EARLY FINISH OF TALL SHIP RACE

Hi Everyone, Welcome to day 19 of our voyage. During the early hours of this morning Taff and the members of Blue Watch in only 3kts of wind managed to ‘wear ship’ and round our third waypoint then successfully shaped a new course to the north east and the fourth waypoint. As the morning progressed the wind strengthened to 8-10kts which enabled us to come hard onto the wind and we started to catch a number of the other ships that had passed us overnight. This leg of the course was always going to be the best for Young Endeavour as we have the ability to sail higher into the wind than most of the other Tall Ships. Regrettably as we were starting to improve our position within the fleet the race organisers announced that due to the light conditions and the updated weather forecast they had decided to finish the race early at 1400 today. Understandably we were disappointed but accepted this decision but still decided to sail as hard as we could until the designated finish time so as to try to improve our final position in the race. At 1400 this afternoon we radioed in our final position then altered our course to the east and in pleasant conditions commenced our passage to Aalborg. Given that we were no longer racing we decided to throw in a number of enjoyable activities to finish of the afternoon, these included a set of rope races, a very comical egg throw activity and finally ships quiz which was won by Red Watch. This evening being the final night at sea for 16 of the World Voyage Crew of Passage 5a we will be conducted ‘end of voyage chats’ then whilst on watch we will give the departing World Voyagers the opportunity to write a letter to themselves which will be sent to them in 6 months time. Overnight as the conditions continue to strengthen we will round Cape Skagen (Denmark) and continue our passage to Aalborg. Our current plan is to make best speed to Aalborg under sail with the intention of berthing at 1300 tomorrow afternoon which is slightly earlier than scheduled but will mean that the organisers of the Tall Ship Regatta have the majority of the ships alongside for the full weekend. As this will be the last Captains Log for 16 of the World Voyagers from Passage 5a I would like to personally thank them for their fantastic contribution to this voyage. You are a wonderful group of young Australians and you have been great ambassadors for Young Endeavour and Australia throughout our visits to London, Lowestoft, Kristiansand and our participation in the North Sea Tall Ship Regatta. From all of the Staff Crew of Young Endeavour we wish you all the best and look forward to catching up on our return to Australia. Until our next Captains Log, take care Yours Aye Captain Gav CAPTAINS LOG – 30 JULY 15 Written by Jack and Jess Ahoy from White Watch! Welcome to another beautiful day aboard the Young Endeavour. Our journey is slowly coming to an end but in no way are spirits declining as we were all treated to an action packed day full of sunshine, blue skies and the laughs of a bunch of loopy sailors. Overnight, conditions were extremely mild with light and variable winds making it a slow journey to Waypoint 2. The conditions caused a large number of our rival tall ships to completely miss the mark, including the poor Indian ship Tarangini missing it twice (we feel your pain – KNOT). A big shout out to the YE staffies for steering us around the marker first go. Upon waking today, we were greeted to a clear, brisk morning with favourable winds, allowing us to maintain course on our current tack. As winds continued to be light, race organisers made the call to bring the finish forward to 2:00pm as a result of no significant forecasted increase in wind speed. As well as this, we were updated with our current race position, YE was sitting at 22nd in her class (Division A) and 61st overall with handicaps. After breakfast it was time for morning brief, where we were treated to guest appearances from Nanna, Salty and the Naughty Pirate Miquela. Nanna, as per usual, was looking stunning and had once again collected some of our scattered torpedos (water bottles), jet skis (thongs) and other belongings, which she kindly returned to us. Salty taught us the origins of Nelson’s Balls and our resident one eyed pirate updated us on our current position, alongside some very interesting facts about naval battles that occurred on the same sea we find ourselves on. After brief, low and behold, it was time for happy hour and then into another magnificent lunch prepared by the chef, Mr Jenko Unchained. Once all bellies were full, the only thing to do was to laze around in what undoubtedly has been the most stunning day of the entire voyage. With the sea resembling a deep blue lake, the sky bearing not a single cloud and the temperatures warm enough to don our summer clothing, the majority of Whisky Victors could be found sprawled out in one of the sunny spots on deck. Following Siesta, competition was in the air and we took part in another round of rope races. White watch came out on top, winning 4 out of 8 races, 5 if it wasn’t for a contentious call on Jonno by our resident judge Horto. Dr Nick then sat us down to explain the ins and outs of Emotional Intelligence, why it’s important and how we can train to improve it. This was very fitting as our next challenge required us all to be at one with ourselves… The Egg Toss. There were many casualties and the battlefield was littered with remains, but at the end of the day Blue Watch were victors as they tossed there egg the furthest with their catcher safely catching the egg without it breaking. To finish the afternoon’s activities, each watch along with a team of staffies competed in a quiz covering Australiana topics and 10 musical knowledge questions. Congratulations to the Red Watch who came out on top (suspected cheat sheet). The smell of Jenko working away in the galley tickled everyone’s nostrils and sure enough the command came from Kenny to head to dinner. Once again we were spoilt for choice and portion control, even after 19 days, is still a big issue for weary world voyagers. Watches for the night have started and the setting sun is simply icing on the cake to what was an amazing last day on a very picturesque North Sea. White watch out  A big Happy Birthday to my Beautiful niece Skylah! I hope the whole family is doing well. I’m having a wonderful time! Miss you all and love you lots. Jessie Love you to all the family, things are looking up, lots of love, Nicola Hey Mum, Dad, Juzz, Taylor, Bec, Jess, Helene, Georgia, James, Matt, Kirsty, Lucy, Georgie and mitch. Well it’s all coming to an end, Kristiandsand was a lot of fun as you can probably tell from facebook. The winds were strong for the start of the race and I had to un-gasket the topgallant before the race start, so I should have some great photos of all 84 tall ships leaving the fjords. It was beautiful! Unfortunately the race has been stopped early due to poor winds. Will be in Aalborg by 1300 local time tomoz . Having heaps of fun!! I’ll see you guys in a few days. Lots of love Will. Hi mum and dad, love Jack        Hi mum, dad, Sarah, Terrance, Bek, Shayne and Zach! The Tall Ship Races has been amazing and I can’t wait to tell you all about it, I am going to have so many stories! Hope everything is swell back in aus, talk to you guys soon, love Lauren xx Hi to everyone back in Tassie, It’s been another great voyage on board. I’m looking forward to another Tall Ships Festival in Aalborg this weekend and the crew parade on Sunday. Talk soon Jonno Happy Birthday Daddy-o! Thinking about you on this most spectacular of days on the wind and the sea