“She believed she could, so she did.” – R.S. Grey
It’s hard to believe that it is just over a year since Andrew went overboard from the Derry~Londonderry~Doire in the North Pacific. Andrew has written a book, called ‘179W‘, about his experience in which he details his fight for survival during the hour and forty minutes he was in the water and pays tribute to the training, team and equipment that saved his life.
All proceeds from the book will be split equally between The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and The Newmarket Day Centre.
Unlike my fellow crew mates currently working hard to drive the Derry-go-round to Rio (as we have affectionately nicknamed the good ship Derry~Londonderry~Doire), I have fallen behind in posting on the site in recent months. If you attend a Clipper Crew Recruitment Presentation, you receive fair warning that if you sign up for the race, it takes over your life for the duration. Whilst all of us in the room heard the message, I’m not sure that any of us fully comprehended what this actually means.
As well as the obligatory 3 weeks of Clipper race training which pretty much uses up all annual leave, there is the maintenance and theory course, crew allocation, building team websites, official team building weekend, unofficial crew get-togethers, boat preparation week (AKA ‘build a boat’ for this years’ crew), boat delivery trip to race start, race start weekend, then following the race via the race tracker to check on the position of the boat, crew blogs, skippers blogs, organising insurance and gear and preparing to leave your daily life behind for however long you have signed up to race on the boat (6 months for me). Throw into this mix the usual stresses and strains of work, trying to keep up with family and friends, the obligatory pre-Clipper wobble (think we all have one) and other aspects of daily life and things get pretty hectic.
Not that I am complaining, I did after all put pen to paper and sign up for this challenge willingly and with the fullest comprehension of what I was doing. But it does mean that something get put on the back burner, which I have to admit has happened to this blog.
Anyway – I plan to play catch up in the next week or so; until then, a few photos will have to suffice!
Crew Allocation (Spot me to the left of Sir RKJ’s right hand).
Helming a OneDLL CV20 in the sunshine during Level 3 training
The first of many outing for Team Sean’s Round the World Bar at team building
Dress rehearsal for the Race Start parade of sail – and the first time all 12 Clipper 70’s were on the water together.
The boat naming ceremony for Derry~Londonderry~Doire prior to race start
Clipper Race – Race 2 Day 6: Derry~Londonderry~Doire The Leader Of The Pack.
Guess what song is going around in my head now!
Looks like my fellow LePrixSeans on board the good ship Derry~Londonderry~Doire are working hard day and night to keep the boat moving fast towards Rio and have taken over the lead from Henri Lloyd. However, with the boats so close to each other and the Doldrums yet to be crossed, I am sure that leadership of the race will change hands a few more times before the fleets arrival in Brazil.
Race 2 Day 6 Skipper Sean’s report has also be posted.
For those who missed the live stream of yesterday’s departure ceremony, it can be viewed over on YouTube. At about 26:56, there are a group of purple shirted crew over on the far pontoon adding to the atmosphere… I *might* have been present 😉
Tower Bridge from CV30 Derry~Londonderry~Doire