- Jennifer Day - Clipper 2015-16 Race crew, Legs 1 and 7, Garmin
- Sue Pither – Clipper 2015-16 Race crew, Leg 4, Garmin
- Deio Jones – Clipper 2015-16 Race crew, Leg 1-4, Derry~Londonderry~Doire
- Neil Bennett – Clipper 2013-14 Race crew, Leg 1-4, GREAT Britain
- Michelle Porter – Clipper 2013-14 Race crew, Circumnavigator, Derry~Londonderry~Doire
Race Finish is tomorrow, what was going
through your mind as you sailed back up the Thames on completion of your race
in July 2014?
Michelle: When we left Den Helder in the Netherlands it was strange, we had this experience of our lives, eleven months of sailing around the world and all of a sudden it was going to be over. When you realise that it’s pretty overwhelming and sad as your crew are your friends and you don’t want it to end.
Neil: It was the weirdest feeling, you meet everyone at the beginning of the race but then everyone does their own leg so there are some crew you see more than others. As a legger I joined our team spectator boat at Race Finish so all the crew were back together again, it was amazing despite having been back for six months I was still very much part of the race but when the fleet comes up the Thames, you then realise it really is over.
What did you do at the end of the race?
Michelle: You live in the Clipper Race bubble for the duration of your race and when you get back you are adamant you are not going to get back in the rat race but I live in London so I guess it was inevitable, I am working long hours like I did before the race. You never forget the Clipper Race and we are still experiencing it today.
Neil: It’s definitely a shock when you first get off the boat. I got off the boat in Australia, I flew home on the Friday and was back at work on the Monday. My boss told me it took six weeks for me to focus at work - he was a very understanding boss! It is tough but you do get back into it and as Michelle says you are always a part of the race, like today, when we are standing here sharing our stories.
What goals were you were looking to achieve
from the race?
Jenny: Crew Allocation is a really exciting day. When your name is read out it’s like being at a school assembly and off you go with your team mates and skipper to discuss what sort of team you want to be. For us on board Garmin, we decided quite early on that we wanted to be in the top six on the overall leaderboard and as the race progressed and we achieved more podiums we changed for the new goal of being on the overall podium at Race Finish. The goals do shift and change as you go through the race, as a team, as well as individually.
Deio: I couldn’t make it to Crew Allocation but I know that my crew mates scored themselves as to how competitive they were and we seemed to be quite a competitive team. We did come up with some personal goals too and for me, my goal was to get a podium once and to try being a watch leader and helm in big seas. We got more than one podium, I got to helm and I became assistant watch leader during my race so I was very happy with that.
Sue: I signed up two years before my race started so I had an incredibly long lead up to it which is great in some ways but also strange to be looking forward to it for so long. I remember our skipper explaining what being competitive meant and he was good at explaining what you had to give up to achieve it, it really made you think about what it is you really want from your race and sometimes that can change. I think our boat was great at working on the team and individual crew members’ goals, we pinned our objectives up on the wall to keep in the back of our minds.
How does the mix of circumnavigators and leggers on board work in reality?Michelle: I was Team Coordinator for my team, we had ten circumnavigators and 45 leggers. As a team we agreed early on that there would be a shore side contact crew member and we coordinated weekly emails to and from the boat to the whole team to keep in contact with each other while racing. We also ensured that crew joining their race were involved in the stopover and preparation of their race in advance, helping out with jobs in port such as finding the local supermarkets for us to victual, finding hotels for the team to book into and so on. They were always one step ahead of us when we got into port and this shore side support really helped the efficiency of our team and our integration with everyone as a whole.
Jenny: I did two legs independently, not back to back, and I really enjoyed doing it that way. It makes more sense financially to stay on the boat than keep flying back and forth but those were the races I wanted to participate in and I was happy I did it. For Leg 1 there is no integration needed really, everyone is starting out new together, it’s everyone’s first experience together. The transition coming back for Leg 7 to see how everyone, especially how the circumnavigators had developed was fantastic and you are looked after by everyone on board. A big thing within our team was the communication as well, we had a team facebook group that we plugged everyone’s comments into, crew, family and friends and it’s a great way of connecting with the team and help you join in too.
Deio: We had a weekly email and shore side support too on the boat, the circumnavigating crew were split evenly between two watches and we looked after one another and helped one another out. It happened naturally and after a few days you are immersed, you get to know your strengths and weaknesses as a team and individual, and it’s in everyone’s interests to make an effort with one another and get up to speed as quickly as possible.
Sue: I joined in Australia, there were quite a few of us joining and it was challenging to come onto a slick watch system. Unfortunately I received a minor injury on the first day that required me to sit out for 24 hours, doing this I was able to observe how the team performed and see how I could contribute to that. We also had a buddying system, if you ask anyone on board they will help you and the little things really help.
Neil: We hot bunked on our boat and I shared my bunk with a circumnavigator. We figured out a
nice way of sharing our bunk together. When one of us got up to get onto our watch we would roll our sleeping bag up, put it on the bottom of the bunk, get the other person’s sleeping bag out and unroll it to allow your bunk buddy to get straight into their bed readymade. It was a small thing that made such a difference, we didn’t quite go as far as putting chocolates on each other’s pillow though!
Did you plan to get back to work as normal
or did you have other ideas?
Michelle: When I took part in the race I was on a sabbatical from work, by the time I had gotten to San Francisco after the Pacific Ocean race I couldn’t bear the thought of going back to my old job so handed my resignation in. I had realised I didn’t care for lots of money or materialistic things but slowly you do get back into London life but you never forget what you did. The race has changed me completely as a person but I think ultimately if you live in London, the London life will creep back in but I don’t regret it at all.
