Joe Sails

The travel to Subic Bay was comfortable and uneventful. I took a flight from Hamburg to Dubai and from Dubai to Clark International Airport. My first time on the Philippines. The arrangement for the 1 hour transfer to Subic Bay worked out perfectly. I had a long conversation with the driver. He assumed that I am coming for holiday, Scuba Diving and the happiness of Philippine girls. But when I told him what we are up too he was overwhelmed. He wanted to know all the details and I guess he was thinking that we are a bit crazy choosing a hot bunk and wet experience to seek for happiness. Because what he said was that happiness is what needs to rule the life. A balanced mood, a well settled life and enough relaxation to enjoy this world. Happiness and friendliness seem to be the ruler of this country as I should find out later. I took my hotel room, made some phone calls, answered Emails and finally fell asleep. 8 hour time difference provided me with an easy and early start. Where is Black Betty? Looked at the race tracker and yes around 8 o clock they should be here, my team, my crew. I got a bit distracted finishing my last blog before I realized that it was already 07:30 and I might run late for arrival. I rushed for breakfast and saw through the window how Black Betty came into the bay. I stepped out of the hotel but had underestimated the walking distance. Long story short, I was late. But Dean and Becca were already there with the famous poster „Welcome home WTC“. I rushed to the pontoon and there she was, Black Betty and its crew.

The bucket of beer and ice cold drinks was already on deck and the crew went through health inspection. Big hellos with Nigel, Susie, Dan, Lizzy, Ben, Kaz, Rachel, Spophie, Gareth, Jasmine, Kate, Melanie, Micheal, Paul and Laurence. I also had the chance to say hi to skipper Rich which I never met before. These guys were excited but you also could feel how tired some of them were. And the stress and work paid its tolls. Almost everybody lost lots of weight. I have to be honest, I almost did not recognize Nigel. I mean in L4 training he was strong and robust and now – slim like a model for a fashion show. The crew came in well prepared as they had to motor for 20 hours. Rich used the time to get deep clean started which allowed them to take this arrival day off and start relaxing and recovering. After a short time on the pontoon everybody charged off to the bar, a bar with 24 hour service and air-conditioned.

Lots of stories came across about the experience. This race was tough. It was a short leg but very intense and with changing weather conditions. It was warm though out the route. But their was a fair amount of beating against the wind. There was a good portion of living at 45° angle. Loads of sail changes, moments of frustration in wind holes. Susie reported how tired and exhausted she was at times but how good to see that there was a strong team behind that stood up for each other. A media reporter was guest and she left the boat with a tear in her eyes as this team – WTC here and now – showed what it means to be a happy boat with ambition. Great deal – well done team. In the meantime three new loggers for leg 6 showed up making it a total of 5 now. Dean cheered already the incoming Black Betty, Michael, David and Stephen arrived. Big hellos and more stories as also same stories again. How the halyard of the kite blew and BB ran over it, how much work is waiting for sail repair, how tired everyone was, how this hole race worked out. But around 11 the gathering was called off. Everybody got invited to the crew meeting at 3pm.

At three PM we all met in „The Lagoon“ and open restaurant at a small lake. It was obvious that the power nap had revitalized lots of energy of the crew and that there was a thirst of us newbies finding out what we will be up to. But most importantly we celebrated the „Happy Boat“ crew.

Ad for Laurence it was a great afternoon. She managed to find prime food for her – a baguette. These little things make a big difference. Happy she-

And it became obvious that the crew had to catch up what they missed out on when they were had sea. A big campaign was started to overcome dehydration and on top re nutrition was paramount. In minutes (or lets say by the speed of the waiters half hours) the table was full of goodies.

Happy hours with good discussions. I enjoyed feeling at home. And the loggers from leg 5 celebrated their farewell too. At around 05:30 it was time to head over to the club. There were a few leftovers of liquid on the table which we quickly put into Richs bag. This would help us to get through the night. Price giving was waiting for us.

We did make it to the podium this time. We also were not in time for scoring gates. But one victory was on us. We did win the Ocean sprint to the South beating Qingdao. § points for us plus 1 point for the wooden spoon gave us 4 points. But other than that Qingdao did it all being awarded with 19 points for this race, 11 for the race win, and two time 3 points for the two scoring gates – congratulation. And it was also announced that we will have a 05:30 pm meeting today to be explained how we continue on leg 6 from here. Where will we go? Loads of speculation.

And as usual, al the pressure had to be offloaded – party. For sure the teams enjoyed themselves with life music, sandwiches, Mac and cheese and proper refreshments.

Tomorrow we will be back in business and will resume the hard work. We will finish deep clean, start sail repair, do all maintenance on the boat, skip ad Dan will do through the planning. It will all start at 9 am and at 05.30 we will have the meeting were we will be going next. It was a good night guys – good night. Over and out

Level 4 training is the crown of training. It is done with the race skipper, the AQP  and with members of your team on the boat you will be racing. 4 dates were available during earl summer and before race start. And for a reason I was only able to book the last date. This always inherits a risk getting injured or catching a bad flew and being called off by Clipper. And in this case you would be doing L4 at a later date on the old goose Clipper 68 with a skipper, that has nothing to do with your race and most likely with crew that is not from your team. No, there was no option taking that risk and I began to be careful looking after myself not standing in windy places, not sweating without being properly dressed and not taking any exercise risks. I arrived in good old Portsmouth on Aug 2^nd and since I had some time after check in at my hotel I took the ferry to Gosport. It was a warm summer evening at the British Riviera with a real sunset. I walked to the pier and here they were, the 11 Clipper 70, all lined up, tidy and well cleaned up. Our home for the week, our home for the race. All of them except two boats were wrapped with the main sponsor on. I walked by the pub that we had spent so many hours in. But I could not see anybody that I knew. Susie texted me later that she had arrived but I was already was on the other side. I walked the waterfront of Portsmouth enjoying the smell of algae and salt water. A mild land wind was blowing out to the Isle of Wight, a clear indication of the reversed thermal weather system in summer (local high pressure on land and local low pressure off the shore line due to temperature differences between land mass and water). It was a great feeling to stand here, watching the stars and feeling the excitement of another experience ahead.

