Monday 28th Aug – Bank Holiday somewhere. . .
When I agreed to train to be a Clipper Coxswain, I didn't expect I would actually be required as such. Our skipper Dave suffered a serious hand injury on the night before last, which our docs on board decided needed immediate attention. At the time we were flying our small kite (spinnaker) at night in 20-25 knot winds and achieving boat speeds of up to 19 knots in the squalls – exhilarating sailing!
The shout for a medic and me came around midnight, not long after after I'd gone off watch, so a quick dress and back on deck into a maelstrom with spinnaker flying from the head of the mast due to a jammed halyard. I cut it free as I stepped into the cockpit and was now in charge of a 70 foot racing yacht in the middle of the night, 400 miles from the nearest port, with a casualty requiring an urgent medivac; didn't cover that one on the Coxswain course 😳.
36 hours later we're 120 miles from Porto sailing in a good breeze in the sunshine which is giving the guys a chance to recover. We're heading there to pick up a replacement skipper, Dan, who is the current Deputy Race Director and skippered Derry-Londonderry on the last race. Dave was airlifted yesterday in the early afternoon, was successfully operated on last night, and is doing well. We hope he'll rejoin us and be back in charge when we get to Fremantle.
The airlift was impressive as we were so far offshore. Some time on the sat phone to Clipper and the Portuguese coastguards and a plan was agreed. We sailed directly towards Porto and a helicopter would fly out to meet us as soon as we were in range – around 250 miles for their largest one. This was coordinated by a coastguard aircraft. We wanted Dave lifted off the deck, but the pilot refused. When we saw it's size we understood; it was massive and with a huge down draft. As a result we put Dave into the water in a dry suit and with an inflated life jacket, probably the most difficult thing I've had to do as the helicopter wouldn't come in to pick him up until we'd moved away.
The crew are fantastic and pulled together and the experience has brought most of us closer together. However, just now, around 5 are planning to leave Polly (the yacht – I'll explain later) which is a shame and will provide other challenges.