helm trying his best to give me a steady ride but with building winds and gusts exceeding 40 knots it is a challenging task. Job completed and I was able to climb down and go and enjoy some warm dinner as the on-watch put in the third reef.

During the night the winds continued to build until it was gusting 57 knots but by the time I came on deck again for my next watch at midnight the winds and sea state had abated at ‘The Storm’ had passed over leaving a large and confused sea state to challenge my helming skills on.

Richard was up all night to monitor ‘The Storm’ so decided to sleep most of the following day, unfortunately when he woke up it had become apparent that we had sailed too far south past the southern tip of New Zealand and deep into the Southern Ocean. Everyone failed to realise that the barometer was rapidly falling just as another low pressure System was passing. The winds once again begin to build as the sea state increased. Looking at the Gib files this was to be one heck of a storm, far worse than ‘The Storm’ ever was and due to reach it’s peak in two days time.

Sailing on day 11 we were flying a poled out Yankee 2. Out of nowhere the boat lurched and rounded up on a wave causing the head sail to back. Amongst the fleet this has resulted in other yachts having their spinnaker track ripped off and we were no luckier. An almighty bang sounded through the hull. Once again the shouting started as the on-watch transferred the Yankee sail to the leeward side and set about repairs. The following evening all thoughts of the spinnaker track were forgotten as we battled with huge swell and winds over 55 knots.

The Low pressure system was upon us and it was big. The sea state increased in size as the winds blew in the fifties offering the helmsman the challenge and exhilaration of a life time. Imagine looking at a wave that is the size of a two to three story house, it is Gray and frothing; every other wave is breaking with white bubbling foam, the winds are in the fifties ripping the tops of the waves, our 68 foot yacht is sheltered from the wind in the troughs as we sail down wind surfing waves at incredible speeds. As a helmsman my concentration was total as I tried to keep control, my arms would fatigue quickly so 30 min was all you could do in one session. We hunkered down with two reefs in the main and no head sail but that did not stop the boat as I surfed a wave at an incredible 20 knots.

Exhausted as I was the sea at dawn took my breath away as this ocean turned into a mountainous landscape with peaks and valleys all around. As the winds abated so did the swell only to rear up once again as we crossed a shelf just of Stuart Island, the most southerly point of New Zealand.

It was here that I experienced my first broach whilst I was helming. We were happily surfing at 18 knots down a wave when out of nowhere a short wave crested up on my starboard striking the hull near the quarter, in a second I was pushed 40 degrees off course only to have the boat continue to round up. The wave that struck us broke across the deck engulfing everyone as our angle of heal increased beyond 45 degrees. ‘Hold on’ was all I had the opportunity to shout as I dangled off the helm trying to use all of my body weight to re-gain control as the boat was sliding sideways down the face of the wave.

This could get very bad very quickly if we are caught beam on to the next wave. We would be at risk of rolling completely around. Luck for us the helm started to respond to my efforts and we were able to pull off the wave and straighten out. I shouted ‘is everybody okay?’ As I took a quick head count with shaking hands, everyone was still on board, phew.

We have now cleared Stuart Island and altered our course to the north where we hope for some warmer weather to defrost our freezing fingers. There is only 600 nautical miles to run to Tauranga so hopefully we can still maintain our 100 nautical mile lead to the finish Lisa Blair Sails the World