leg 7 race 3: jamaica to new york

well, after a relaxing stopover in jamaica, it's out to the start for the race up to new york. we'd been told we couldn't go too close (within 12nm) of cuba on the way up the coast. first of all we all had a photo taken with the lighthouse. ours was timed to perfection ;)

MP get busted stealing the lighthouse at race start...

so we were prepared for the race to take around 7-9 days, giving me a couple of days in NY before my family arrived. as always though, the weather gods decided otherwise, and it took us much longer with us eventually docking as my family were landing!

initially we kept up with the front of the pack, which was great. all that rest in jamaica had worked! unfortunately the weather is not our friend, and we were getting stuck in a patch of low wind along with a couple of other boats. 

as usual, low wind results in hilarity on our boat. frustration first, then general daftness. some of the girls decided to get their guns out and pose for photos. kate decided I wasn't allowed to join in as I would have won hands down :D

for some reason I wasn't allowed to compete in this....

the three boats that had peeled off decided to head off to try and get some wind and that was basically the last we saw of the fleet. we stayed stuck in the low wind, and eventually the race office were forced to call the back markers otherwise we would not have reached NY in time for our corporate commitments.

the clipper race is all about the corporate commitment. obviously for people to sponsor a boat, they expect stuff in return. unfortunately with yacht racing, timing is not everything! so once again, we had to motor sail to reach the stopover in time. we ended up doing quite a bit of sailing as there was wind. now! bloody weather...

after me, kate and sophie's 'mission possible' article, we'd had a request from the office for some action photos of the three of us. this almost always ends in unusable photos as none of us are able to take it seriously....

trying to focus on the photo in hand

failing to focus...

still trying hard. much to cameraman tristan's frustration not really managing!

nope! we just can't be serious!

try a different angle

the final photo. the result of some vague threatening by tristan...

the advantage of motoring of course is that we are really good at knocking over a maintenance list and a deep clean at sea. the disadvantage of motorsailing is that none of that happens. ah well. it was all worth it to see NY appear on the horizon and get bigger. and then? the statue of liberty! 

how many crew can you fit on the bow of a 70? quite a few, it turns out...

hello manhattan!

the bow girls :)

ah, he's a handsome chap isn't he :)