The weather forecast was for solid wind, with a fast sleigh ride predicted across
from Doha to Abu Dhabi. It looked like it was going to be a fun, but demanding leg.
It did not disappoint.
One of the girls who had been with us last year had decided to take this leg off, as she was tired from the long night off Qatar motoring and hanging around. So with a long race and having 6 crew, it made sense to rotate in Azrar – a quiet, but budding sailor with great athletic promise. The night before the race found us all making sandwiches in the hotel’s kitchen – thank you Mercure! It was funny, putting on hair-nets and gloves in a big congo-line, making hummus sandwiches. Raiya even sweet talked the kitchen into toasting some of our sandwiches. We have made a huge effort to figure out ways to get the Omani girls to eat onboard, which is more difficult than it seems, because they generally don’t eat “cold” meals. If they don’t eat, they cannot fuel their mind and body for the job required. After clearly outlining in our debrief from the Bahrain leg that the girls would be in charge of bringing the food down in the morning, they took it on, and did so for the next morning. It was fantastic to seem them take ownership of that task. Teams work, because we all work together. Each team member does their part, and this was an example of them growing in their individual and team roles.
The race started out in pleasant 13 tws (true wind speed) from the N/NW, and then increased throughout the day. We had an over early start – after being second row the previous day, we were perhaps a bit too keen… We were in good company though, with BAE and EFG Bank also over early. Rounding the top mark, the fleet turned right, and popped a fractional kite (thank you Marty from Quantum and Barking Mad for the back up kite!), and away we went. We stayed a bit lower with EFG BAnk, while the majority of the fleet was higher. Next thing we knew, watching the weather boats, we saw two drop their kites, put jibs up and harden up. It turned out that they had both hit ground, and were stuck on a bank. One of our friends, Bruno Dubois, was flung forward violently and hit his face on the companionway – causing a huge lump, black eye, and cuts on his face. Good thing he was wearing his Oakley sunglasses, as they probably saved his eye.
We had a great, but physical ride – waves and spray everywhere, with the boat bucking around like a fun ride on a giant surfboard. We closed up to the fleet, and were overlapped second at the first waypoint mark. With our competitors at this mark doing more expert peels to different sails, we tried to follow, but our desires exceeded our abilities, and it ended up a pretty big mess. A mess that also had me lose my shoe overboard! Good thing I was wearing wetsuit socks! Finally, we recovered and got the right sail up, and away we went. The leg took us through a very narrow space between prohibited, and restricted, swaths of the sea designated as oil fields. It was intense as we took care not to get too low, and as a result peeled between our jib and spinnaker too often, costing us speed. But it was the conservative approach. That night the Abu Dhabi Team ran a less conservative program, and ended up too low on the shoals, and had to be helicoptered off their boat. Thankfully, everyone was safe.
Lively, and wet, during those kind of conditions, the boat is an absolute blast to sail, but physically and mentally demanding. Two of our Omani girls ended up getting sea sick, which is truly one of the most unpleasant things a person can go through (if you ask me). But bless ’em, they kept going, uncomplaining, and when asked to do something, struggled through that horribleness, and did it even when it mean’t having a little puke in between. The other two Omani teammates onboard, appeared to have pretty rock solid stomachs, and could go down below in the bucking boat, and not blink an eye. It is interesting, because they have come so far it is almost too easy to assume they are further along in their sailing expertise than they actually are. We have to remind ourselves to keep things simple, because we want to enable success, and build confidence, even if it means reining in natural tendencies to do things perhaps a bit differently, and push harder.
We finished Leg 2 in the morning, exhausted. We were so tired, and really looking forward to a good sleep, and a shower. Seriously, this offshore sailing makes one appreciate a bed, and hot water, like nothing else can! Our two Omani girls, who weren’t racing this leg, were rockstars! They organized our rooms and bags, so that when we finally straggled up from the boat, we could collapse. Other teams were not so lucky, and had to wait for their rooms until check-in time. The worst kind of torture. Today we focused on boat maintenance, and the girls pitched in on packing sails, checking and putting away lifejackets, and sending our mast girl up the rig to do a maintenance inspection. By noon we had the jobs ticked off, and everyone scattered to enjoy their afternoon off. The coaches – Liz, Dee, Sarah and myself went to a revolving restaurant, up on a tower that overlooks Abu Dhabi, to enjoy a wonderful meal and coffee. It was so relaxing…
Tomorrow is in-port racing in Abu Dhabi. We will be racing in very tight quarters, inside the breakwater, in the harbor. It should prove pretty interesting, as the towering skyscrapers really impact the wind. It whips around and over the top of them, resulting in “helicopter puffs.” Unlike last year, the wind appears to be more benign, so the racing should be pretty fun. After tomorrow we head out early, early, early (6:30 AM) Sunday morning, to start the race to Dubai, which is only a quick pit stop. Shame we don’t have more time in Dubai – I would like to see that city!
~Katie
Photos by Katie Pettibone and Lloyd Images