I started early the next morning at 06:30. Traditional English breakfast, check out followed by a walk with the gear to the ferry. 07:10 Gosport ferry.

It was mild and humid. The sea was calm. We had outgoing tide. I enjoyed the smell of rope, paint, diesel and saltwater. I stepped on the upper deck and looked over to the marina. The rising sun threw its rose and orange light against the majestic boats. This was the right start of my day and I was really curious to see who would be with me on the boat this time and how this training would work out.

I was hoping we would do a bit more compared to all previous training session. But firstly we had only one administrative task today. Pick up our brand new foulies bringing them on board. We checked in at the race office. We picked up the foulies, obviously tested them and got our photo taken for our personal page. I was a bit disappointed. When trying on the foulies a few month ago I was talked into an XL smock. But I lost weight and felt L would do for sure. I changed the size by Email with Musto 5 weeks before the handout. I got written confirmation that I would be on L. When I opened my box it was XL. I was and I am still disappointed. Things don’t work sometimes. I took the smock with the result that even today it is the very last thing that I am putting on. Never mind.

We met Mark back at the training office and Dan and walked over to our boat. Yes home sweet home. But before we went below deck we had a briefing. Everything was different this time. Allocated bunks – hot bunks, which means you have a bunk buddy and the bunk is never empty. My bunk buddy was Paul, a round the worlder from Kiwi land. Allocated watches. Means our boat was split into two worlds that would change in 4 hours cycles. It is a bit like the tide that goes in and out in a 6-hour tact. Allocated mother watches for the next five days. It all meant that the next five day would be closer to reality, always out there, no pubs at night. The boat would become our one and only universe, all that mattered – as it is supposed to be in Ocean sailing. The only part that was missing was – the Ocean. 

On deck we told who we were, safety brief, decks walk and life vest check. We prepared the boat to head out, put the stay on, prepped the main and dressed all lines needed. After that skip gave a brief. We head out to the Solent. We would go through three exercises, towing another Clipper, delivering fuel with a dinghy to another Clipper and finally man over board. We would start the watch system as soon as we finished the fuel delivery. We made a coin toss who would be on off watch first. The sea was calm, weather was mild, good enough for shorts and my beloved Dale of Norway sweater. When we headed out from Gosport the new “Hugo Boss” was pulled out of the hangar.  It is Alex Thomson boat or to say more an UFO for the Vendee Globe Challenge 2020. He finally wants to win it after being second for two times now. Alex was once a Clipper skipper winning the race. It shows what career you can make if successful. He sits on a budget of a few 100 million pounds to deliver the ultimate excitement about sailing  following his drive wanting to win the Vendee. I am wishing him all the best. He for sure is my second sailing hero after Ellen McArthur. Go beat the French this time!

Out there in the Solent we started to team up for the towing exercise but other than during our emergency during level 3 training, where we were towed side by side we prepared for a regular line tow. Our partner was Seattle. A try pod line was arranged in the back t the stern ensuring that the load will be spread evenly onto the two winches. And as the see was calm there were no issues. We were able to finish this part quickly end moved to the fuel delivery with a dinghy. And how surprising it took us a bit of time to inflate the rubber dingy because the pump was pretty inefficient. This is nothing for an emergency because it takes time. Prep time was needed.  After that we knotted Susie onto a halyard and dumped her overboard to man the dingy in order to let he grab the freight. It was a bit of a wet exercise for her since we were steaming ahead and the dinghy took loads of water and was about to capsize. This still being an exercise was telling us how it would be like in the Southern Ocean in an emergency with building high waves. Anyway we all enjoyed ourselves.

Once we ticked off these safety topic it happened again. Bob could not stand us as a crew and jumped overboard, bloody bastard as we say. But the crew was on Level 4 and even us being on the boat at sea only for a few hours and therefore practicing the recovery with great oversight and in a very organized manner. 12 minutes. That was a great job. Mark and Dan were happy and now we could do what we were supposed to do. Watch system and heading out into the channel. Sailing – finally! The breeze picked up, „Crime Watch“ took over and we, „Baywatch“ crawled into our bunks for a quick nap. After the first four hours we changed watch. The wind picked up and we were heading from the channel back to the solent. 22 knots of wind, beam reach – so what had to happen? The kite had to go up and here it came. I perfect deployment by the watch and now we enjoyed Champaign sailing. 2.5m waves, the boat was heeling over at 40° and we were making 11-14 knots. Awesome. Just on the edge of the rudder effectiveness. I was on the helm and Dean was on the spinnaker sheet. We started to work as a team. Whenever I had pressure to go out of control I yelled „Eeeeeease“ or „Big Eeeeeeass“. And once the pressure was gone and I was able to dive 10° more leewards I yelled „grind, grind, grind“ and Susie and Stefano would throw the grinder round and round until the call cam „Hoooooold“. Pristine sailing, the best.

Dinner time came up and it was about time to get the kite down. We passed a channel ferry and had a bit room to the southeast to work out the maneuver. Mark took the helm and he tried to brief us. „Remember, letterbox! Grind the leeward sheet through the block to the windward side though the letter box. Pop the the kit. Than pull all loose ends through the boom. Do not let go. Once you have it all in your arms drop it into the „cave“. Got it?“ „Ready?“ Nothing. „I can’t hear you Baywatch, Ready?“ „Ready“. The breeze was about 25 knots. We were more on a fine reach when we winched the sheet and popped the kite. Chris and I tried to grab the kite pulling it through the letter box. But it was damn hard. „Get the kite through the box guys!!!! I am running out of water“ „Susie easy the halyard.“ Nothing happened. Chris, Dean and I clung on the kite. Nothing moved. I jumped down and eased the halyard for about a third. „Nooooooo, you idiot!!!!! Hooooooold the halyard. What the fuck are you guys doing. Look the kite launches again!!!! Nooooooo“ And the unmistaken had to happen. the kite flogged, lines flogged, the kite took off and seek for the right target. The sheet twisted around the bow sprit locking it tight. The kite flew forward end wrapped first around the forward stay coming back afterwards wrapping nicely around thinner stay. I tell you what, it was a mess and Mark put his had into his hand and shook his head. Oh now these green horns. Too much for me. „Start the engine!!“ „Daaaaaaaan“ „Come up here now“ And dan came up looking at the rig in disbelief. A „private“ discussion arose between him and skipper. „Waaaaayne, Shaaaaawn, get your asses up on deck“ Dan yelled. „We have to clean up the Baywatch mess“. And they came on deck and again disbelief. We started to pull lines and sail, tried to twist and turn the boat. No this wrap was perfect. Mark turned to Dan „Cut off the kite“ and the reply was immediate. „No I am not cutting off a kite, no chance. Let me go up there on the second spinnaker halyard. I will open the active halyard, untwist the kite from the inner stay and than Shane, Waye and Joe can pull and unwrap the kit from the outer stay“ „No, too dangerous, I don’t want you in the rigg, cut it off“ „no I go up“. And seconds later he was in his pants of power, helmet on. We put two halyards on him, and off he went. Marks face was like stone. And Dan like a squirrel went between mast, inner forestay and outer forestay. The whole crew on deck was in mega alert and in an coordinated effort we got everything clean and tidy. 45 minutes of hard team work – but the mess was cleaned up. Time to eat dinner. The mothers already prepped everything and we shoveled it in. Its of energy on this one. But we learned one more time – timing and control is everything.

