Suffice to say the wind soon dropped in the final few days although usually enough to keep us moving in the rolling swell generated by the recent typhoon off Japan  Save one nightof swirly winds ,rain,cold and twirly helms  We had sailed ourselves firmly into 5th position ahead of Zhuhai andwith Halong Bay well to the south. Fortunately the wind had moved forward of the beam meaning spinnakers were not required. Yes ,something happened again the shackle connecting the bobstay to the bow had mysteriously dissappeared,and lines of the bobstay were hanging limply dipping in the sea. The bobstay runs from the end of the bowsprit to low low down on the bow providing a countertraction when a spinnaker is set off the bowsprit – so spinnakers not possible  

Anyway the fleet had compressed on the final day such that we could see Bermuda ahead and Zhuhai behind who were bearing away for more speed a vain attempt at making us think they were gaining. So round the final turning mark we went ,Bermuda 4th ,Sanya 5th, Zhuhai 6th and that’s where the rewards should have been for 6500 miles of sailing. But no. Instead the race committee have set a finish off a sheltered point where the sea compresses into a channel and the current is going faster than any breeze. All 3 of us get pushed past the finish line and have to sail back to it  Hours later Halong Bay get pushed across the line,just!, and take 4th place and are followed a while later by Seattle. 

The next incident should never have occurred.  Diring a radio conversation between Zhuhai and us Zhuhai inform us that they are not going to attempt to sail back to the line and are retiring from the race – but they also had a 6 hour time penalty due to a previous breach that had to be applied. Bermuda,who have been pushed further away, are thinking the samebut have not retired. This unfortunately puts a mindset into the skipper first mate and some of the crew that retiring from this race after all we’ve been through is somehow a possibility! This is now put to a vote by the crew. However the crew are under the impression that both yachts ahead have retired(untrue) and that it’s going take 12 hours to wait for favourable currents to get across a finish line 1.5 miles away. In disgust after putting in my vote I head back upstairs to join Afshin at the helm. The vote is 7 to 4 in favour of retiring. Up at the helm (it is night),I note our compass heading is at the finish but our course is actually backwards away from where we need to go. Within minutes however we are making 1/2 a knot at a COG of 230 degrees towards the finish. Yes it might 3 hours ,maybe more, maybe less. WTF, we’ve been out here for the 36 days,who on earth thinks of tossing in the towell at this point. But there is no re assessment of the situation , there is no re discussion ,there is no updating of the crew with current situation .Had the hitherto radio conversation not occurred none of this would have come to pass. The Yankee is inexorably dropped ,and our speed plummets. I congratulate Afshin on his efforts. (In the end Bermuda don’t retire and finish 7th,and had we been out there they would have had to comepast us). After the next days motoring Bermuda dock in Seattle barely a few hours after us. Nuff said.

Unfortunately as you now no due to COVID I  don’t get on the next race. Such is life.

We enter the ‘Ocean  Sprint ‘. This is an area where there are 2 lines drawn on the map and no matter where you are when you get the 3 yachts with the fastest times between those lines get extra points.In this case the distance is 250 miles. Initially it is a fast close reach but later winds are less favorable . What we do well is pick the favorable gybes compared to the yachts around us. We entered behind Zhuhai and now are ahead of them,again, and we are now neck and  neck with Halong Bay who were well ahead previously. It’s a  little less cold with the  wind from the south . As we find out  2 weeks later we were 3rd behind Korea by an hour and so we get one extra point. Qingdao who came through 2 weeks later win it bymore than 8 hours.

I wrote a song which was the story of our race pretty. I caught by surprise by Shiyi our media person- we were just practicing!!

Zhuhai and Sanya Saga Lyrics

yes we did it again
we sailed past Zuhaii
we sailed past Zuhaii
oh yes we did

we broke our mainsail
Took a long time to fix
downwind under staysail
in 40 knots

yet chorus

our backing plate broke
we sailed under bare poles
in the wrong direction in40 knots for a whole day
then beat back into it and we lost at least a 100 miles
and yet

chorus

we broke our main halyard
our main halyard

it snapped like a twig rpt

Mary went up the mast
to drop down a string
a new halyarrd was done
and Zuhaii went by

chorus

Zuhaii clawed their way back

sailed well through the night
they were ahead alongside
ahead alongside

we sailed through a storm
and Clyde held his form
kept us downinD

in 50 knots ,then

Zuhaii broached really bad
they sat on their side
They sat on their side
came out a 100 metres ahead

then they put in a reef
they had some grief
they had some grief
and yes
chorus (variation Mike at the wheel)

but our headboard was broke
we couldn’t unreef
Zuhaii with more sail

went by again

then we entered the sprint
behind Zuhaii
behind Zuhaii
we got a favorable gybe

chorus

The next morning we have  two 40 plus knot squalls ,the second hitting 50 knots at its peak. I manage the coach Sir Clyde through the situation and he experlty keeps us downwind at an angle 160 degrees plus. This  prevents us rounding up.
I  look to starboard of us. Zhuhaii ,who have been gradually catching us again, are less than a nautical mile south.  They have rounded  up  ,this is a situation where the pressure of sails forcing the yacht to turn into the wind have overcome the turning force of the rudder and the rudders has stalled and the helmsman no longer has control. Because you’ve sailing downwind you have alot of sail up so as the yacht turns into the wind the yacht heels over long way like at a 50 or 60 degrees.The boom is usually dragging in the water the sails are flapping ,the rig is shaking and there is a lot of noise. Zhuhai is an eery sight ,it is still dark but the  coming dawn light is reflecting off her sails which are nearly on the water. She looks like a ghost as she sits there on her side for a long time ,like 2 to 3 minutes before they finally gain control. They had been passing but now ,just as the dawn breaks they come out just a 100 metres directly ahead of us. It is surreal that we’ve been at sea for weeks sailed maybe 5000 miles and there are 2 yachts so close together. They still have their main topped up and are putting in a second reef which takes them a while. And we sail past ………again
<span;>Soon the waves are as big as houses and the conditions demand a 3rd reef.
In the evening I am on mother watch cooking when we hear a big wave hit us side on and the water floods the cockpit and washes one of the crew into the handle of the pedestal grinder. She sunstains a severe bruise over the cheek and a deep laceration to the bridge of the nose. Fortunately there is no serious head or eye injury but the laceration needs to be closed. We convert the galley into a mini casualty . Now obviously I’ve sutured thousands of lacerations . Fortunately sitting on same surface as the patient means  I’m moving at the same time as she is as I inject local anaesthetic and neatly close the wound as the yacht moves over the 4 to 6 metre seas.

Back on deck it is noted the headboard at the top of the main is becoming disconnected from the ‘cars’ that slide along a track on the mast that keeps the mainsail connected to the mast.  When we broke the halyard this was damaged and Mary had put some lashing round to fix it and was now coming undone.  When the wind drops we are unable to shake the reef out and have to wait for more benign conditions to fix it . So we sail a little underpowered in waves as big as houses and yes Zhuhai sail by !!!