Level 3 training or the question – does this makes sense?

April 2019 – and you could call it “summer” in the Solent. We again met on a Monday morning. New faces, new trainees and the first day no Sailing. Theory. Yes Clipper takes this very, very serious. We had classes of seamanship. Basically it was a summery of emergency procedures and work groups to solve certain problems on board. I forgot the name of our teacher. But he for sure was an experienced shellback. More than 26 Atlantic crossings, several long hauls and a few hundred thousand miles. But I am not sure what was wrong with me but for some reason it was boring and not sure but not a lot was kept. Most interesting were the tea brakes and lunch. Lots of discussions with future potential team mates. Anyway every day has an end. In the afternoon we trolled down to the marina and went to the same procedures as all the times before. Check in at the training office. Smiles by the super friendly Clipper crew at the office and…….tea.

After that we went through the allocation of the trainees to the training skippers. I was allocated to Josh and the Mate this time was Ian. Both of them were given a position as Race skipper in the 19/20 edition. The excitement rose when we walked to the boat, the Clipper 70. Finally we would be sailing the boat that we will be racing. Bigger, more “comfortable” and actually easier to handle. The deck layout is one cockpit only other than the 68 where you have the pit and cockpit. Two coffee grinders, bigger primary, all lines in one place. Under deck more space. The galley in the center which makes cooking much easier. All in all a great boat and and an honor to take it out.

And our prep for the week was already routine. Short bio by everybody. Ian peeled potatoes for dinner. Afterwards Josh explained what the week is about, kite sailing. Awesome. And what else? Man over board, reefing, gybing, all the good stuff. But before that safety briefing, knots and dinner tonight. After that? Pub. We the morning decks briefing and guess what, knot practice. Josh and Ian are really nice guys, young, thorough and really keen to sail. I was very impressed by their personalities and leadership. We all were ready to go sailing. But one fundamental thing was missing – the wind. There was no wind. Here we were beginning of April and the Solent was flat, not even a wrinkle on the water. We decided not to slip lines. Does not make sense to drift up and down on the Solent with the tide. Another morning with drills at the dock. MoB tethered is really a great exercise. Untethered in the harbor? Not so good for the rescue swimmer. The water is not wee free. Therefore not the best experience. Ian was really upbeat explaining the deck layout, show again winch handling. We also pulled sails out of the locker. It was warm, actually hot to be precise. Most of the crew became a bit uneasy because we were “locked” in our cage. Lots of work – no milage. Great sunset of a reasonable workout all day, good supper, pub visit for sure and we all were hoping to get out and sail tomorrow. I thought to myself how tough it will be to keep patience in the Doldrums when the boat does not move for a couple of days, no wind, no movement and burning hot. I am actually happy that I am cold legged because I know me. I would burst under such conditions. First day here and now zero miles.

Next day we slipped lines very early and headed out. There was a mild breeze from the South, from France with warm spring air. Josh gave us a very detailed briefing for the line slipping going through the preferred maneuver plus two fall back options and – I was impressed for one more time. And we slipped the lines, no hectic, no shouting, everything was controlled and easy. Josh for sure knew what he was doing and what was needed. We headed out to the Eastern part of the Isle of Wight when all of a sudden the engine went down. Josh pulled the power lever to zero and we glided over the solent. We stuck heads over board and at the stern we could see some grey rope entangled at the rudder. Josh went into the motor bay to see wether our main shaft was affected and turning it was very very difficult. We got the boat hook out and started to fish for the line. We were able to fetch a 20cm tug towing line out of the water. But unfortunately we were not able to clear it fro the main shaft. We tried hard by turning the main shaft left and right and pilled as much as we could. We also pulled to the left and the right but no chance. The only option, call the office and wait for rescue. It took half an our and another flipper boat came alongside for a tow into the harbor. Good emergency training side by side. We made it safely into the harbor and docked at the fueling pier to the outside. It was a bit tricky because of the outgoing tide and the lack of water. But with the grandiose skippers on board we made it. An hour later a diver came and released the tug line. It was massive. I took four people of our crew to carry it away. That was our day. Limited milage and no sailing for the day.

But as we were a patient crew we took this additional emergency training. We were one step ahead of other crew with this tow action. The crew worked really good. But next day finally we went out and started sailing. First some basic maneuvers. Mid day a fog bank rushed over us. So we went two hours with engine and had lunch together.

I remember very well that at the end of the day we had great sailing under the kite. We stayed out almost until sunset. We had a breeze of 15 knots and it was all cool.

Next day was very special because Sir Robin Knox-Johnston started to celebrate his 50 year anniversary. 50 years ago he headed out and circumnavigated navigated the world solo single handed as the first person on this planet. It was considered to be impossible due to boat technology, gear and physiological stress. But he did it in a great way because he is this extraordinary personality. This morning he headed out with the original boat, the Suhaili and his photographer friend to the finish line which he crossed in 1969.

And on the final day it came to a show down. We exercised the whole day kit maneuvers. We had almost no wind. But creative Josh and Ian went backward with the boat under engine filling the wind seeker with air. We did hoist, drop downs and gybes the whole day. At the end of the day there was one task left, dressing the main on the boom and putting the cover on. It is a tough job as the sail is very heavy and only a nicely dressed main is a good sign of a sharp crew and a good skipper. I was given the task to lead the dressing and I honestly did not like being giving the task. I tried to get the crew behind it and run through it as an all hand maneuver. But I was not able to get into take and I also became frustrated bout myself, the result and the fact that I was very, very exhausted. Anyway the result was horrible. Ian took over and got it done. And after that we had a serious debrief. Ian went at me asking what is wrong with me. I could not get the crew synced? What happens if you have a problem 3000 miles away from land on your own and the crew does not work together? IS this the result of me being hyperactive on board and trying to step up? And every crew was asked what they thought about the whole routine. The feedback was hurting. But it was honest. I left too many people behind and was not teaming up well enough. The pain stuck with me for the whole night – could not sleep. Next day was ma individual de brief. Josh was very grateful and tried to cheer me up. But honestly I started to think whether this Clipper Race was the right thing for me to do. Even with Josh and Ian trying to convince me to stay in I was thinking that my „over“motivation hurts people and is not doing good long term. Sorry – I cannot stand when the boat is going slow or is out of trim. But not everybody is like that and therefore feels overrun by me. Lost of thinking. On my way home on the train I started to craft the message for Dana telling her that I feel I might not be the right guy to sail with Clipper. But as time goes buy wounds heal, positive thoughts come back and a major change of attitude on my side. I need to stop doing but need to help teaching more. Explain to crew around me how to evolve and how to read the sea, read the boat and read the situation to feel the fun of sailing. I decided to give it a try in Level four. After a week at home I decided to stay.