And the journey continued with a new experience for most crew on board – night sailing. Yes it is not different from a physics perspective but the personal orientation is so different especially in a cloudy night. To feel safe is an issue for some of the crew. You just can’t see anything on deck and we still had to commence all the maneuvers. And we did. But especially helming was a big challenge for a lot of guys especially when clouds take sight of the moon, the stars or any other landmark. But with training all of this is manageable. We headed to France. I remember the sky was awesome. The Milky Way was clearly visible, we sighted the international space station and enjoyed the sparkling splash of water has we beat upwind towards France. Yes with the night the green monster appeared and took a few out even a few of those who were on a heavy dose of medicine. But this can be overcome and as we would stay out the next four days the green monster stood no chance to stay with us, Routine came up. It did not matter whether it was day or night. We crossed the channel 4 times and did all the training including heave too and MoB. Happy days for sailors, tough days for the one or other novice but all in all we developed the famous sea legs needed to conquer the Ocean.

The final stage was the race. In order to come together we anchored in lee of the Isle of Wight for an early morning start.

This was followed by some starting exercises and than the foot and film crews came out for photo shoots. The wind picked up quite a bit so that it would be an interesting start.

But before the start our Yankee sheets wrapped each other. No movement of the sheets possible. Only option was to send our squirrels Dan up. Great move under the eyes of Sir Robert

Our start was excellent but beating up to the first and second mark was a nightmare. We were not well coordinated and fell backwards. Aggressive sailing by others was contradicted by cautious moves from us. We fell to the end of the pack. In France we were completely becalmed. But in the morning hours we felt a tiny breeze from the East. It played with our ears. We all fired up, hoisted sales and started to push Black Betty with easy. We were able to fetch up some places. At the leeward mark we hoisted out largest kite and headed home all the way under kite on a fine reach. Awesome sailing for hours. On my watch I teamed with Nigel. It was his first long haul helming under kite. I was on the sheet. We tried to sail a straight line but it took a few hours. Anyway at the end it was great team work. We finished in the middle of the pack. And after the finish line we clearly looked back, put away the bad moments and preserved the memories of a great sailing week. And we reviewed all of it in the pub. Training done – now we are talking. Moving to leg 6 for me.

See you on leg 6, here and now

The next step in journey is a quite visible and important event in the Clipper adventure. Obviously one day the fleet need to start and take off. 11 Clipper 70 need to be crewed up. Most of the boats already got their main sponsor. Almost every two weeks a new boat design was disclosed. All in all Clipper recruited almost 700 crew from all over the world. They also went over the last few month through a thorough recruiting process of the 11 race skippers. As far as I recall more than 120 applications came in. On top for this year 11 AQPs needed to be pointed out as a follow up to have two professionals on each boat. 11 skippers were already selected. But who will sail with whom? Big question mark.

The allocation of the crew and teams is not an easy task in order to fulfill the safety directive of Clipper. So many different people from different countries with different language skills, different gender, different age and different profession. It is an important challenge to form teams with equal strength across the 11 boats. In addition each boat should have technicians and medical staff on each of the eight legs on board. What a job. And it looks that the experienced crew from the Clipper team is able to manage that task very well. Anyway they know at a point in time who is where and had to tell us.

In order to do so there is an event in May – the crew allocation. It was held in the Guild Hall of Portsmouth. And it was a big gathering and event. In order to finally suck up all the Clipper dope Birgit and I decided to fly in and take part. For us it was an out and back, Saturday first flight from Hamburg to Heathrow, Sunday back. We decided to book a rental car. I love to go by train. But first of all we did not have the time and secondly we two train ticket were 2.2 times of a Hertz rental. Plane landed early, were got our car quickly and drove down. We arrived OK but seriously I could not believe what I saw. People over people were streaming into the building. It was packed. We received two wrist bands, a blue one with “supporter” and a red one with “race crew”. I also received my jacket “race crew” and guess what guys, I was just proud to be here. I put the red wrist band on and honestly it did not come off my arm till today as I am writing these lines.

What was also good was the number of people I met. Due to the training everybody knew several people. So as walking up to the hall there was a continuous here and hello and a cheering and laughing. But at the same time there was for sure all this tension too. Marie, Sue, Ian, Trish, Geoff, Dean, Ines and many others, no, all of us could not wait for the moment that your name would be called out to be added to one team maybe even hoping that a few crew from training would be part of your team or not!

The protocol was strict being started by the Clipper Race director Marc Light. He welcomed 370 crew out of 700 being physical present for this most important event in the Race of a Lifetime. He disclosed the race ports that had not been announced yet this was followed by a presentation of UNICEF and the goal for the charity donation initiative of all boats for UNICEF. Each team was given a goal of 33.000 GBP, quite a challenge

And than Sir Robin Knox-Johnston entered the stage, young and energetic as he always comes across. He presented his mission briefly – his lifetime mission executed through Clipper. Go out to sea and feel and understand the beauty of the Oceans. But for me way more impressive was his call out on safety. He did a good job trying to convince the supporters, wives, parents, girl-and boyfriends that the risk is predictable as long as everybody follows great seamanship and the Clipper safety guidelines. Guess what he said, know your knots and know your bowline. And he also had a strong warning. Leave all controls especially over communication with Clipper. There will be a news blockage for the time Clipper sorts things out. He and his crew is very, very experienced in this. So leave it in our hands! And should any crew think to use a SATCOM phone to inform the press before he said anything this individual will be out forever. Sir Robin, a heart and soul mariner is absolutely convincing getting this across.

