Level 1 Training Part One: Top Tips and Kit Chat

Hurrah! A week, countless bruises and much hilarity later, I am officially a Clipper Race Level 1 qualified sailor with a RYA Competent Crew certificate to boot!

 

This is the first of two blogs looking at the various aspects of training, and will focus on my top tips for future crew about to embark on their training, as well as taking a good look at kit. Part Two covers the (many) skills we mastered and my list of Things That Are Good To Know.

My Top Tips

• Try to learn the vocab before you get to Level 1 - even just knowing the difference between port and starboard will help you focus on the practical skills and not get all tangled up in learning a new language. You can print out my vocab flashcards for free here.
• Practice your bowlines backwards, forwards, blindfold and upside down. They are easily the most commonly used knots on board the Clipper yachts and are often tied in a 'pressure bowline' situation with everyone watching you.
• For those who are thinking about going gloveless - stop moisturising your hands at least three weeks before you set sail. Your hands will be battered and bashed constantly by wind, salt, seawater, heavy ropes, lifting sails, climbing the mast, operating corroded hanks...you name the task, your hands will bear the brunt of it and the softer they are, the harder it'll be on you.
• Take Factor 50 suncream and remember to wear it! Even if you aren't usually susceptible to burning, the combination of sunshine (if you're lucky) and light reflection off the sails and sea will render Factor 30 practically useless. Don't forget to apply to the backs of your hands if you're going gloveless!
• Use a high SPF lip salve religiously. Between the wind, salt and light glare, your lips will feel like you've been grating them. If salve doesn't help, try a little bit of Savlon to encourage healing.
• Knee pads will help save your knees from the worst of the abuse you're going to put them through by learning to sail with Clipper. I didn't take any, but will definitely taking some for Level 2 and I know at least 3 of my training crewmates will be as well. Especially important if you suffer from sore, stiff or generally painful knees.

Kit

Starting to think about packing for Clipper training can be pretty intimidating. Here are some essential things to think about when pulling together your kit:

• How warm is your sleeping bag? Is it 4 season? If not, why not? Getting a good night's sleep, even when you're absolutely physically and mentally exhausted, is really hard if you're cold. If you don't have a good sleeping bag already, it's definitely worth investing in one now. You don't have to go all out and get an Ocean Sleepwear, any good quality 4 season will do (hint: go for synthetic fill as it dries faster in case your bag gets wet (which, let's face it, it probably will)).
• Do you really need to buy new gear for training? Do you hike or camp? If so, you probably already have a lot of the kit you need anyway - most of my gear has been repurposed from my thru-hiking and camping kit and worked just as well as some of the expensive sailing-specific gear my crewmates had on.
• If you like dry feet, it is probably worth getting a pair of sailing boots for training. They don't have to be crazy expensive - as long as they keep the water out your quality of life will be improved by 100%. I bought a £45 pair of Gill Marine Tall Yachting Boots and loved them (full review to follow).
• When choosing a head torch, it's worth making sure you go for one with a separate button for the red light. Having to cycle through the white lights will blind everyone around you which, let's face it, probably isn't going to go down too well when they're coming on watch at 3.30am, can't see where they're going, and they fall over an ankle breaker.

For those who're interested, here's a complete list of the kit that I took, and what brand key items are:

• Large rucksack
• Sleeping bag (5 season down, Field & Trek)
• *Bivvy bag (Quechua)
• Cotton sleeping bag liner (Mountain Warehouse)
• Clothes
• 1 x long sleeve merino base layer (Orvis)
• 2 x legging base layers (M&S)
• 2 x mid layer trousers (Mountain Warehouse) 
• 1 x fleece mid layer (Mountain Warehouse)
• 1 x waterproof shell jacket (Mountain Warehouse)
• Pyjamas x 1 set 
• Underwear
• Thick dual layer hiking socks (Mountain Warehouse) x 3 pairs
• Thin cotton socks x 2 pairs
• Wooly hat
• Neck buff
• Gloves
• *Sailing boots (Gill Marine Tall Yachting Boots - review)
• *Deck shoes (Musto Dynamic Deck Shoes - review)
• *Head torch (Geonaute Onnight 200+ Headlamp)
• Multitool (Mountain Warehouse)
• Laundry bag
• Glasses retainer
• Toiletries
• Personal toiletries & medicine
• Spare glasses
• Quick drying travel towel (Mountain Warehouse)
• Suncream
• Lip salve
• Flashcards of key terms
• Crew treats (Magic Stars, chocolate raisins, Skittles)

Impressively (I think), I only took four items that I didn't use:

• Sleeping bag liner - my sleeping bag is so warm and cosy (especially with a bivvy bag covering it) that the liner was more of a tangled annoyance than a help and was quickly abandoned after the first night
• Gloves - this was a personal choice as I felt I could handle the lines and sheets better without gloves, almost everyone else wore them
• Multitool - I think this was due to chance of circumstance, as I did use a crewmates during the deep clean as it was closer to hand
• Glasses retainer - the weather was very calm so I didn't feel the need to use this

Thinking forward to training for Level 2 and beyond, there isn't much kit that I think I need to add. I'll definitely be getting another merino base layer top as I really appreciated how (relatively) fresh smelling it stayed after a week of some pretty heavy wear, and it kept me toasty warm when everyone else started to pile on their mid-layers and foulies. In a similar vein, I'll be trading in my M&S synthetic leggings for merino leggings for longer lasting freshness and cosiness. I'll also definitely need to take more stuff bags for separating out my kit into easily grabbable piles. Hot tip - I laid out my clothes for the next day each night before bed and wrapped them in my waterproof shell jacket so that I could quickly grab them when I woke up without having to rummage around looking for a missing sock or fighting to find the other end of my leggings. Keeping your toothbrush and toothpaste close to hand is also pretty useful!

