February 17

Crossing the North Pacific in the Clipper Round the World Race 2005-2006 Part 3 by Guest Author Brian Luster

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(Brian Luster is a fellow nautical blogger and author of the excellent blog A Movable Bridge. Brian took part in the big Asian leg of the 2005-2006 Clipper Race. The current race is taking place right now and the crews are in Asia as I write this –Adam)

(Day 6) How things change: 32 14.9N 134 8.7E, off the coast of Japan

It’s amazing the changes we’ve experienced in the past 24 hours. Two nights ago we were storming down 5mendingsails the East China Sea with a spinnaker flying, making something like 14 knots. Early yesterday morning we jibed around the corner of Japan into the North Pacific Ocean. It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day. The foul-weather gear came off; shorts and T-shirts went on.

Then the wind came around on the nose, and we were beating into a nice stiff breeze. By the time I went to bed after dinner, it was really blowing. Three hours later I came on watch to a nearly dead calm, spinnaker flopping limply. Off watch at 3:00 a.m., then back on at 6:00 to a complete calm—boat speed 0 knots. It stayed like that for the next three hours. We’re now beating into the wind, making 6.2 knots. I worked through most of my four-hour off watch (when I should have been asleep) repairing the staysail that tore in half on day two; in one hour I have to be on deck for my four-hour watch.

Tomorrow, things are getting rougher


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