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One DLL - At the Top of the World and Top of the Mast

June 24, 2014 by jarndt
One DLL - At the Top of the World and Top of the Mast

On Summer Sailstice OneDLL was sailing near the top of the world at 55 degrees North while one crewmember spent time at that high latitude at the top of OneDLL's mast.  More here:

OneDLL – Summer Sailstice First light saw me at the top of the rig – a good spot from which to see in the grey dawn of the longest day of the year.

I've been up the rig at sea on almost every leg (the only one I missed was the North Pacific due to the hole in my leg) and in so many different conditions. By now I know the rig well and the view from the top is something I've become used to. But I imagine there won't be too many more trips before the end of the race. So many extraordinary things that we do on this boat have become a normal part of life – it's just what we do – but with only a week of racing left and 'real life' looming on the horizon I'm beginning to appreciate again just how not normal it is. To be at the top of the rig in the middle of a flat calm North Atlantic at 04:30am on the longest day of the year is pretty special. So once I'd done my job I took a few moments to really look around, take it in and appreciate just how lucky I am.

High latitudes, high altitude and light air aboard OneDLL.

The rest of the day has seen us pointing directly at Derry-Londonderry and making more or less progress as the wind has built and eased. At the moment we're trucking along and on the edge of being able to peel back up to the medium weight kite.

It's been a frustrating end to a frustrating race. We've watched the rest of the fleet sail right through a high, finding wind where none was predicted on the GRIBS, while we've put in extra miles that it turns out we could have avoided.

Most of us were hoping for a good big blow on our final ocean crossing, but the North Atlantic has proved as atypically benign as the South Atlantic way back in Leg 2. We've had only one big sail change from Yankee 1 to Yankee 2 and even then the Yankee 2 was up for less than 24 hours. For the rest of the time we've been peeling between kites and Yankee 1. Wind holes notwithstanding it's mostly been delightful sailing, but not exactly the hardcore, challenging ocean racing we were expecting.

Despite these frustrations and our unusually lowly position the mood on board is great. We're pushing as hard as we can and sailing the boat well. We came back from 12th to 5th at one point, putting miles on the whole of the rest of the fleet in successive schedules. The combination of round the world crew members at the end of our race, keen to secure the podium for which we've all worked so hard, and leggers that have had to wait almost a year to get on board, has made for a hungry and motivated crew that has come together very quickly.

On other boats I know of the round the world crew members are counting the days till they get off. Not so much on ‘Big Blue’ (the nickname of our boat). At this point I want to complete the race – I'm looking forward so much to sailing down the Thames and seeing my family and friends again – but I don't want it to be over. ‘Big Blue’ has become home, this crew has become family and this life has become normal. With only two short races to go it's beginning to hit home again just how extraordinary it really is.

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