I might switch my cotton sleeping bag liner for a silk one for training in the summer months when my sleeping bag is too hot (although England being England, I'll probably only end up using it for one night...). 

And that's all on kit from me for now - specific kit reviews of asterisked items will follow soon. Any questions, just ask in the comments section below!

Part Two on Things That Are Good To Know and what sailing skills we covered to follow soon!

Peter Brumby, 13-14 RTW

Welcome to the latest in an ongoing series of guest posts from my future crewmates, current and past crew members! This is a chance for them to tell you all a little bit about themselves, why they chose to sign up for Clipper, and share some of their experiences.   

Now, over to Peter Brumby who sailed RTW in the 13-14 race - enjoy!

Anyone who has completed the Clipper Race will remember the feeling of knowing you had signed up to do something “big”, but not really knowing what “big” actually was. Many, including myself, will never have sailed before, many will not have been in sporting team environments for some time, many will not have been extensively living “in the elements” for some time, many of us will no longer be what is traditionally considered young, most of us will not have been scared for some time. Most of us had probably become “comfortable”. Secretly though most of us will have been looking for adventure. Not necessarily looking to completely change our lives, but definitely to add something new, vibrant and fresh. Something that has – potential. Not just for the period of the race you sign up for, but beyond. I have definitely received these benefits, and I am sure many more have too.

Once you sign up the experience begins. You will find yourself caught up in a swell of nervous investigation. How can I prepare myself for this “big” thing? What do I need to buy? How will I struggle? Initially this is a lonely pursuit, just you and the internet. Searching for clues in an ocean of information, none of which quite meets your needs, probably because we do not really know the questions we need to satisfy. Many of them emotional as well as practical.

But then you will be caught in the stream of the Clipper Bubble. You book and attend your first training week or you attend a Clipper Social. All of a sudden you are not alone. There are others! They feel the same as you. You have made contact. You feel less unassured, simply because others feel like you. You have the start of a new community.

The first training week is colossal. Having never sailed before I devoured all the training material sent out and more. In reality it still did not make sense to me. It was all new. New language, new movements, new people, new ways of working. New levels of energy needed. I survived by pulling and moving anything heavy around someone told me to. So tired by the end of the week, yet so satisfied. Out on the water, a cold bitter winter week. But such fun. Great people and so completely absorbing. The following week I managed to process so much about what had happened and so many bricks fell away from the wall of uncertainty I had built from myself.

And so it continues throughout the training. More knowledge, more confidence, more people, bigger community. At some point you cross a bridge. A place where you realise that you cannot know “everything” about sailing before you go. But you know enough. Enough that you will be safe, that you can be trusted and you trust others. That your boat and skipper will get you there. And that you will have a good time doing it.

The training and the period before the race is a huge part of the overall experience and is when you build not just the knowledge you need to get through but also the community who will help you on the way round. Enjoy and treasure it.

The Race? It will be what you want it to be. You will decide how much you watch or how much you participate. How much you receive from others actions and how much you contribute. We all volunteer, no one can be ordered to be what they do not wish to do. For me I wanted everything, full absorption. Learn as much as I could, do every job, be “there” when it mattered. I think I did. My crew mates would probably have a clearer view than I. But crews are made up of many different types of people, each contributing in different ways. None of us could have succeeded on our own.

I won’t go into detail of the experience of being at sea on a racing boat. It’s impossible to describe. Like the best photo is never quite as good as being there, I could give you an impression, but they would just be my poor words. It’s true, that you will be cold and tired, you could be bored and fed-up. But you will probably have wonder, and fear. You will witness the enormity and scale of the world and nature like never before. There will have laughter and arms around shoulders. There will be fruit duff and custard at the end of colds watches, and nothing gets better than that.

So at the end of it all what do you get? For me? Amazing memories you could not make anywhere else or probably in any other way. A new community of great people that is incredibly engaging, joined by a common bond that comes from being in challenging places at the same time and knowing what others did to succeed. Access to new experiences, from more sailing, to being challenged to row across the Mediterranean. You never know what someone will come up with next.

In 2013 I had never sailed before. By 2015? Sailed around the world, watch leader on some legs, raced from Palermo to Monte Carlo, sailed the Islands of Croatia, attempted to row from Barcelona to Sardinia (that’s another story), passed my Off Shore Yacht Master. (I did my yacht master with 3 other ex-Clipper crew, 2 of whom I had never sailed with before, however, the Clipper training ensured we all knew how to work together efficiently and effectively. Great experience). I could throw in many, many social times too, dinners, gigs, weddings. The community lives on.

Have I been rewarded? Oh yes.

Enjoy your sailing – however much you choose to do.

• Peter Brumby