And hour almost gone and – still no new news. Come on guys. Don’t kill us – tell us. But there is the protocol and that’s what drives the event, not the impatience of the audience. Who will be my skip? Who my team? The skippers were called on stage one by one. A short bio was presented. 11 very qualified seafarers together with more than a million miles in their log books.

And finally it started. Each skipper had two name list. Each skipper was called to the podium one after another reading the first list followed by a second round for the second list. The air was blistering, the silence of the big audience amazing. And there was some cheering and shouting when the tension offloaded from the people that heard their names.

Mark Burkes went up and after 21 names “Jorg Schamuhn”!!! I could not hold back: “ yes skip, to your service” I shouted. Team WTC Logistics was my team. A total of 66 people of whom I only knew two I think. It was definitely Ines who was here with me. It took another hour before the allocation was complete. And after the last name got shouted out and the end was called the whole hall became a busy place. People were running around trying to find future team mates or tried to find out where training mates ended up.

Next season for us all was the team meeting with lunch (not in the pub but in a meeting room). It was the get together of our illustrate crew and also the first time we got to know Dan. Mark had created a game that forces us to communicate and to find out who were. Good deal to set the foundation. After lunch we talked about the goals of the team for the whole race and how we might get there.

We were all separate from our pears who had their own session for the supporters. They were served wine, sure to calm down „worries“. After these session group photo time. As WTC we were fast and clever and stole the venue for an individual crew photo after the the photo with all teams and crews present with Sir Robert. and the official part was over. We met guess where? In a pub. I recall the service was super slow and awful. It forced me to order beer in fours. The only way to stay hydrated. We had a small dinner with part of the team ad than, I am not sure, we ended up in the Crystal Palace. Sure as hell we needed to find out how our break dancing was and if we could make that stage as a team. Interesting. Birgit strolled off at 11 and I came home…….2:30am or so……Next day we visited the boat and met Chris my friend who stranded in team Zuhai. I showed Birgit the boat. No need to reflect on the reaction. In the evening the flight home. Crew, I was crew and she was supporter. A good weekend and Level 4 training with Mark to follow.

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.

First week of March. I flew in on BA to London Heathrow in the evening and went to the same arrival routine as usually. Bus to Woking, Southwestern train to Portsmouth, ferry over to Gosport. It was a dull, wet, breezy evening. Drizzle and low overcast accompanied me when I walked through downtown Gosport, which does not look like the coziest and safest place in the UK. But anyway I had to head to my BB location where I arrived at 10 pm. Nice place, friendly people, decoration 1970ties, mattress maybe older. But at the end a bed to sleep and to rest. Next morning I met some crew mates and Geoff was so nice taking me with his car. Sailing? No, not at all. A day of sea survival waited for us in a school with a pool. That was the reason for the Saturday morning drill.

First we had classes and learned a lot about handling firework, choosing search pattern for MoB, rations of sweat water, how to operate a life raft and what to do when you are in it. Not new for me as I had to go through a week of sea survival every year when I was a jet pilot. But still I learned a lot and new things too like before you go into a life raft put on as much clothes as you can, drink and eat. Once you are in take a wee, don’t eat and don’t drink for 24 hours.

This was all accompanied by these charming tea brakes that the Brits celebrate so much. No lesson started without a cup of tea and each lesson ended with one.

After the theory pool time. First life vest drills and swimming exercises all in a cozy environment of 30 degrees air and water temp. We were in “yellow fish skin” overall. It looked we came from Mars. But the subject was serious. How to get into a life raft, how to make it dry, how to help others in and how to upright it when it capsized. It is good to learn it.

I had much tougher memories from sea survival back from my pilot days. There was the Dilbert Dunker, an ejection seat set in a framed cockpit on rails. We were in full flight suit harnessed up in the set. On an explosive noise we ran down to the water surface, hitting it hard, rolling 180 degrees upside down. Once on a standstill we had to eject the canopy, unstrap and climb out of the cage. Visibility zero, million of bubbles, close to panic.

And worse than that was the outdoor experience. Fully dressed up, life raft under the bud in a container hanging on the gallows waiting for the eject. We were dumped into the 4 degree Celsius water (because I always was called in winter to sea survival) dragged by the tug boat. And on command we had to get out the parachute harness without ripping the balls off. Than alone in the North Sea. Activate your raft, get in before the hands are frozen stiff and dry the raft. For all or nothing. I recall how the cold creeped up the dry suit. How it grabbed every muscle, how it took possession of my skin, the bones and joints. And than the sound a jet jockey only appreciated in a situation of rescue, the chopper arrived. I was almost unable to get out of the raft. Only an hour and well dressed and in training exhaustion felt unbelievable. How would it be in a real Desaster?

Why am I telling these old war stories. I appreciate Clipper does this sea survival although it is unlikely the boat will sink. It is this awareness of what it could look like. And it encourages us all to keep the boat above water by all means. It is the safest place. A life raft is not, only a very last option. I recommend the read “Last Man off”. It is a true story and can give you a glimpse how a catastrophic emergency at sea can end. No, not for us. We are trained to stay safe.

But enough about Desasters. We all were prepped and we all were looking for one thing, go sailing. The weather was to my taste, breezy, not violent but a challenge for a Newbee crew. Big surprise, our skipper was Mark again, Kym our first mate and another surprise, Ines was also again part of this crew. I met Chris for the first time who should become a Clipper friend of mine as many others. We were 11 in total. So we started the same routine as always. Briefing of what will happen the week, life vest check, safety brief, dinner (bangers and mash for a change, Mark loves bangers and mash), knot practice and finally walk to the pub. After the pub we crawled into our bunks and the “concert” could start. Snoring and getting up for a wee. The only warm place on board was our sleeping bag. L2 training was one more time on the Clipper 68, bit old fashion boat but it does its job. Next morning breakfast a la UK cuisine – bacon rolls, toast, Marmaid and jam.

