This is a true story of China Sea Race, Hongkong to Manila, an open sea race of 650 nautical miles. I wrote this several days after the race which was years ago and found the manuscript only a couple of days ago.
CHINA SEA RACE
Sunday.
woke up. took bath. felt good. watched HK clip continually. breakfast with Peter. taxied to Aberdeen. gave Peter fare and money for flashlight order of Boss. taxied through tunnel. Boatique store not yet open, still early. boys take noodle breakfast. drank tea. they're sanding bottom of boat. trip to RHKYC round HK island. I read satnav material. cold. anxious for race. baldheaded Taichi guy swimming off point in cold morning. steered off Aplechan Island. quite close to rocky shore. last sight of Central District, Victoria Harbor. Kowloon. back to Royal HKYC. prepared for race. good atmosphere. people looking at us like we're gladiators before fight. videoing and picturing us. I talk to correspondent John Hunt. towed out by Muskatelle. loaded with water. tried propeller. caput. Albert dove. would've done it to swim in HK waters. next Wabs dive. near Kai Tak strip. bad omen? we're in difficulties. can't we start? we tie up the propeller and that's it. preparing for start. I steer prior to start. we don't get the 10 minute gun and start late.
RACE
good we’re not far from line. canon start. I say go to right side, where boats were heeling. left side might be blanketed. Maiden Hongkong and Bumblebee hounded by spectator boats. one trail us and picture us. we overtake Bonatch and threaten Laventura. MH displaying her suit of sails. Tape drive, Red spinnaker. we're not really far from her. KB behind us. approaching rock. Laventura squeezes us out. Infraction. Gale kicks up. 10ft. waves and 30 to 35 knots. MH and B speed up. Bonatch also overtakes us. Laventura gets away. we're fighting weather helm. looks like everybody shocked. rusty? we don quickly our foul weather gear as spray fly around. weather helm really strong. we still refuse to reef. finally we reef, just one. weather helm is still strong. other boats seem to be in no difficulty. BB sticking at us from behind. Boss grossly wrong he made us light, now see what's happening. Thought of suggesting reef till comfortable. so let's race. we reefed beside warship. then past it, cracked off to 142 degrees on rhumb line. still strong weather helm. Peter decides to go down to 183 degrees where it's easy on the helm, justifying we're on the so called classic curve. Boss and me are disappointed. so early and we'll lose the fleet. true enough it exacts a psychological toll. Boss goes down. others sleep. I take over tiller and talk to Peter. wind's heading I'm going to 185 degrees. at 180 degrees, I can hardly control and if boat heads up, it heels and weather helm comes. we have to spill and boat stops again. my puyatness tells. I think of reefing further but not speak up. nobody doing strategy except P. nobody questioning. Peter justifies we're not too far away from rhumb line. I think of reefing and keeping close to R. line. we proceed. wind kicks up. we have on our reacher. we lose the fleet. nobody following. it's not really as bad as the sail to HK but somehow it was tiring. pitch dark, brackish water. hard on the helm. played the waves. watched out for going past reach. close reach it heals and I'd lose helm. I talk to P. behind me. tell him MH is good to windward so it goes 120. then later on when wind's light, it will plane down via its flattish bottom. we on SS must plane down now and later when it's light, we'll reach up via our lightweightness. rationalization? but it's still best psychologically to keep up with the fleet at least at start. wind gets strong. pretty wet. I don't eat I should've. at dark time I don’t know time we bring down main and we plan to set up reacher. go up to 120 degrees. this is waste. going down then up again. I suggest trysail but Wabs says we have no practice. Incredible. what about reef 2 on main. I say if main goes, we're out. Peter abides. Boss wrong again about Dacron main. so we go without main. very comfortable but slow. then reacher gets blasted. wow! next we put up #3. without main. imagine how slow we were. spirits down. wrong inventories. at this stage Pat Pender in Maiden HK told me later they used reacher and staysail and reefed main. with 10 solid people on the rail. wind weakened a bit. we put up the main reefed. P. said we should've put up the main 3 hrs ago. speed goes up by 1 knot. waves still big, no let up. prediction of Tim was Force 6 for 12 hrs. should be ending now, but no stopping. I'm not eating yet. I take a leak holding on to post at bow. urine splashing all over place. wet all over downstairs. sleep. just lie down on wet sails with my feet planted on bulkheads. wet foul weather gear on with harness and line. still managed to sleep. but OK. no seasickness. anti seasick adhesive quite good. am not checking chart. didn't do strangely as B. instructed. am preoccupied with helming. nor am I checking satnav. I dont know what happened to me. fighting spirit out. but lucky no accidents. hooking on to pad eyes crawling on deck. in and out of hatch. last night before reacher burst, we were gaining on 2 lights, B and MH? quite excited. then lost the 2 lights gradually. but felt really sailing on edge of earth out of rhumb line.
