Escaping winter’s frosty grasp with two great offshore races
by David Schmidt 16 Jan 2018 02:50 AEDT
January 15, 2018
Leg 4, Melbourne to Hong Kong, day 13 Leading the fleet and heading for the home port on board Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag © Konrad Frost / Volvo Ocean Race
As the winter of 2017/2018 extends its icy headlock across North America, bringing with it chilly temps and short days, many sailors find ways to live vicariously. If this describes your outlook toward surviving winter, take heart, as both the Volvo Ocean Race and the Clipper Round The World Race are serving up plenty of exciting media as both events wend their way around our lovely and lonely planet. Not surprisingly, both fleets have been hanging out in waters that are significantly warmer than those encircling the vast majority of our continent (Florida sailors: be prepared to pay a high Karmic price for your year-round fun next time around!), so don’t be too jealous when you see pictures involving shorts and t-shirts (remember those?)
Some years ago my cousin was attending law school and came over to our house for dinner one night during his first year with a classic line that describes many law students’ experiences during this high-pressure three-year period: “Scare you to death, work you to death, and bore you to death.”
I’m not sure if any sailors racing in Leg 4 of the 2017/2018 Volvo Ocean Race (VOR), which is taking sailors from Melbourne, Australia to Hong Kong, are law-school veterans, but this leg is quickly showing the sailors all of these emotions compressed into one leg, especially for the crew of Sun Hung Kai Scallywag, the Hong Kong-flagged entry that’s skippered by Australian David Witt.
While all VOR teams racing to Hong Kong have had to deal with the physical and psychological discomforts (read: borderline agony on both fronts at times) of the Doldrums, Scallywag had a man overboard experience over the weekend that certainly exposed all sailors, but especially Alex Gough, who went overboard sans a lifejacket or harness, to some serious shots of fear and hard work to get their man overboard back aboard in just seven minutes.
“He went out on the outrigger, I was driving, and we went off a big sea and it picked him up threw him off, like a horse,” said Witt in an official team communication. “The main thing is, we got him back on board. He’s safe. But I think it’s shown everyone how hard it is to see the guy in the water. Even on a sunny day, 18 knots of wind… You wouldn’t want to be doing this in 20 knots in the dark.”
According to reports, Gough climbed out on the outrigger to fix a tangled sheet during a routine sail change but didn’t tell the afterguard of his move until it was too late and he was swimming and watching Scallywag’s stern rapidly disappear.
“I was pretty stupid, but luckily the guys were on to it,” said Gough in an onboard video that was shot upon his recovery. “They turned around bloody quickly,” Gough said. “I’m good. I’m fine. It was a bit scary… But off we go again.”
Despite the fact that Gogh wasn’t wearing any safety equipment, Scallywag was able to get the entire situation sorted out quickly and returned to racing in less time than it takes some amateur crews to sort out a horribly hour-glassed spinnaker after an unlucky set. As of the latest position reports, Scallywag was still leading the hunt to their hometown waters by six nautical miles over Vestas 11th Hour Racing and 93 nautical miles over Team AkzoNobel, but with some 1,700 miles of racing to go (at the time of this writing), this leg could still be any team’s game.
Meanwhile, back in Australia, the crews racing in the Clipper Round the World Race are significantly closer to hot showers, cold beers and real food than their VOR friends, as (again, at the time of this writing) some 110 nautical miles are separating the lead boat-Visit Seattle-from the Airlie Beach finishing line.
Interestingly, the top four boats are all clustered within 10 nautical miles of Visit Seattle’s stern, making for an exciting dash to the finishing line for the crews of amateur sailors and their families, who are no doubt following this exciting finish via global internet connections.
“We have arranged another close one for all you supporters,” jested Visit Seattle’s skipper Nikki Henderson in a team communication. “This last bit is SO nerve racking. Constantly looking over our shoulder and hoping we don't make any mistakes. Let's hope it works out.”
So while sailors here in frigid North America likely have months to go before things turn around weather wise (hey, there’s always frostbiting to be done), the great news is that there’s plenty of big-picture sailing action unfurling between these two races to help us through the worst of the yearly Doldrums.
But, should you find yourself truly bored and in need of a Vitamin D and saline infusion, there’s always the Caribbean racing circuit, which-after the destruction of last year’s hurricanes-could certainly use our help and continued support.
May the four winds blow you safely home,
David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor
Seattle, USA