Nasdaq Crew Diary : Re-writing the laws of gravity

March 09, 2018

Nasdaq Crew Diary : Re-writing the laws of gravity

9 March 2018: Re-writing the laws of gravity
It is a Spring moonless night in the small boat Nasdaq, starless and bible-black on the sloe-black, slow, crow black fishingboat-bobbing sea. Hush, you can hear the wind in the rigging and the hushed crew breathing. And you alone can see the invisible star fall, the darkest-before-dawn stir of the black fish-filled sea where Nasdaq, Garmin, Hotelplanner.com, Dare To Lead, Qingdao, Sanya Serenity Coast, Unicef, PSP Logistics, Visit Seattle, Liverpool 2018 and GREAT Britain tilt and race.

Although perhaps better read aloud in a lilting welsh accent, Dylan Thomas's epic description of a small town in Wales depicts the Clipper Race fleet in the South China Sea, approaching the Luzon Strait and the calm before the storm of the Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint. Whilst we have a cast of characters every bit as entertaining as those in Milk Wood.

As the sprint started so did the wind and for 24 hours we have been racing flat out, literally and figuratively. Although mankind has been happy to live within the constraints of gravity for millennia, the Clipper Race has sought to radically change the laws so eloquently expressed by Newton, theorised by Einstein, explained (with mixed success) by Stephen Hawkins and popularised by Brian Cox. On Nasdaq, gravity as we used to know it ceased to exist when we started the sprint, close hauled in a heavy sea. We adopted an angle of between 45 and 60 degrees, making concepts such as standing upright or pouring a cup of tea completely obsolete. Instead we stagger from hand-hold to hand-hold, crouching and occasionally with arms and legs flailing, grabbing and occasionally missing. Unlike real life this doesn't lead to a minor trip, it leads to an uncontrolled head-first plunge or a backflip. Fortunately many of the crew went to see Cirque du Soleil in Sanya picking up some tips on acrobatics so we haven't had any serious accidents.

Galley duty provides the best if somewhat messy opportunity to explore this new form of Clipper Race gravity. Bread comes out of the oven lopsided, the sink which only drains in one corner remains half full with its contents slopping over the galley slaves. Pouring tea results in most of it going anywhere but the cup, the stew simmering nicely on the stove suddenly becomes airborne and covers the kettle as the boat takes on a particularly large wave. Even when getting dressed the concept of pulling up ones pants takes on a whole new dimension, as up is anywhere but up. As well as the heel, the trajectory of the boat seems to be an elliptical spiral, punctuated by the occasional full stop as it falls off a wave. As I write, with the laptop on my knees which are somewhere around my ears, and my feet hard against the galley wall, Dave and Helen are today's mothers, in a kitchen resembling that of the muppets, with pots and pans flying, oranges jumping off the counter straight into the laps of the waiting customers and thai noodle soup decorating much of the stove. Nevertheless the food is served on time, piping hot and delicious. I'd like to see TV masterchefs take on such a challenge.

Meanwhile the seas continue to build and the wind is gusting 25-30 knots. Whilst not exceptional in global terms these are the strongest winds of this leg, and we are sailing hard on the wind trying to complete the sprint in the shortest time. We won't know the results until all boats have crossed but we are confident Nasdaq has made good progress and are looking forward to a change of tack towards Taiwan, if only to be able to drain the sink!