Rachel in yacht race drama

Friday, 29 January 2010

In September, we reported that Rachel Gibbs was just setting out on an adventure of a lifetime.
Rachel, the eldest daughter of Mrs. Sonia Gibbs (nee Stubbs), who, although now living in Berkshire, hails from Penally, is taking part in the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race as a crew member of the clipper yacht ‘Team Finland’.
Last Thursday, her adventure took a dramatic turn.
In the early hours, in the Java Sea, during the race from Australia to Singapore, Rachel’s yacht was the first boat on the scene when a fellow clipper yacht ‘Cork’ went aground on the reef surrounding the tiny Indonesian island of Gosong Mampango.
The yacht ‘Cork’ was badly holed in the galley area and its crew had no choice but to take to the life rafts and make for the shore.
The crew of the yacht ‘Cork’ were finally transferred from the island and onto the two clipper yachts ‘Team Finland’ and ‘California’.
After a couple of days spent salvaging as much as possible of the crew of ‘Cork’s’ personal belongings, ‘Team Finland’, now well overcrowded, set sail for the race finish line just off Singapore.
Rachel, who has been regularly relating her experiences to the Radio Wales Jamie and Louise morning programme, described Gosong Mampango as everyone’s idea of the perfect desert island, unfortunately without the obligatory palm tree.
However, in a telephone call to her mother, she said that the conditions on board with their own crew plus half the crew from ‘Cork’ were horrific.
Being on the equator, the outside day temperature was over 40C and the temperature below deck, with all the hatches closed due to sailing conditions, must have been over 50C, making sleep practically impossible.
Rachel’s next race, starting on Tuesday, will take her from the heat of Singapore to the cold of the Northern Pacific at Qingdao in China.
This race can be followed at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.

Be the first to comment using the form below.