We cannot hate the English even if they serve warm beer says Onorato though when he takes
“We cannot hate the English, even if they serve warm beer,” says Onorato, though when he takes up position on one of the four winch pedestals, grinding with the best of them, teeth are bared and he adds an occasional loud growl of aggression.His opposite number, Peter Harrison, is nearly always 17th man, a position from which the rules forbid even talking, never mind making the slightest physical contribution to the progress of the boat. Instead of hanging on between the running rigging at the back, Harrison has a specially constructed dicky seat from which he surveys the scene, his throne being a moulded plastic garden chair with the legs cut off and then suspended securely by rope.If he spends the £22m budget he has allocated, and Britain at least makes it to the quarter-final rep?age, it will have cost £1m a ride. But his permanently etched grin says it is worth every penny and there is never a point at which the Italians threaten to wipe the smile off his face. It is close-ish until the top of the second uphill leg, when GBR, revelling as the wind clicks up a few knots in strength, pulls clear The end of the race is peaceful. With about one mile to run there is a big drop in the sound levels on the boat.
It is now clear there is no hope of winning, so Onorato decides it is time to ask to drive his own boat. He steps up and stares fixedly ahead, his turn to revel now in the feeling of having such a powerful piece of race-tuned engineering under his feet. The crew responds quietly, too, and, despite being 80 seconds behind through the finish line, no-one is down.”Bellissima regata (a most beautiful race)”, says Onorato.. Sunday 27 October, West of Guinea, 23.00Seriously weird day, which started, in the pitch black of night, with a human whistle coming from the VHF radio just before 1am I nearly jumped out of my skin.
It was crystal clear so I knew whoever was transmitting was nearby. I checked from the deck and could see one very faint light on the distant horizon I went back to the radar It was now showing another blip, within a mile I went back on deck No lights I thought it must be an unlit fishing vessel. Then more noises, whistles, expletives.
At that point I wished I hadn’t read the latest Nav Area report, which sailors receive daily to update them on potential hazards. It started: “This broadcast warns ships in passage in West Africa, South America, Central America and the Caribbean waters regarding piracy and armed robbery.” Specific recent attacks included seven pirates armed with knives and machetes boarding a cargo ship in Guyana (16 October); two pirates with knives boarding a container ship in Peru (11 October); and six pirates in a speed boat, four armed with guns and long knives boarding a cargo ship off Brazil (29 September).Another section – “Piracy-prone areas and warnings” – listed West Africa, and specifically Dakar, to my east. I hope this puts in context why my imagination started running riot. I phoned Robin, the Pindar team manager, and he said it didn’t sound too great but to try not to worry Then the voice on the VHF starting crooning I called Robin back but the voice had stopped. Time for action.I radioed whoever was out there, identifying myself and hoping to establish them as fishermen Silence in return.
I was desperately trying to put it out of my head that I was alone. I put a talking book, Lord of the Rings, on the stereo to give the impression Pindar was fully crewed. I turned off my navigation lights and sailed slowly – little wind – in the opposite direction to the blip. I heard nothing more.With some distance behind me, I can credit they were fishermen, maybe drunk – it’s the weekend after all – using their radio as a karaoke machine. But as a tired sailor, acutely aware of being very much alone and with no way of defending myself, except perhaps with rocket flares, it did spook me considerably Lack of wind, or any manoeuvrability, made it worse Roll on the Southern Atlantic trades. And no more reading Nav Area reports for me.Tuesday 29 October, c.300 miles west of Liberia, 17.00Moved back into second place ahead of Thierry Dubois I need to keep working for ever single mile And keep getting my head down for some restorative naps.