Jenny: It’s a good question but I think it comes back to what you personally want to get out of the race. If you are using it as a vessel to make change in your life back home, it certainly is a great way to do that. Some people don’t put pressure on the experience and themselves and wait to see what happens before making decisions about what to do afterwards, and sometimes you just naturally get back into the swing of life.
Deio: I stayed in Australia after my race and I have only been home for two weeks, I am flying back out to Australia to try and work as I now have a year’s visa. That was not planned, the race has helped me make a change in my life, what I was doing, where I was living – I am now renting out my house back home and working in sailing in Australia – which really is something considering I had never sailed before my Clipper Race adventure began.
Sue: The race gives you time to think about what you want and how you can make your life different, so sometimes it can change things. I did realise that I want to be closer to my family so moved nearer to them but for me personally I wasn’t looking for change specifically.
Neil: I knew I was going to go back into the rat race, I had six months off work and my plan was to do the first three legs and then take a month off to ease myself back into work. When the race announced the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race as part of the route I knew that wasn’t going to happen and I ended up doing the first four legs and going straight back to work. I knew I was returning my job and I realised on the race that I actually really liked my job more than I thought I did rather than wanting to change it afterwards. I wanted to take some time off, my boss said I went away fairly relaxed and chilled and now my boss says I am very relaxed and chilled which I think is good. It has made me want to look at other adventures but nothing like the race, it’s a once in a lifetime experience.
Can you tell me more about the watch system
and how that dynamic works as a team as a whole?
Deio: In the first leg they manned the watch systems by sailing experience and then when we got into Rio we were asked if we wanted to change the watch system at all. The two watches were quite different and we liked that it worked well, the whole way around the world we only had two or three crew that asked to change watches just to have a bit of variety and see what the other watch was like. You don’t tend to see the other watch very often and that is the reality of the race and how it is but it’s important to make an effort with one another in port and whenever you can.
Sue: Like anything in life not everyone gets on with everyone else all of the time but if there are any niggles on board generally you work that out. On board our skipper and team coordinator would think very carefully about what watch they would allocate a joining legger to, based on many things including experience. For me personally I really enjoyed the watch I was on and interestingly we were all very different. I was glad but each team does it in a different way.
Neil: We mixed it up quite a lot as much as we could, there is the hour or so before the watch changes where you can go up on deck early to chat to the other watch, find out how the last six hours racing went as they hand over. There are different ways of engaging with each other.
Jenny: On board Garmin if the spinnaker was up and the weather was good, we would all eat lunch or dinner together as a whole crew which was really good. It meant you got to have conversations with the crew and a bonding experience which helped keep team morale high.
What one item could you not live without on board?
Sue: My daughter made me a book to take on board with me and I had to read a page a day. In it there were pictures of her and my grandchildren and messages from them all - so I cried everyday looking at that but it was wonderful. The more practical thing is sandwich bags to put all of your little items in to help keep them dry and clean.
Jenny: Mine is a bit more practical for the ladies which is a really good sports bra or two. I did the hotter legs and it was 45 degrees below deck, so trying to sleep or do anything was hard and you have to feel comfortable. On the hotter legs you aren’t going to be wearing much clothing so it’s important to be comfortable in what you are wearing socially and physically - you aren’t going to be changing very often!
Deio: I think on the third leg I had a normal sleeping bag which was fine, but when someone left I borrowed their proper ocean sleepwear bag and that was the only dry thing I had. If you are on a cold, rough leg a proper warm waterproof sleeping bag is a must.
Neil: I took a kindle with a whole load of books uploaded to it, you will eat, sleep, sail for up to a
month if not longer so to have something to escape to during your down time is a great idea. It also helped me to sleep, not that I needed much help.
Michelle: Mine would have to be my tablet for the times I needed to switch off and watch a film. If you have had a tough night watch sometimes it’s nice to take some time out and put the headphones in.
After all the training what was the
challenge that you had when you started the race that you weren’t
expecting?
Michelle: I think when you do the training you get into the routine of doing the man overboard drill. You do it so many times and you don’t think that you will ever need it, but you shouldn’t think that. We had a man overboard in the North Pacific and an hour and 40 minutes we got Andrew back, you realise that all the times you did man overboard it is for a reason but it felt like a drill until we got him back on board, which took me massively by surprise.
Jenny: When you complete all your levels of training it’s quite a smooth transition sailing on board the race. On Leg 1 it was in some ways easier than the training - weather dependant of course - but you work yourself so hard in the training to learn everything, when you have longer and more varied conditions it falls into place.
I surprised myself that everything had clicked into place and I can now sail and here I am speaking to you about my experience, it’s great.
David: I did most of my training back to back and did the delivery from Gosport to London which I recommend. It’s a great way to get to know the boat and other crew, how everything works and prepare it for the race. Another thing is that you do get more tired than you think you are going to get, it’s amazing how your body falls into line, you can be down below and asleep in 15 minutes if you want. The forces that go through the boat, the waves and the wind, were also a challenge the Solent doesn’t prepare you for, the boats are massively powerful when you get the big storms it’s immense but it is a surprise.
Sue: Joining Leg 4 we had 50 knot headwinds for two days and the inability to get out of your bunk or trying to cook something when the boat is being thrown around, I knew it was going to be like that but until you do it you are never prepared. Another thing that surprised me was that I was never frightened or scared which I thought I might be, I had total trust and confidence in my skipper, crew and the boat.
Neil: You are surprised at how well prepared you are for the race and for me, the challenge and the surprise was living in a confined space with 23 other people for a month at a time. Trying to maintain relationships and trying not to get angry about stupid things was hard and you don’t get that on training, when you are 14 days in and have 14 more to go to dry land, training did not prepare me for that but I learnt.
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