23.05.2010
Lazy Sunday afternoon - for some
It’s the Labour Day holiday weekend in Jamaica and, while residents of Port Antonio enjoy a lazy Sunday with their families, it’s far from tranquil on the pontoons at Errol Flynn Marina, where the crews are preparing for the start of Race 10 to New York tomorrow.
Sails are being checked and repacked, provisions stowed, rig and safety checks completed and groups of people on laptops making final skype calls home to friends and family. Those joining the boats here for the final leg back to the finish line on the Humber which will complete the 35,000-mile circumnavigation are settling in to their teams, renewing friendships from their pre-race training and picking up as much information as they can for the races ahead.
This morning the ten skippers had their pre-race briefing with the Race Director and this evening the mass crew brief will take place, the location a first for the Clipper Race: around the marina’s swimming pool.
Yesterday evening Cork’s crew hosted a rum cocktail party on board their new boat which they’ve been working hard on since arriving on Wednesday to prepare her for the next race. They invited all the other crews to come on board and have a look over the yacht they did so well to sail to eighth place in their first race back together again. Cork was decked out with Irish tricolour flags and green shamrock-shaped tinsel and their competitors were fascinated to explore the different configurations above and below decks.
This evening Jamaica Tourist Board will host a farewell barbecue for the crew of Jamaica Lightning Bolt at a villa in the hills surrounding Port Antonio.
The fleet will depart Errol Flynn Marina at 10am tomorrow (1500 GMT) for several hours of on water training before the race starts from Folly Point at 2pm (1900 GMT). The 1,640-mile race will finish near the famous Ambrose Light – the starting point for so many transatlantic record attempts.
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