Level 3 training 8th - 13th July

Level 3 started with a 6.00 arrival at the boat that would be my home for next few days – CV6 (Geraldton). My skipper was Rupert Dean (my race skipper), and skipper’s mate was Tom Jeffferies. The crew included 5 other crew from Welcome to Yorkshire and others from the Edinburgh and Geraldton boats.

The evening passed with safety checks, life jacket checks, dinner on board and a visit to the pub. Rupert allocated us to two watches as we would be spending our time working in a watch system and sailing overnight passages to get a feel for being on the boat for a longer period of time.

The weather was good for the first few days of our training and we got in plenty of drill practice especially man overboard. I was wearing the climbing harness so I was lowered over the side to collect ‘Bob’. Dressed up for man overboard rescue - life jacket, climbing harness, and helmet

We went into a watch system from the first evening - 4 hours on, 4 hours off with a ‘dog watch’ of 2 hours on 2 hours off in the afternoon.

On the second day of sailing we went across the channel to Cherbourg overnight then down to Guernsey and back to Alderney the following day. We tied up to a mooring buoy for the night and took a water taxi to Braye. It was good to have a warm shower and a visit to the pub.

Justine, Ann and Lynn in Braye, Alderney

In the morning the weather had taken a dramatic turn for the worse. It was very windy and the sea was fairly rough for the first time. We headed out towards the South Coast in a grey drizzle, taking care to watch out at the shipping lanes in the Channel for big fast boats. Jami, Niall, Tom, Steve, Lyn, Justine, Eric and Ann

We arrived back at Gosport in the evening after what felt like a long day of sailing. As we passed Endeavour yard we were treated to the first sight of Welcome to Yorkshire out of the water with her new pink livery – very exciting.

The last day of Level 3 was passed in yet another round of deep cleaning for the boat. The sun was shining and we were a pretty full crew so we set to with enthusiasm and had it completed quite quickly.

Welcome to Yorkshire arrives at her berth after having a full hull wrap fitted in shocking pink.

It was interesting to spend some time working in a watch system and getting used to what conditions will be like on the race. I found it tiring but reached the end of the week looking forward to getting on with my Level 4 training the following day. The other crew were once again a great, friendly bunch – Richard, Richard, Jami, Steve and John (fellow Welcome to Yorkshire crew), Tom and Lynn who were on my Level 2 training, Niall, Charlie, Justine, Anne, Antonio, Tom and Eric. It was also good to sail with Rupert and get to know him a little before the final round of training.