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Paul Knighton Blog (MSc Insurance & Risk Management, 2007)

Paul is taking a career break to compete in The Clipper Round the World yacht race and here is his second blog entry!

Entry 1 - Race Start

The weeks before race start turned out to be a rush to make ready the boats that will hopefully carry us safely on the 40,000 journey. It is difficult to explain how much preparation is involved in these final days and weeks, but if you imagine a Formula One team preparing for a 12 month grand Prix it will give you some idea.

The Race departs from Southampton, just a short sail form Clippers home of Gosport, with the start line opposite the Royal Yacht Squadron in the familiar waters of the Solent.

The Race start weekend is filled with celebrations and events that prove, for me at least, an unwelcome distraction as I looked to spend the last few hours with loved ones and to try and focus on the race ahead. None the less it made a great spectacle as the people of Southampton and the surrounding areas turned out in their thousands if not tens of thousands to wish the fleet well.

The race start itself was in danger of being overshadowed by the shear number of small yachts and boats that escorted the fleet down towards Cowes, we were also honoured by the presence of the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious as she escorted us to the start line.

 

Race 1 Cowes To Madeira:

 

The Race began with all ten yachts jockeying for position as they tacked and gybed trying not to pass the starting gate early and incur a severe points penalty. As the one minute gun fired Visit Finland made a dash for the line and found herself the first to do so. As we edged closer to the line and the seconds were ticking down and we were in danger of passing before the starting gun sounded. With 10 seconds to go the skipper made the call, "ready to tack" meaning we would bear away from the line at the last second for fear of imposing the penalty, as we did this Gold Coast streamed by into first position as we were left floundering struggling to regain boat speed. Whether we would have crossed the line before the gun I do not know, but one thing is for sure, it is a long race to Madeira and you can not win it on the start line, but you can loose it.

 

We made good speed in the early stages of the race in a healthy 20 kts of breeze, and soon we left the flotilla of support boats behind and gained a final glimpse of our friends and families on the spectator boats and were left with thoughts of what was to come. Eventually we headed out into the English Channel and the race proper could begin.

 

This next stage of the race proved to be a real challenge for the crews as the winds suddenly dropped and all ten yachts were left struggling with little or no breeze. The English Channel is extremely tidal, and some teams resorted to weighing anchor so as not to be pushed eastwards, not something you would expect from an ocean race. Visit Finland faired better than most here, we had managed to create a lead for ourselves through the shipping lanes of the channel and were the first to reap the benefit of the westward push of the tide when it finally turned in our favour.

 

Our lead began to stretch as we headed to the coast of France and the bay of Biscay. We had all heard the stories about this part of the north Atlantic and the dangers it poses, however, as we studied the weather forecast it appeared that the benign conditions would continue and the Race to Madeira could be a long one. Not for the first time the forecast was wrong, no sooner had we passed the Brittany peninsular and we slammed into a deepening depression. The light airs of the previous days were gone and replaced by a furious beat into 20ft waves. Although these conditions are uncomfortable and mean that sleeping is almost impossible, we managed to increase our lead which was now 30 miles or so.

Bizarrely, when I woke the next morning, the wind had gone, the sea was calm and we were back to the light airs of the previous days. This pattern continued for the next 72 hours. Each night would come the wind and each day would see the calm return. On the final night of storms we were really introduced to ocean racing, as the winds peaked and the swell grew much higher than previous nights. It was during this night and one of our racing head sail changes that I found myself as number one Bowman. This role is effectively to perch yourself on the forward rail of the yacht and attach the replacement sail to the forestay whilst removing the sail you are replacing at the same time. The task of walking to the bow in those conditions is challenging enough, let alone manipulating yourself around the front of the boat to stand on a 4 cm wide rail with noting beneath you but the waters of the raging Bay of Biscay as she pounds you with wave after wave. I must confess, I did have second thoughts about the race at this point. The danger was brought home even more when we heard the next day that Geraldton had diverted to a Spanish port as one of their crew had sustained a suspected broken leg in the same storm.

 

As we rounded the Spanish Coast and headed for Portugal we were now in the Atlantic proper and there was a noticeable warming in temperature. We were still in the lead with all but one of the competition following in our footsteps. The one that was not was Gold Coast, they had taken a route closer to the Portuguese coats. As we watched them on our on board satellite tracking system, we compared their wind forecast to ours and soon discovered why they had taken such a different route. The wand inshore was forecast to be 30 kts plus, where as a 100 miles west, where we were, it was to fall to 5 to 10 kts, disaster!!

Gold Coast soon took advantage if this and overtook us and stretched out an insurmountable lead. The next five days or so were spend desperately trying to catch gold Coast but to no avail, she was home and dry. Non the less as we arrived into Madeira and were greeted by applause from the Australian crew we were quietly satisfied with our second place and a solid 9 points in the race.  We now have the first few thousand miles under our keel and are beginning to mould a team. Next stop Rio!"

 

Best regards,

Paul