Race Week: Life on Board

All of the months and years of training and preparation for the Clipper 2023-24 Round the World Yacht Race led me to Race Week. At the start of the week I caught the ferry to Gosport along with dozens of crew from the fleet to register for the race. The energy was like the calm before the storm breaking. After registration and safety briefings, we prepared to slip lines for man overboard drills and a fleet photo shoot. Like every time I hold the mooring lines, I thought of how Marlow Ropes make them from recycled materials and that they are fully recyclable. I smiled. #purpose

The next couple of days were a lot of final preparations, including the big final pack. What do you pack for 11 months at sea? Then the final race day activities were upon us. After the crew party on the Friday night, and crew briefings on the Saturday, it was Race Day. I was nervous yet excited. Sad to say farewell to those I love, yet happy for the adventure ahead. I felt….ready. Ready for the Race of My Life!

LESSONS

Race Week’s lessons were about what mattered. What jobs MUST be done, and done well, before we left, and what could we do at sea during any watch lulls. This included ensuring all of the critical lines had anti-chaffing sheaths applied and were all whipped. Marlow Ropes produce high quality products, and our skipper wanted us to ensure they maintained their integrity for as long as possible by adding extra layers of protection on the high action lines.

SUSTAINABILITY

This approach is the first step in sustainability. Regardless of whether a product is recyclable or reusable, like Marlow Ropes products, if we can prevent the need to retire a rope to a secondary function in the first place, we can go a long way to reducing our environmental impact on this planet.