{"id":627,"date":"2013-07-24T13:10:05","date_gmt":"2013-07-24T13:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/?p=627"},"modified":"2015-01-22T14:47:25","modified_gmt":"2015-01-22T14:47:25","slug":"first-time-competitor-challenger-3-crew-member-caroline-padburys-sailing-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/first-time-competitor-challenger-3-crew-member-caroline-padburys-sailing-story\/","title":{"rendered":"First time competitor – Challenger 3 crew member Caroline Padbury\u2019s sailing story"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Caroline at the helm of Challenger 3<\/p><\/div>\n

Although I’ve grown-up on sailing boats I have never competed, trained or qualified for anything. In recent years, I haven’t had the opportunity to do as much as I would like, so I have signed-up for the Challenger 3 crew in the 2013 Rolex Fastnet to reintroduce into my life the freedom, adrenaline and challenge of being at sea.<\/p>\n

When you are sailing it is simply you, and the vast seas around you. \u00a0A fantastically raw and natural existence that puts our busy western lives into perspective.<\/p>\n

The 2013 Rolex Fastnet gave me the opportunity to challenge myself in a new way, and in a way completely opposite to my daily corporate city based job. Having spent my childhood by the sea I have always enjoyed water sports, so the Fastnet race seemed like a perfect choice.<\/p>\n

As with other members of the crew it seems that the watches are the most challenging aspect, and for me the worst bit is getting up for a 3am in freezing rainy weather!<\/p>\n

On the bright side the sunrise off Salcombe, 50 boats around us, perfect sea, was a really magical moment. And I also have to say the people are fabulous, it is a great crew of truly inspiring individuals.<\/p>\n

And for the Fastnet Race itself I don\u2019t think you can ever be entirely ready for it, especially as you are working against the elements – but I do feel the training has built us into competent competitors and I’m surprised by how easily and quickly you can overcome seasickness.<\/p>\n

The training has been intelligently pulled together – to ensure we understand all elements of the boat, but operate within our capabilities. \u00a0We have been pushed in every training session, but have always ended the training smiling.<\/p>\n

So I think it would be fair to say I\u2019ll be ready for the Fastnet when it is over and I am looking forward to every minute of it!<\/p>\n

You can follow the CHallenger 3 news on Twitter by using the hashtag #Challenger3<\/a><\/p>\n

The RYA Course that Caroline has taken is the Day Skipper Theory<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although I’ve grown-up on sailing boats I have never competed, trained or qualified for anything. In recent years, I haven’t had the opportunity to do as much as I would like, so I have signed-up for the Challenger 3 crew in the 2013 Rolex Fastnet to reintroduce into my life the freedom, adrenaline and challenge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fastnet"],"views":2513,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1575,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627\/revisions\/1575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}