Training - Level 1
Training Level 1 was so great! Almost too great. The weather was warm, winds were light, the people were wonderful and the beer kept flowing. Only one of these will be true on the race. Not to mention that we won’t have showers either…
There were 18 people attending Level 1 and we were split into two boats with the course running from Friday afternoon to Thursday afternoon. Level 1 training is done on the Clipper 68’ yachts which have circumnavigated the world three times during past editions of the race. Once we get to Level 3 , we’ll move to the Clipper 70’ yachts which are being used in this race.
Level 1 is focused on getting us to pass the RYA Competent Crew exam. We learned how to live and cook on a yacht, basic sailing theory, man overboard drills, and an introduction on how to helm, tack, gybe, change sails, rig the boat in the morning and put it to “bed” at night in the Gosport marina. We also got to go aboard a Clipper 70’ while passing our agility tests.
The 9 people in our crew were paired into “mothers” with each pair rotating to cook breakfast, lunch, dinner and of course tea time each day. I never realized how often the Brits have tea! It’s really “Tea Times”.
Our group spanned a good age range between late 20s and early 60s with 6 men and 3 women. Our skipper, Emily, and first mate, Amy, were fantastic!
Days started with breakfast at 7:30am, half our crew would then be responsible for below decks (cleaning and engine checks) and half would be responsible for rigging the boat (bring up the sails, attaching the sheets and halyards). Days wrapped up around 8-9pm with each day getting slight easier to put the sails away.
After a long day on the water and delicious dinner, it was off to the pub! Castle Bar should really be renamed Clipper Bar and is great way to get to know crew doing Levels 2-3 and hear stories from skippers past and present.
On Monday night we went to the Musto store to get fitted for our kit. Musto is the official supplier to the Clipper Race and will be supplying our Clipper jackets, our Team Sponsored gear (each of the 11 yachts has a team sponsor) and of course, our yellow Foulies!!!
On Tuesday we tacked (and tacked and tacked) making sure everyone got a chance at each of the roles on deck as we sailed to the Isle of Wight. We spent the night at Cowes marina and, of course, got drinks at Anchor Inn. Wednesday brought our first drops of rain and our crew was pretty excited to wear our red training foulies.
Before I knew it, it was Thursday morning and time for the deep clean. Everything comes off the boat and every single inch gets disinfected and put back together. We played music, worked together and the four hours or so went by pretty quickly.
We wrapped up the week with a group lunch at The Boathouse and soon I was back at Becketts Southsea (a fantastic B&B in Portsmouth and quickly becoming my UK home away from home). It sounds crazy, but I have to admit that just for a moment, I missed sharing a “room” with 10 other people. That’s how great our group was!
See you soon Gosport! Can’t wait!
Skipper Emily taking a team selfie on the 50th anniversary of Sir Robin completing the first solo circumnavigation of the globe!
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