It has been quiet for a while now, but things are heating up. This week I received my joining instructions for the level 3 training starting the first week of April. It will begin with an one day offshore safety course. It is all to do with preventing accidents and what to do if an accident does occur. Dialling 999 does not work where we are going.
The rest of the week will be used to get to know the new 70 feet boats which we will be using on our trip. The two first levels of training were on the older 68 feet boats. The layout on deck and below deck is all different but the principle of sailing and the revolutions are very much the same. “Revolutions” are the changes to sails we need to do quickly and safely in all weather conditions. The main focus for this training is sailing with asymmetric spinnakers. These are big sails, as big as a tennis court, connected to the top of the mast and to the bowsprit. It is going to be fun sailing with these.
The Clipper 15-16 Facebook page is also getting busier with people asking about visas, insurance and what boots and bags to get. It is good to see the crew of 13-14 giving so much of their time to provide advice. There are certainly a lot of exited people in the Clipper Facebook group.
April is going to be a busy week. After the level 3 training there will be the Crew Allocation day on Saturday 25th April. This is when I finally get to hear who my crew and skipper will be. Also the team sponsor will be announced and we can start to develop the team, develop our strategies and plan the race which will start on Sunday 30th August. Four months to organise all this is not a lot of time!
Exiting and very busy times ahead.