Monday
kept #3 and reefed main on 130 to 140. saw another to weather of us CHS? disheartened. for some reason went down relative to them why? didn't analyze. tried to catch up another ahead of us. sail heeling. didn't gain. is their helmsman better on waves? but we're doing as well. strange feeling. out here in the waves and storm, you see other boats and you're racing. actually you're 60 boats all spread out. from time we shift reef up or down who's monitoring this? at which time is right one? didn't analyze. speedo broke down. next time do also performance sailing. I should be enjoying and racing this. why am not? am not even eating. lost all gumption. at night very cold, most cold. Almost couldn't bear it. sang songs with Lyndon to drive away cold. but spirit still up pa naman. hardest part is waking up and going up and also sleeping and wet with hardly any food intake. absolutely no concern for tactics at this stage. that's why can't recall too much because things became blase. at least honed my helmsman. versus waves skill. my low strength obvious when I lose helm. I'd get pulled across to leeward. one time P. sleeps and I helm until a wave is struck and I spray him. he tells me he was just thinking how well I helmed with not a spray --- till now.
Tuesday
wind decreasing a bit. about time, this was supposed to be for 12 hours only. we still beat to close reach. a bit of sun streaming in. we get off foul weather gear. but still I don't touch navigation and tactics. What happened? I just helm and sleep. no brain. later we put up spinnaker. wind weakens more. Sun's coming out more and more. for food pala I take eggs balat by Wabs or Johnny. I also take noodles by Johnny. I'm now taking Watson regularly. that's it I really felt sick and I was busy surviving and no time for tactics. out of phase talaga. but in our shift I almost always take half time helming so I practically helm 25% of race (150 nautical miles,) Wabs 25%, Peter 25%, last 25% Albert, Bobet, Lyndon, Johnny. we also don't follow principle of trimming spinnaker. helmsman also does the trimming. in pm wind weakening. dolphins but not so much.
Wednesday
very calm. no satnav no navigating on my part ergo no tactics. didn't even read material. like I didn't start right so I'll just withdraw attitude? looked for holes and avoided them. just sailed where windlines were. rolling seas felt was here before to HK trip. no boats in sight so still downhearted. altho P. regaled us and Boss egged us on. he's still optimistic. in pm we see boats behind us. all of them go up but we remain low. we're not really spinnaker reaching up to the R. line or beyond R. line. didn't check that out. at night I do apparent wind gimmick. Albert calls me apparent wind master. he and Bobet can't do it. we see some clouds and go along with it. chase it beforehand. but going along we go off course down R line. we change to reduced spinnaker fearing squall. Johnny objects no squall. we put up old 3/4. then wind picks up. P. is confident. self vindicating talk. but we still don't beleive entirely. true enough it doesn't last quite long. basic question and we didn't know most of the time where are we? and how are we approaching game. should've pushed and got info.
Thursday
a.m. beat. reason go into wind but we're meeting waves pounding us slow. we see mountains. I tell Peter to take bearing why didn't I do it myself. my you were really spintless. Louie wakes up and say why not go into land. Bobet complies and we speed up, no longer meeting waves. they're right if only for the speed. we're supposed to have local knowledge. why afraid of Luzon coast. wait didn't I see mountains. Thursday or Wednesday? Wed yata. right Wed ang first time then lost via glare. Thursday morning, abeam of Capones. so you see if you were spintless prior to no land because of no sight, no reason for you now. get bearing and make strategy. Thursday a.m. abeam of Capones. Boss says Corregidor but I see that's only Morong. That's where he made a mistake saying umikot lang kami. first place wrong direction siya. make your own opinion and dispute him if needed. when we turned to land we pointed to off Capones. fearing holes we turn outward again. boats now all around. ahead of us. close to shore. behind us (Laventura) we try to identify to no success. here again didn't exercise tactics. should've controlled sleep as this is most critical time. close to shore, seemed not to be moving. I have mountain top as landmark and we're gaining. but what if that boat is CHS or smaller we should really be gaining so don't conclude no wind inside. but boat ahead of us who tacked first seem pulling away. question: when are we heading away from course or parallel to R. line which is also parallel to Bataan coast? didn't look for answer. just lolled around. went to sleep. B now awake and showing disappointment and ignorance. waking up P. going to Mariveles mountain tip. then we tack out. approaching Bataan tip. almost Cochinos, he asks (first time he does, says let's discuss about it) whether to tack out or go on. he says he's lifting. it looks good we're lifting but I say (persistent shift ang nasa isip ko which I didn't validate whether that or oscillating) then we should meet the wind further so we can lift inside which is more favorable. P. says that makes sense. B. can't understand thinks we're talking too much and too soon but keeps quiet (he'll tell this later) but OK siguro since soon enough we approach South channel. I go to sleep. why am I sleeping at this critical time? awake again we're approaching Corregidor. I take helm and can't find correct rhythm. bumping into waves P. gets it and follows tell tale angling waves. we move. apparent wind master title goes to him. North or South channel? question tossed. we decide on S. although at times N. is funneled, so stronger. we go S. and seem to leave behind boats who went N. I helm. our spirits are varied? Al cooks chorizo and I eat belowdecks. good wind not stopping. smooth water moon reflected. coast with familiar Puerto Azul lights. bancas fishing. fishpens nearby is paradise compared to harsh China coast and seas. we finish. 3rd till Waverider comes pushes us to 4th.
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