After that we dressed up and did the deck and safety zone brief. The wind picked up and guess what, harbor drills. Too much energy in the atmosphere. Too much wind. Ok, understand. We need to bring people on the same level first. We hoisted the Stay, we did winch drills and we did man over board tied to the pontoon. On a Clipper „cruiser“ this is different from what we trained on regular yachts. We Lauch a rescue swimmer into the sea to swim to the casualty. Makes a ton of sense when you see the free board of a Clipper. And in high seas it is dangerous to come too close to the boat. The casualty could get smashed hard when the boat rolls in the sea. So we normally deploy a swimmer. Early end of the day! Harbor drills? It is like in jet flying. You never die in simulators. At the end of an early day we walked to the pub for a couple of easy pints. You start thinking that life on a Clipper yacht is good.

Early morning next morning. The wind eased down to 25 knots with casual gusts of 30 knots. We went out there and wanted to start the drills. So hoist the main first. Make sure you “milk” the reefing lines. Do let them go loose. We should understand quickly why. For those who never were on a boat like this but the weight of the main is roughly 700kg. This means that even with a bear like Chris and a muscle man like John you can sweat it only up half of the mast, maximum. And than a long exhausting grind with one coffee grinder brings it up to the mast. During that time we are heading dead into the wind the sail is flogging and the „Milkman“ (the guy who is supposed to keep the reefing lines tight) let them go. They were flogging with even more violence. Jesus! Mark was yelling and screaming and the „Milkman“ stared into his headlights. After about 15 seconds „Bang“ And Reef 1 went. The sheer violence had melted the line in the disk at the end of the boom. Great happiness broke out. „Hold main, pull Reef 2 you idiots before that one goes”. Marks temper rose and he was mad. Reef 1, important gear! Gone. Once Reff 2 was tight and the main up, “Debriefing”. And we learned all, really all about milking, hoisting, flogging, command and control. Yes sailing is about experience, painful experience at times.

We stayed in the Solent. Winds went up to 32knots in gusts up to 45 knots. We sailed Reef two and staysail. Endless drills of tacks. “Ready to tack! Runner back”. Nothing. “Ruuuuuuuunner baaaaack!!! Guys the runner”. Ok. “Noooo, you idiot don’t pull the fucking trycing line! God dammed open the jammer, yes the jammer in lee, pull the yellow line, faster!!! come on we are not wheel chairing. The sand bank is coming closer”. OK. “Helm to weather”. Silence followed by a band like from a shotgun. “No, who told you to toss the windward runner. Do you want to blow my mast, my mast?“ and „remember guard position!!!!!“ „Lee ho“ and silence. Nothing. „You guys, where is guard, windward runner, grind, grind, grind“. Ok and what was next? „Debriefing!“. And we learned all about position, individual tasks, the moments to act and the moments not to. After 30 tacks there was still the question what a trycing line is, which winch takes the runner and how to dress the self tailor. Life is hard. Compared to the 17th century easy though. Skip never whipped ones back. I also paid my tolls „Joe god dammed go slower and do not try to be everywhere“. And his best call „Joe – fingers, fingers, fingers”.

It takes long days to become a sailor. I had 40 plus years learning it. Most of my crew had 1 week Level 1. And in Level 2 thumb screws we’re tightened. Progress, we needed progress. After 11 hours on the water our first gybing exercise, a nightmare with Clipper because we have to dress Foreguys when the boom reaches the see fence outwards. More lines. We had three of the guys, three Foreguys. No it is not a competition burger chain to the Five Guys burgers. It is a safety line from the end of the boom to the bow. We have a port, a center and a starboard one. Two needs to be attached to the boom. And when gybing you ease the two Foreguys against the tightening main. Once the main is pinned (dead center) you undo both Foreguys, run the center one to the other side, attach the two to the boom and pull the Foreguys against the easing main sheet. First attempt was hilarious. Three times four is twelve. It was chaos. What Foreguys? The read one? Chute but I like the blue one!!! Bowline upside down? Not sure how that works. Mark lost his cool after the third attempt. He desperately needed cool aid! So we headed into East Cowes and took berth on the outside of the harbor. We cleaned the boat, tidied the deck, ate supper and ……. headed for cool aid into the pub. And as always when “sailors” sit together in the warmth without foulies and no gusts, no swell, no rain showers and no cold – stories over stories. Life is good – sailing is awesome – no troubles, we made it here.

Next day, more wind. No way to go to the channel. Forecast was 60 knots out there. Nothing for us. We headed out into the „calm“, the Solent. Grey day, we hoisted the main, one reef (we repaired it over night) and stay sail. But dammed, Bob lost his balance and went overboard. “Man over Board!” “Helm to weather, keep the sheets” „Stay ready to John Wayne the Staysail halyard” “Drop the Stay!!!” “Where is the pointer???” “ Where is the marker?” „Where is the swimmer, I want the swimmer on deck now“ „ Mayday, Mayday,Mayday“ „God where is the swimmer, this is not a fashion show, your friend Bob is freezing his ass off and he is dying“ „Lookout where is Bob, I want commands, loud and clear“ „Foredeck no no no that is the wrong halyard. You must take the other one“ 16 minutes, 17 minutes, 18 minutes chicken farm. „swimmer on deck!“ „ where is is helmet, Jesus guys“ 22 minutes, 23 minutes. „swimmer overboard, casualty 10m off the bow, 8, 6, 4, 2, contact. Swimmer under water!!! Ok he lost Bob“ 25 minutes, 26 minutes. „Guys Listen Focus, do one job one only, stop yelling, act, control the maneuver“. We pulled Bob out of the pond after 28 minutes and – he was dead – under cooled and dead. One Vaterunser, ready for the bag. And it was us who went in panic without clear commands and not prepared. The debrief was long and painful.

And what did we do. We tacked, we gybed, we had lunch, we reefed, we tacked and gybed. The wind had picked up, 38 knots. And bloody Bob went over the side untethered. But this time 16 minutes. Skip was happy. We had the main up two reefs and hoisted the stay sail. We wanted to exercise more tacks. 40 knots. The boat went backwards. Too much current, not enough sail. „Hoist the Yankeeeeeeeeeee, I need power“. But some of the guys just got scared. Some did not hear the commands properly. It was very difficult. Mark yelled, the Mate screamed, we yelled and still could not here a thing. No clear command. The engine went on. „Bring the Stay down, that is it guys“. We went into Gosport and guess what, we had a very, very long debrief. We learned all about commands, how to relay, finger signals, single source of a commander, feed back loops and fast execution especially when it gets critical.

