#ClipperRace - Forty thousand miles over 11 months is no sweat for Conall Morrison, the Irish skipper of HotelPlanner.com, who spoke to Seattle TV news this week ahead of the Clipper Race’s next leg.
Talking with Q13 Fox’s Ellen Tailor from the deck at Bell Harbor Marina, Afloat.ie’s Sailor of the Month for Seamanship in December explained how returning to dry land after many weeks at sea is an adjustment, to say the least.
“It takes a little bit of getting used to. It’s nice to get some food and some beer and a sleep without rocking [on the waves].”
Morrison admits that taking on novice sailors “does make me nervous” but “it’s all part of the job. Everyone gets four weeks of training before coming on the yacht for the race.
“And then as we go, we have people that are experienced who are crew all the time, and we have people who come for maybe one or two legs, so there’s always a little bit of learning as we go.”
As for preparing to return to sea, the skipper knows what’s required.
“You want to make sure you’re ready. The boat has got to be ready … stuff has got to be fixed. We’ve got to buy food for so many people for so long, and [get] a good night’s sleep before we start.”
Yesterday (Thursday 26 April) saw the crew changeovers ahead of the start of Leg 7 this Sunday (29 April) with Race 10: The USA Coast-to-Coast Leg.
The fleet will be heading back out into the Pacific Ocean, this time sailing south past California and skirting by the Galapagos Islands, before crossing the Panama Canal into the Caribbean and heading north towards New York City.