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Diary of a Clipper Racer
Around the world in 333 days with Mark Osgood
Supporting my chosen charity - "Dreams Come True"
Final Diary entry, 54, added Monday 6th October 2003.
Diary of a Clipper Racer Around the world in 333 days with Mark Osgood Supporting my chosen charity - "Dreams Come True" Final Diary entry, 54, added Monday 6th October 2003. |
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Latest Diary News 43
- Bobbing Around - July 2003 After
all the hype, it didn't do what it said on the tin. Our journey round the
Cape of Good Hope, rather than being a battle against the raw elements, turned
into a bobbing race to the line. So no stories of survival round the Cape
from me - apart from the boredom. With
less than 100 miles to go, we thought a late finish on Saturday would be on the
cards but the wind had other ideas. Firstly it became changeable, so that
it blew from whatever direction we wanted to go in. It is not
possible to sail towards the wind and we had to tack our way to the target.
However, in a big sailing yacht like a Clipper 60, it is particularly
frustrating as with every tack, you feel as if you are going back to where you
have just come from. Then the wind died. By
about 9am on Monday morning, we were within 10 miles of the finish line.
All day, we had wonderful views of Table Mountain and we could see people
in Cape Town going about their lives as we sat about a mile off-shore going
no-where. In fact, that is not true. We were moving - we drifted
backwards away from the line at one stage and had to get our anchor on deck to
stop our distance to the finish increasing! It
was a horrible day for everyone on board, especially those of us who had family
waiting to greet us. Watching the hours tick by was awful and what I found
especially frustrating was that some of the boats at the back of the race simply
retired and motored past us and were in the bar whilst we continued to wait for
the finish line. We
finally crossed the line at about 6pm, in third place and the race was
immediately abandoned. The remaining few boats out on the course were
allowed to motor in. Cape Town was dark by the time we got to see any off
it from the shore. Cape
Town It
was worth the wait, what a great stopover - Cape Town is fantastic. When
we did eventually arrive, it was fantastic to see Rachel and Mum & Dad
waiting to welcome me in with a bottle of bubbly. Then
on to sightseeing. In the few days that we had there, we crammed in Table
Mountain, Boulders beach (which is the home to a penguin colony), Stellenbosch
and the winelands and Robben Island, as well as plenty of time at the Victoria
and Albert waterfront in Cape Town. And the food and wine was superb.
I will be going back. A
Prior Engagement Cape
Town was fantastic but what made it really special was that Rachel and I got
engaged. We celebrated with a meal including crocodile schnitzels, ostrich
steaks, springbok steaks, blue marlin, lobster...and South African
"champagne" of course. Click here for diary 44 - Race 13 - Cape Town to Salvador, Brazil - July 2003 |
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