Oxley’s Odyssey It might be drier in water than

As an Australian overseas, I mostly feel a need to be recognised as an Australian. However,New York Mets Hats, here in New Zealand the culture is so similar that I’m happy to be mistaken for a Kiwi.* I am somewhat surprised that, *as an Australian,* for now,Philadelphia Eagles Hats, I’m proud to be a “Kiwi”.
The spirit and pride in New Zealanders of their sporting teams is legendary and it was just great to be part of this and able to show the public our yacht CAMPER and to tell them about the Volvo Ocean Race and conditions on board. It had been nearly 20 years since a Kiwi team in a round the world race had visited these ports and the public were keen to get a taste of how things had changed. It is unusual for professional sport, and especially the Volvo Ocean Race,NFL Kansas City Chiefs Reebok Hats, to open up their campaigns to such public scrutiny.* Inevitably each new yacht has some novel ideas that they want to keep from the other teams for as long as possible and so the interior of the yachts are shielded from the general public and cameras. Here we were, showing our yacht to all and sundry.* This was a very different approach by Emirates Team New Zealand and the public were very appreciative.
We tested a lot of things out but, until the last 18 hours of the qualifier, downwind sails did not make it out of the bag. We beat our way up towards the Three Kings Islands, to the north of the northern tip of the country and then finally turned downwind and had an 18-hour blast home under the big downwind gear. We even managed to get a chopper in the air to catch some much needed heavy air shots.
As a shiver runs through me,Longchamp Backpack, I am reminded that only days earlier one of our watch captains, Stu Bannatyne, had guessed that we could see colder conditions on our tour of NZ than we would see in the entire Volvo Ocean Race. I already have three layers of clothing on and we are not even into the roaring 40’s yet.
We managed to do around 60 hours of “testing” under storm jib and a reefed main as we bashed our way upwind towards the top of the North Island. East Cape again lived up to its reputation and gave us a good old fashioned thrashing. We even managed to flick the vane off the wind gear at the top of the mast TWICE in a six hour period,Oakland Athletics Hats, leaving us with no wind gear for the next three days!
The navigator is often the bearer of bad news and I had to explain that we had to sail 1000nm north to get back towards Auckland and that it would ALL be upwind,Snapback Hats, and much of it STRONG upwind conditions.* My fault, of course! This was turning into the upwind “round NZ tour”
We finally arrived at our base in Auckland around midday Sunday and had the whole team there to greet us.* Twenty days away and the Round NZ tour is over and the qualifier completed. Job done,Tampa Bay Lightning Hats, tick. CAMPER is now in the shed undergoing her first “service” before our next challenge: the Auckland Fiji race beginning in early June. I can’t wait to get the warmer climes. I am not a huge fan of this winter weather so bring on the tropics.
Luckily we have excellent foul weather gear and we remain dry, but at times it seems it might be drier in the water than out in this driving rain. To top things off,D&G Hats, a large wave engulfs the yacht as I am standing in the cockpit and my life jacket auto-inflates with a bang!
Gisborne was also the first landing point for Captain Cook in NZ in 1769. I trust conditions were better for him. We land and find there has been major flooding, with roads closed and general chaos on shore.* Still, we are welcomed warmly by the community.
Just seven days after leaving the shed, CAMPER set sail from Auckland to commence a 10-day tour of New Zealand, followed by a 2000 mile qualification sail.* Covering five cities on the east coast, the tour was a chance for CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand to meet the public and share the campaign before the boat is shipped to Europe for the start of the Volvo Ocean Race in November.
We started our tour with a visit to Tauranga,The Tenuous Link Prize John Rentoul Independen, then Gisborne, Wellington and Dunedin and finished up in Christchurch. We began our days with an early morning breakfast, then quickly moved to showing the public the yacht, then onto a lunch and presentation at the local yacht club. After lunch we would take some guests sailing for a few hours and then that evening, off we would set for the next port. It was full on but I have to say really enjoyable.
Eventually, in the early hours of the morning, the entrance to Gisborne Harbour appears about 300m away and we surf in through the narrow entrance under storm jib and triple reefed mainsail. In all my years,NFL Green Bay Packers Reebok Hats, this was one of the most difficult harbour entrances I have ever encountered and we have only sailed this boat for a total of four days!
Tagged in: CAMPER, sailing, Team New Zealand, Volvo Ocean Race
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It’s an effort to hold on as we crash and bash over large swells and waves. We are all squinting and shielding our eyes as we stand out in the driving rain and wind some miles south of East Cape (the eastern most point of New Zealand) and notorious for rough weather. We are heading towards Gisborne, the second port on our tour of NZ.
We ended our tour in Christchurch. We spent a full two days there in recognition of the difficulties this community is facing following the earthquakes. We even had a brief aftershock during our lunch presentation in the yacht club in Lytellton which gave us a very small insight into the ongoing stresses they are subjected to. But the community appears resilient and I am sure that some good things will come from the tragedy,NFL New Orleans Saints Reebok Hats, with the rebuilding process bringing new life to the city.
One of the rules for the Volvo Ocean Race is that we must complete a 2000nm qualifying passage with the intended crew for Leg One on board. We had planned to use our return voyage to Auckland to complete this passage.* I was told that we needed to get to Auckland as quickly as possible to begin the boat refit and, ideally, we wanted nice gentle 12-20 knot downwind conditions to make sure we got lots of good testing data on our spinnakers.