It was not the end of the „cruise“. When we approached Portsmouth harbor in the middle of the main shipping lane we lost a fender. „Whaaaaaaat, I cannot believe it!!! I cannot take it“ and „Portsmouth harbor master, Portsmouth harbor master, this is CV6, lost a fender in the shipping lane, going to maneuver for a pick up” “CV6, are you serious? Get it done and report back”. “You guys make me look like an idiot. I hope Sir Robert is not on the radio. I cannot believe it – get it out of the water!!!!! Fast!!!! There is a ferry approaching”. Chris and John grabbed my legs and I went overboard heads down going for it. I was able to hook it in the first attempt “We got it” “You better do! And for f… sake hold on to it now” “Skip, fastest MoB of the day! High five?“ „I high five you in a minute! Idiots. You made me look like a beginner yachty who is out for the first time!!!!“ and „Harbor Master, CV6 situation cleared“ „CV6 from Harbor Master good for you and next time careful! Over and out“. Happy days! No word until the tidy up was finished. The debrief of the day was long and painful and painful and long. There was a systematic lack of Synchronisation for sure. We decided to test synchronizing at the Pub. Maybe we could lift the blockage. Yes, sailing is all about learning and experience. Challenging road. Everybody needs to be agile, alert, listening, understanding. Otherwise you operate in havoc. But the good thing, after a pint skip found his smile back. Eventful night.

I can only remember two more things. One, my good leather boot disintegrated the day before. It meant sailing with wet feet till the end of the training course. One crew mate though sold me his sealskin watertight Sox. Really good, thank you.

Second was my debrief. Mark had two comments. Number one „Joerg, fingers, fingers, fingers“ Number two „ Joerg, you must slow down. You must not try to do everything. Teach others, help others and for gods sake slow down.“ Ready for Level 3 training on Clipper 70. Yes! Gosport, you will see me again!

Before I go to the level two training let me say something about the people that are involved in this Clipper adventure. And in order to do so I like to reflect again on my L1 first.

All sorts of people get involved from all ages between 18 to well over 70. All professions are represented. Here the 45 year old investment banker who takes life easy now and there the 19 year old nurse who looks for a change in life. Here the mother who lost her kid and needs to make a drastic change to feel life and there the restless adventurer who believes the only chance to see an Albatros is to go to the Southern Ocean. The Spektrum is what life and the global society has to offer. And seriously in my Level 1 we were a happy crowd.

The first days were harbor drills. Basics like knots, techniques like sweating, emergency like man over board and even rowing a rubber dinghy just in case someone needs to head out for fresh water in a lonely bay off the coast of the Amazonas.

It was amazing to see in one week how much progress a single person can make and how much the team can accelerate if working as a team. Lot depends on the skipper, in this case Mark, Mr super calm, Mr super cautious. A lot depends on the Mate in our case Kym, who was communicative, super motivated, eager to learn, step in and help. Kym, from China, inhaled every single moment on board and the experience of teaching.

And happy progress was made. Look at these smiles and the happiness when for the first time in your life you were helming a 45 ton monster.

And finally it was amazing to see how crew mates overcame even the biggest personal challenges in a team, a crew because they felt safe and secure. Marie was terrified by heights. But when we practiced going up the mast who was there first hand? Power women Marie!

Yes, I collected good memories from L1. It seeded this feeling of becoming a Clipper family member. Yes all in October during a calm, warm and sunny October weekend. But now to L2.

„Clipper Mates“ weiterlesen

It is quite a long way to finally become a qualified race member and it is good this way. Clipper pays a lot of attention to a very good training and naturally they have to. Yes I had several 10.000nm miles of sailing on my back, both in racing and also in leisure sailing in different regions. And I sailed a lot of different types of boat from a small dinghy up to a three mast square rigger. But most of the applicants are novices. A good portion never put a feet on a boat before or a sailing vessel. And in order to make them safe what is required in the Atlantic, Southern Ocean or North Pacific is training. Sailing is to a certain extent a matter of training, experience and knowledge. Yes the facts are complex because many factors like weather, geography, technical equipment and crew play a role on how you can sail and where you can go to. So this is all about knowledge. And actually the first step is to learn a new language. Every piece of equipment and each part of the boat has it own name that is not familiar to a non sailor. The ones that were or are sailors and not from an English speaking country had to learn also a new language. We know what the stuff is but that Palsteg is Bowline and Backbord is Port and a Gennacker is a kite and ein Backstag is runner that is what you have to learn. The ones that never were on a boat had to learn function and name. I was glad that I only had to learn the vocabulary.

Clipper operates two sailing hubs in order to get everybody on the same page and at the same time safe and sound about sailing. The main hub is in Gosport on the other side of Portsmouth. Here is a fleet of Clipper 68 yachts available and if not racing around the world the 11 Clipper 70. I second hub is in Sydney for the guys in Downunder. The training consists of 4 independent training sessions L1 (for level 1), L2, L3 and L4. Each session is about one week long and consist of theory, safety training and sailing. But it is also about finding out if you can cope with the environment of the boat, the diesel smell, the humid odor of wet Foulies, the very special smell of the heads. It is about finding out if you can socialize with 8-12 unknowns with different backgrounds, skills and learning curves. And especially it is about finding out how you can fight the nasty green monster if it bites you.

