BT Global Challenge - Down But Not Out

by Betsy Crowfoot, Senior Writer, Quokka Sports on 20 Sep 2000 The team that has "spirit" in its name has had their spirit tested during Leg One of the BT
Global Challenge 2000/01.

TeamSpirIT has been at the back of the 12-boat fleet nearly the entire way, from Southampton, UK to
Boston, U.S.

Onboard, according to Tina Williamson, “It is unusually quiet. I think we are just ‘heads down’ into the
task of working hard.”

“Daddy here bouncing about trying to catch the other boats,” added Chris Broadway, in a note to his
two children, Mary-Anne, 10, and Paul, 8. “Being 12th isn't much fun now and we're all trying hard to
make up the difference.”

Shortly after the start of the 3,200-mile leg, TeamSpirIT took a hitch south, which set them on the
ill-fated course. Meteorologist Chris Tibbs presumed it was a bit early: “They seemed to be out of
phase with the wind.”

In the lighter, shifty air, their track showed a bad tacking angle -- nearly 130 degrees. On top of that, it
was a tack into a windless void.

“Winds can be very, very local,” explained Tibbs. “With some systems, you can have the same wind
for 100 miles. But with a lot of high pressure -- as there was close to the beginning of the Race -- the
wind tends to be in bands. As soon as you get out of a band of wind you can have nothing -- even
though you can see other boats who still have wind.”

The rest of the fleet got away, leaving TeamSpirIT to flounder. “The yacht without wind in the sails
sounds awful,” skipper Andy Dare told. “When the main slats from side to side I groan as the fittings
on the mast swing from side to side … the batten cars snapping from side to side.”

At the docks, TeamSpirIT had been a vivacious and lively presence. The day before the Race start, a
few members pulled a gag on Dare, arriving at the crew meeting dressed as a cow. But recently they
have not been laughing.

“We should have gone northwest after the Scillies but instead carried on southwest and into a
massive high pressure and parked up for 36 hours!” one grumbling email relayed. “So we are now
playing catch up,” added Angus Fuller. “The boats to the north are trucking along at 10 knots and we
are doing, oh let me see, six knots. So as you can imagine morale is high.”

Dare conceded, “It is very disappointing to be 12th, but we have all learnt from the experience and we
are stronger for it.”

“We have good boat speed and have been making some top boat speeds and distances,” Dare added.
“We are aiming for constant improvement in all that we do, and will get better. When the wind came it
was great with some top speeds had by all. The yachts are great at handling the wind and the sense
of power when driving at 12 knots is tremendous.”

Dare added that life aboard the 72-ft. Challenge yacht the team has fully adjusted to watches and life
at sea. “The food has been just excellent so far with some amazing cake creations … we have had
some luxuries as well, like REAL baked potatoes and cheese,” he said. “We are working hard so you
need to keep the fuel going in.”

One of the tasks which has kept TeamSpirIT working hard was fixing a leak. Dare reported, “There
was a leak dripping right over the chart table, of all places. When we started to strip the yacht to find
where it was coming from it was apparent that it was travelling from 12 feet away from the dorade vent
over the saloon table.

“The water was seeping along the side of the yacht when heeled, and as we came upright the water
dripped onto the chart table. The only way to get to the water to mop it out was to send in somebody
into the very small gap between the steel deck and the GRP coach roof.”

Dare recalled a teambuilding session in Devon where Ian Henderson was lowered down a small cave
to retrieve a ‘buried treasure’. “Once again he [Henderson] was called on to assist. He was picked up
and posted into the gap followed by a bucket and sponge. It was quite an odd sight from on deck to
see somebody inside the window. He even managed to clean the inside of the Perspex while he was
there!”

A long-time yachtsman and shipbuilder, Dare’s knowledge helped effect the repair. Next on his
agenda though, he said: “Must get back to the task in hand, we have boats to catch!”

Crew member Mark Bailey recently wrote that the team was still hoping to wriggle out of their
last-place position. “We are constantly the fastest or second fastest boat but we have such a
handicap from the start that we are not really closing the gap. All we can do is learn for the next leg.
Sounds a bit defeatist but the weather patterns will not help us enough this time. We still expect to
finish 10th though. Fingers crossed.”

“There are still 9 days to go to Boston,” added Dare, “and it ain't over ‘til it's over!’”