The calm after the storm.

The storm and conditions as described by a competing skipper:

“To give you an appreciation of the fun we are having, the sea state is rough to very rough. The current causes the waves to build steeply so they are more like walls of water and as the ‘Purple Beastie’ falls off the wall of water we nose dive straight into the next wave. The warm sea comes rushing down the deck washing the crew to their knees, the cockpit is constantly full of water and runs down the companionway steps like a waterfall, then we crash head on into the next wave with an almighty BOOM. The entire rig vibrates and anything that is not secured below flies from one side to the other.

“Every muscle in your body is constantly under tension; this is like Ironman super circuits! With all that said and done, what an adrenaline rush you get from surfing the ‘Purple Beastie’ off one giant wave after another and feeling the raw power of the ocean as Mother Nature shows you who is clearly in charge!”
And here is Niall's update:

The calm after the storm today. After incredible conditions yesterday with huge

waves and winds gusting at 45knots (about 80-85kmph) today we have sunshine and
light winds. Great to get the boat on an even keel again, get everything
cleaned and organised and overall give the crew a much needed rest. We are here
to race but it is nice to take a little pause and hopefully the whole fleet are
in similar winds so we're not losing ground today. 

Today I'm on Mother Watch which means I have to prepare 3 meals for 15 poeple as well as baking bread for said crew. The conditions are ideal today for it so I've been quite lucky there - as the rest of the crew keep pointing out. It's a more realxing day all around, chance to catch up on emails, sort out wet clothes and best of all we get a 14hour sleep tonight! 

On the subject, for those not familiar with the watch system, the boat uses 2 watches on the following schedule: 

8am-2pm - on watch. Awake at 7.20am, quick breakfast, up and ready to sail by
7.55. Lunch at 2. 

2pm-8pm - off watch - eat, sleep, up at 7.20pm - eat dinner, get ready for deck
by 7.55pm. 

8pm-12am - on watch. 

12am-4am - bed, up at 3.30 am, on deck by 3.55am 

4am-8am - on watch. 

This rolls on a 2 day basis to prevent working same watches each day/night.
It works really well - plenty of sleep (unless conditions are very bad) and no
watch ever feels too long. Anyway, back to my bread!