So here I was scheduling my L1-L4 sessions. I tried to schedule all of them in the cold in order to make sure I will be ready for leg 6, the freezing ride. L1 I took in October 2018 and L2 in November, booked L3 earliest in 2019 and L4 was later with the team. I recall L1 as if it was today. Excited to sail such a big machine. We all arrived and I met really interesting people and our Skip was Mark. On the first night we had supper on board, some first let us know each other round and safety briefings, knots and a short visit to the pub. Second day breakfast safety briefings, mobility test, knots, deck walk and no sailing. The weather was not what I wanted to see. It was summer in October, 20 degrees, unbelievable. Shorts and T-shirt. At night supper on board, safety brief and….zip to the pub. Third day sailing, yes. Throughout the day sunshine, light air but OK. We put up the main, stay sail and Yankee 3. In 10 knots of wind……..But we had a good exercise and berthed in West Cowes. No supper on board, we zipped to the pub. Fourth day 16 knots. We tacked and tacked and tacked, “Ready to tack – runner back”. 20 hands grabbed whatever, some eyes stared at the skipper disconnected and with the question “What in the h… am I supposed to do?” The Wind died down and we did what you do than, reef 1, reef 2, reef 3 with staysail only. All of a sudden Bob went. “Man over Board” equivalent to chaos. It took us 25 minutes to get Bob back – a death sentence for the Southern Ocean. But everybody was learning. And some of the crew were not happy with me. Impatient as I am I tried to pull two lines at a time or grind the coffee grinder so fast that only our Kiwi dared to grind with me. RocknRoll. Just I forgot that we were in L1 and not on leg 6. Mark put me aside and asked me to take it easy. Don’t do the stuff, show others how it gets done. Man what a difficult task. But a boat only goes 2 knots if most of the crew is at two knots and not 10 if you were on 10. Team required. This is not a dinghy.

The weather was awesome for the beach but light air for sailing. The few of us crew and skipper Mark came along quite well. On the last day though I was in the pit. My favorite place on the 68. 4 Winches, all the lines. We did a Man overboard drill and came done to a 12 minute recovery. We were ready to hoist Yankee three after the stay went up almost only by sweating (means two guys at the mast rip the sail up the inner stay, almost no grinding). The Yankee 3 got a good sweating 2/3rds up the stay and than grinding – me. I put my left knee into the left corner of the pit and my right leg to the back of the pit. After 20 turns my left leg slipped out of the corner and my upper body twisted by the momentum round my right knee. Jewhizz. A stitching pain. I grinded Y3 up but had trouble walking afterwards

Skip noticed it when, after we came back I to the Harbour, I limped to the pub. He protected me because I was given easy jobs next day and during deep clean. I passed L1 but was reported to Clipper office as an incident. My L2 training in November was gone. I was told that I needed a medical clearance and a skipper clearance before I could report back on board. It took me till Feb to get my knee back working. Next step L2. To be continued.

I actually don’t know how it really happened and why I was caught by the idea of the Clipper Around the World Virus in 2017. I always had the dream to cross an Ocean with a sailing vessel. I usually follow all the great races like Volvo Ocean Race (now Ocean Race), Vendee Globe, Sydney Horbart or Fastnet. When I was young I had great interest in the BT Global Challenge and I also actively searched for a berth in the ARC. But either I did not have time or I was short of money or my normal life presented all those responsibilities that are holding us back doing something exceptional. On the other hand I was getting old fast, not much time left to cross an Ocean and enjoying it.

I think I was on a business trip to London to meet my friend Clive when I saw a Clipper poster with “The Race of your life”. I was thrilled by the motive of a girl with two half’s, normal her and Ocean racer. Yes, could be me, right?

When I returned home I started studying the concept and options. Obviously I knew Sir Robert Knox Johnston as I consumed all the literature about sailing hero’s of the past, Slocum, Montessier, Sir Robert, Ellen McArthur and so on. I was thrilled by the idea of racing around the globe with 11 boats being part of an amateur crew. Brilliant concept to train non sailors and make them a team that can fight nature. I ordered the book “Team Spirit” by Brendon Hall. It is a phenomenal description of the effort, challenges and rewards of the race besides being one of my favorite books about management. I went on the tracker of the 17/18 race that just started. I got caught. I wanted badly to become one of the Clipper family and be part of a crew at least for one leg in the race around the world.

So what does it take to get on board? You need to apply. And that was quickly done. After handing in the application you receive a package of material describing the adventure. I already had an idea at least in theory. But what leg or legs should I take. Again my dream for decades had been to sail past point Nemo (the point in the Southern Ocean that is furthest away from any landmass or Island in any direction) to Cape Horn rounding this most mysterious and deadly patch of water in the history of sailing was out of reach. Clipper does not do Cape Horn. But it is a important point on the bucket list of sailors to dive into the Southern Ocean, the Ocean below 40 Degrees latitude on the Southern Hemisphere. Leg 3 from Cape Town to Western Australia would have been the one. But it is 4200 nm „only“. End of a long story – I decided for leg 6, at that time 6800nm Miles up North through the North Pacific. And I seriously also considered Leg 7, around North America.

I scheduled the required interview, in my case by phone since I was unable to travel to Prtsmouth due to business. It was end of September, a dull and rainy day in the UK North of London. I visited our UK distributor who’s owner is one of my best friends, Clive. He gave me his office and I called Mrs Dana sharp on the minute as we Germans are trained to do. We had a chat. Dana explained who Clipper was and I had to tell her who I was hoping to become qualified. And after presenting myself as somebody who was able to distinguish port from starboard she asked me which leg. I said Leg 6 opting for leg 7. From the other side cam „Uhhhhh“ and „do you know, what this means“?

I asked whether she had been on the race and she obviously said yes, I raced as round the worlder two editions before this one. How can I be chief recruiter without knowing what this is all about. I need to find those people that do not qualify. And I am telling you that Leg 6 is for sure the biggest challenge. The North Pacific is still in winter mode. It is grey, it is cold and it is violent. It takes something to get out on deck if you are in a storm for days and I mean storm, I mean 60 plus knots wind for days. You ask yourself when will this screaming and banging stop. And every time, every watch you stick your head into the cold and wet seeing the waves towering 12 and more meters you ask, when, when will it get quiet. But on the other hand it is the thrill and you learn that our boats can master almost anything.

Another aspect that is special on this leg is the physiological aspect in the team. Not many conflicts compared to the Doldrums. Being wet all the time, dead tired and physically exhausted after each watch does let you think so much. You just wanna sleep, get an hour or two relief from the havoc. And with all of that being said, I loved every mile of the Pacific.

