Race 5 is the Sta-Lok Endurance Test. The team headed due south over the first three days and the upwind ride began testing all crew on board with the ‘green monster’ – conditions eased and the boat ended up in a wind hole with 1.6knots of wind.
Ryan reported that everyone on board is looking forward to Christmas and New Year, although it's a difficult time being away from family and friends however Team Coordinator Sean and Victualler Gary were arranging a few things to make it extra special including Secret Santa and a 3 course Christmas lunch.
Luci handed over to the next DTL-Liyaba ‘ambassador’ Olwami Zungu. He wrote: “Day 3 at sea and I find myself still a bit seasick… The crew has played a big role in my recovery as they keep my morale up with their smiles and jokes. They make everything a bit easier and enjoyable.
“For instance, learning more about sailing, getting to understand how the wind has influence on the yacht, and how we can take advantage of the wind systems surrounding us. The knowledge I am gaining makes me look forward to the days to come as I believe I will be able to fully immerse myself as a sailor by the end of my race.
“Spend most of my time (when not on deck) thinking about my family and how to make the world a better place. Actually, I’m looking forward to spending Christmas with my lovely crew.”
Decorations were hung including a small Christmas tree and Santa made an appearance on Christmas Day with some individual stockings appearing next to each bunk. The most hoped for gift was the return of a good breeze to help make quick progress towards the bottom of Tasmania.
AQP Charlie reported a few days later: “We’ve had some pretty idyllic wind conditions to push ‘CV20’ to her limit with the Code 3 up and our efforts have been rewarded, with our position relative to the fleet.
“Now, we are sailing with our white sails, we finally have a little time to recuperate and get ready for our rounding of Tasmania, its looking like we'll get some pretty strong winds and big waves as we head round, which should make for some interesting sailing but our crew always seems to step it up a notch in those conditions.
“After that we’re going up past Hobart, likely into another wind hole for a spot of bobbing and then it’s the home stretch! We’re all looking forward to the Newcastle stopover but conscious we’ve still got a little while to go before then.”
Crew member Philip Carden added: “After a superb three-day long Xmas feast it’s been back to hard and fast sailing. Three days or so flying the kite has put us right into contention again and there’s a real buzz amongst the crew as we’ve just seen land again for the first time since Freo! Every sched update now is waited on with extra anticipation.
“Personally, helming today has just been an absolute joy - surfing down 3m swells at 22kts with drum and bass playing loudly from whichever Bluetooth speaker we could find that was charged has got to be a high point for me… Simply awesome to see what the power of nature can do and the speed we can generate when we harness it correctly.”
The final upwind push to Newcastle was challenging and rewarding in equal measure. Rounding Tasmania was relatively hassle-free, with some amazing wind and swells to producing some good speeds. More nerve-racking was everyone up at the front going into stealth mode and taking quite varied routes.
As the finish line loomed 105nm ahead, AQP Charlie observed: “It’s been another amazing race, with so much happening…the crew have been incredible once again, not just putting up with our relentless calls for sail changes/bilge empties/steering checks and deck walks, but they’ve been loving it. We really do feel extremely lucky to have such a dedicated group of people around our team and it is a very large factor in how well we’re doing…Everyone is truly playing their part and it’s felt onboard, thanks all.”
A few more tacks and the team were on target to cross the finish line in the afternoon of the second day of 2024. Speaking from the dock, on arrival into Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club, Skipper Ryan Gibson said: “It was a tricky start. We knew it was going to be quite long because of the big high pressure so we had to go quite far south like we had on the previous race. We managed to get around and as soon as we got into the wind near the southern ice limit we had really good speed until the finish.
“We got quite lucky being in the front of the pack. Once we got round Tasmania, there was a lot of different weathers and then the current plays a big part. I’m glad to be here and an amazing result.”
Ambassador Olwami Zungu reflected on the experience: “It was really life-changing. Spending two weeks with these guys has been really amazing and I also got to learn a lot about myself. I honestly could not have asked for a better Christmas and New Year! I am really grateful.”
Megan Allpress, from the UK, who is racing around the world with her mum, Amanda Shehab, said: “I feel pretty amazing, it’s been a long and a short two weeks, but it’s been really enjoyable. It’s great to be on land again.
Amanda added: “We are really glad to be here. It was a nice one actually, because it varied with different weather.”
Second place has strengthened the team’s position at the top of the leaderboard; the best Christmas present of all!
