Thursday 3nd December: Yesterday was quite chaotic on-board the Challenger 3.
After a night of fun helming, the poo pipe on the starboard side was conquered. The open water is not the ideal place for the general bathroom facilities to go faulty, especially when no sailor wants to do the job. Dave and I volunteered resentfully, dismantling the headlining, wrestling with the anaconda like piping and Dave giving it a good rodding in the most peculiar fashion. (Video evidence available for a small fee).
After dumping on the deck the job was almost complete – or so we thought! We again wrestled with the smelly giant, wedging ourselves in cupboards and bilges covered in the contents of an 11 day old toilet. Smelling sweetly of human waste, the best treat for the evening came in the form of a salt water bucket fight, which we hope would make us approachable to our crew mates once again. I equipped myself with the only roped bucket on board, so Dave was defenceless when attempting to reload ammunition between hits.
Admitting defeat, we retired for the evening with a cold shower and a hot snooze in the snake pit with the rest of our crew.
Challenger 1 still out in front by about 130nm. Will plucky Challenger 3 shorten the gap?
The next morning, the winds were shifting and annoyingly it would seem that either jibe would have us running off course. We took the risk anyway, it’s always best to try than not. We climbed the spinny pole once again, the clew shackle refusing to spike and release, delaying us for a short time of our morning and leaving a bit of blood on the ropes, opps.
Eventually the huge spinnaker spiked, flew behind the mainsail and was expertly brought down by the well oiled crew. No time for wiping away blood and sweat or having a quick beer (WE WISH!) it was straight up with the other pole, down with the previous and up with the new, heavier weight flanker spinnaker in preparation for the stronger winds through the night.
On the Helm with A Rocket
Onwards with the day, Lucia and Mike did an excellent job at mother watch, cooking up a fine Lamb Curry amongst birthday balloons whilst singing, the lunchtime meet brought more birthday singing and an epic clandestinely boat-baked chocolate cake! Others did piles of washing, turning Challenger 3 into a sweeter smelling place, even if just momentarily!
The game of ‘Murder on the Orient Express – Challenger 3 Version on the High Seas’ is now in full swing with the first victim being Jerry. Not only was he the first, but he was brutally murdered by winch handle whilst half asleep in the cockpit, a dastardly deed from down under – courtesy of Mark the Kiwi (Jerry must have been winching in his dreams – or maybe nightmares L to accept such an offer! DOH!)
Helming was a hot affair in the full sunshine but we were treated with some cloud cover that everybody was grateful for. Below is now even more of an oven and walking through the accommodation berths is a hot, risky affair with bodies hanging out of beds trying to catch the slightest hint of air movement.
I awoke like I’d been sleeping in a steam room but was soon wide awake helming a fast course, surfing in pitch blackness…and so begins the speed/course competition. Last night saw Ricky with a top speed of 13.8 and I, desperately trying to catch him with a 13.1. Sat here typing, the boat has just took off, the hull vibrating, a glance at the instruments confirmed we were just hurtling along at 14.7 knots, Jerry poked his head up on deck to see Rocket Rosie on the helm spurring us towards the finish, (must be desperate for some rum punch).
Onwards with the day, looks to be another hot one, I’ll be heading back to my hammock in the sail locker this eve to cool down!
Kirstie and Jerry
Sights and Sails Set for Sunday
One of the crew says that the previous record for the ARC is 96 hours with the Spinnaker up. I am not sure if this is true, I find it difficult to think that it is, I am sure the Volvo 65, Brunei had their Code 0 flying all the way in order to smash the record for the crossing as they have done (8d 7h 39m 30s).
We started flying our spinnakers at 10am on the 26th (Thursday last week). We have peeled (swapped) to the race kite from the flanker, and are now back on the flanker – but have now had eight days of kite, kite and more kite. Eight days, that’s 192 hours and still counting…
Unless something untoward happens or we get a weird un-forecast wind shift, then the spinny will dropped as we round Pigeon Island just before the upwind finish line in Rodney Bay. That is now looking likely to be Sunday afternoon.
Apart from the occasional report on how the other boats are faring in the ARC, we are living in a bubble of ignorance in so far as world and UK news is concerned. We knew that the UK had started winter in earnest with a big freeze just before we left Las Palmas, and I can track the weather systems as they head towards the UK – hurricane force wind warning in the North Atlantic heading your way at the moment (that was back on the 30th, so it may be with you already).
But how Southampton FC are doing, whether they are still ahead of Chelsea or not, we have no idea.
The “Top Speed” competition seems to have broken out in earnest. We have added a rule so that all speeds where you are not “on course” are not eligible. Kirstie is trying her hardest, getting just 12.6 at the moment – WAY behind my 13.8!
We also have a Finish Time sweepstake on the go, I think I need to find ways to slow the boat down in order to be in with a shout with my guess of 10pm on Monday the 7th. At the time of writing this (03:54am Thursday 3 Dec) we have 776 Nm to go and the “computer says” 6 Dec 17:00. Of course we are flying along at the moment. UPDATE Rosie has just posted a 14.7 !
Ricky (skipper)
If you fancy racing across the Atlantic join us next year on the ARC 2016