It was clear for me that this is what I want. I want to feel and see how you manage your little tiny life in this little tiny group out there in the storm. I don’t mind the cold after I had tested that in early spring. So I said to Dana, I am in for leg 6 – nothing else for the moment. It is what I was looking for, filling the experience gap in my sailing life. And it also will open an experience that will be hard to beat in my current dread mill of an over busy work Life hunting from one meeting to another, from one WeChat post to another, from one air travel to another, from all frictions of our „highly developed“ society. It is a breakout from the hunt to become recognized, being trained to consume and to be locked in to conform. Out there 3000 miles East of Japan and 3000 Miley South of the North Pole in a 70 by 10ft container without global news, instant communication and the threat of bad news will bring hopefully some piece of mind. Reduction to the watch, to the task, to the small bubble we are in will be the one experience of my lifetime, my motivation to do this.

I got excepted for the 17/18 race. I paid my fees. I got my insurance and I started to plan my schedule. End of September 2017 my world was supposed to change. Leg 6 for the 17/18 race was supposed to start end February in Qingdao China. I had three month left to do 4 trainings of a week each, Sea survival training, medical checks, visas and so on. I tried to build a schedule that might have worked. But as hard as I tried I could not make it work without stepping out for three or more month. It was impossible. Could not fit the trainings. Was it over? I called Dana and discussed what to do. Easy solution. Do the race 19/20. it’s more time and you will meet more future crew mates, team mates and Clipper junkies doing so. You will sail in level 4 training with your race skipper. So there are tons of advantages. It so it was. Clipper Round the World Edition 19/20 became my race and Leg 6 my future destination.

This is my last part about my sailing history before I move over to the adventure ahead, the Clipper Round the World Race 19/20 and Leg 6 – the Mighty Pacific.

In spring 1973 I started to “race” on a regular basis. Our youth group in the Schwartauer Segel Verein met every Wednesday for sail training. Our coach was the uncle of Christian. Normally we did some basic maneuvers before the race got started. I recall my first race because – I did not win. I mean here I was in my yellow race machine and I did not even make it to the podium. Little nightmare it was. So I decided to intensify my training and went to the club every day, seven days a week. I sailed in all weather and it paid off I thought because I never lost a training race in our club with my Optimist again. So I thought I was fast and I could sail. But……one Tuesday in May the father of a member of our youth group showed up. I forgot his name and only remember that he was a sales rep of Zott, the German pudding company. He asked me if he could challenge me and match race against me. Pahhhhh, easy win I thought. I was 30kg, 1,32m tall and had my yellow race boat. He was about 80kg, 1,68m tall and he pulled the oldest scratched Optimist out of the rack. Easy peasy I thought. We sailed three match races and guess what, I lost them all. He was a hack of a sailor, a good wind spotter and tactition. He also was patient and sailed very clever. I remember this Black Tuesday very well. When we were ashore he smiled and said sailing is not only about helming the boat. He made me an offer, one on one training every Tuesday and Thursday 4 pm for the rest of the year. This was the most valuable training I received in my early days and I finally understood weather, other boats, environment, tactics. I asked my coach why he did not do coaching for his son. He raised his shoulders and said that he does not enjoy being competitive. I was really lucky and enjoyed all the match “racing”.

When I turned 15 I still was small and light enough (32kg) to sail Optimist. But the age limit prohibited to continue. I sold my yellow racer and moved into Pirat class. The club hat 3 at the time, Asterix, Obelix und Melusine. There was a clear rule that the youngest had to sail the oldest boats and only the oldest and fastest were allowed to sell Melusine which was our fastest boat. Christian became my crew buddy. We started to learn the boat and we started to race Obelix. It was very heavy, old sails and basic equipment. In autumn 1976 we sailed our season end race with all boats of the club. Melusine was considered unbeatable. But Christian and I beat the crew by some fine ambitious sailing. We were focused and I for a change was patient. We celebrated an unexpected victory. A lot of people raised eyebrows. And we were allowed to sail Melusine after that.

In the following I bought myself a 470 called “Swanroque” from Schmidt Werft in Hamburg. The boat was used and not competitive. I bought a new set of North Sails and Christian and I started to practice. The following year we won the Blue Ribbon of the club in the spring regatta. But it became obvious that I could not sail daily any more because Christian did not have so much time. My trials, sailing the 470 solo were risky. I found out when I capsized with the kite in the middle of the Trave river.

I decided to go back to solo sailing. At the boat show 1977 I ordered a brand new OK Dinghy from Kurt Hein. It was pastel green and most likely one of the ugliest boats around. I had to pick up the boat myself from the yard. Kurt insisted otherwise I could not buy it. It was an absolute beauty of boat building. So here I was, back single handed. I started training in March 1978. In May was our Club Regatta and guess what, I did win the Blue Ribbon again. I recall that Mr Jürs, who believed that he owns the Blue Ribbon because he did win it with his 1ton Cupper so many times, was furious about this young punk. I smiled. I loved sailing.

I also sailed big boat after I became 15. I was crew member of a ½ ton cupper named “Lütt & Lütt”. Four years as a bow man in a crew of 5 were unforgettable. Kiel week, MAIOR, Flensburg week, German Championship. Amazing we’re training camps from DSV for the IOR classes where we received coaching from the best sailors and sail makers of Germany.

But I also enjoyed leisure sailing. Unforgettable for me was a one week trip with Thomas called Jonny when we were 16. His father gave us his 9m yacht and wished us well. I have known nobody who would have done a thing like that. We headed out and went from Bad Schwartau around Ålsen. We had a great week and really wonderful time.

1981 World Championship in the OK Dinghy. And to say it, I had to learn racing again. It was super competitive and I sure was lost a few times. I became last in the pre race. Our team lead yelled at me and asked how stupid I could be. Anyway it did not happen again and sailing was awesome.

And now the next blog will be all about Clipper….

Amazing what the crew of CV23 accomplished on the leg from Australia to the Philippines by winning the race. Congratulations. It was a thrilling masterpiece of sailing. The crew around Rich and Dan, more women than men took a very smart move and some fine tactics at the end to outstrip all opponents. Awesome.

To Rich Dan Rachel Kaz Paul Laurence Kiwi-Paul Susie Ben Sophie Nigel Lizzie Mike Gareth Iona Kate Jas Mel and Nathan, fantastic job and now I know how it feels to win, even at this distance. Now for the refreshments!

Can’t wait to join you all. .