Sydney to Auckland STI Race – Day 3

G’day Shipmates,Welcome to day 3 of our adventure under sail. The ship continued sailing eastwards overnight but the wind dropped right off during the morning watch and remained less than 10 knots until almost midday. Accordingly we set maximum sail to maximise our speed in the very light conditions. That included the Fishermans Staysail to dampen the roll created by the 2 metre swell on our beam.After a very ordinary night’s sleep it was nice to see a bright sunny day, which cheered-up everyone a little. After breakfast we had a lazy start to the day giving the crew the morning off to catch up on sleep they had missed in the rock’n rolling conditions overnight.At 1100 we received the positions of the other Tall Ships and worked out we had dropped to 4th place on handicap over the preceding 24 hours. We have taken a calculated risk in heading south of the rhumb line between Sydney and Auckland to maximise the benefits of the second cold front forecast to pass through our area on Tuesday. The remainder of the Tall Ships have all followed the more direct route. We will see if our tactics pay off in the end!After lunch we held the daily brief, happy hour and then I gave part one of my Sail Theory briefings. I covered parts of a sail, how square sails and staysails generate drive and the points of sail (eg. running, a beam reach, close-hauled etc). After I had spoken I invited Mick Millis from Sail Training International (STI), who is embarked with us for the race and who is running the race communications, to talk to the crew about his job in the race and also about STI.The wind began to strengthen during the dog watches and it was necessary to brail the Fisherman Staysail as the apparent wind strength approached the sail’s maximum. It was also decided to sail closer to the wind so it was necessary to clew-up and sea-furl the Topgallant and the Topsail square sails.Until tomorrow evening,Yours AyeCaptain Mike PS. Pls find below the first edition of a Blog from the crew.  Two days in the life of a Youthie…..24 nervous faces jumped on board, unsure of what the next 15 days held for them. After some very speedy up-and-overs, we were on our way under the Harbour Bridge and out the heads. Everyone was blown away by the spectacular views and perfect weather. After giving the competition false hope of line honours, we steamed past and were quickly in the lead; all thanks to our skilful crew. Memories flooding back from our first voyages. Once the initial euphoria wore off, the sea sickness swept in with the nightly sea breeze. All most all were struck, and those who weren’t were thrown from their beds as the weather turned. Dinner tasted amazing but was left untouched by most.Shaken from our bunks, we fell back into our night watch routine. Blue, red and white were setting and furling all night. Everyone emerged as the sun rose, the bruises looking impressive already. After a (late) snappy, happy hour all attention fell to Captain Mike; a man of unlimited knowledge. The fun and games began with the ever competitive, non-competitive, rope races. Blue taking the lead.As the night became calmer, those on watch lay aloft, and everyone else slept soundly in their bunks. Watches sung their way across the Tasman until the sun came up, bringing with it the life of all remaining sea sick youthies (bar two).It’s been a beautiful day, although not ideal racing weather for the Young Endeavour to maintain our lead, which is only spurring on the crew. With the gaining of youthie knowledge through ship lessons the tactics are only going to get stronger.Watch this space as the youth crew will bring it on!!Love Annika, Amanda and the Youthie Crew!!  “