GBR Challenge diary 1

Neal McDonald describes life in the British America's Cup challenger camp

Here we go again... Less than a month after getting safely back ashore from battling around the world on Club Med and I find myself in another intense
campaign. Very different in many ways - I won't be spending any nights at sea for a long time and it may take a few weeks sailing these boats to get used to massive heel angles after a multihull - but however I look at it I've got plenty on for some time to come!
In the five weeks or so I've been working as part of Peter Harrison's GBR Challenge America's Cup team I've witnessed an almost derelict yard in Cowes become a hive of activity. The GBR Challenge Base now has a gym, a full size AC sail loft, a build shed for the new boat once that gets going, a maintenance shed for a AC yacht with its keel on, hard standing for probably five AC boats, our own travel lift and deep water moorings, six fully-equipped tool/maintenance containers and a flotilla of tenders.

From the very beginning it was obvious that Peter Harrison was making some smart decisions and this has allowed us to get off to the start we need:
- he's got the right guys in charge
- he's purchased the best secondhand AC boats we could ever have dreamed of
- he's provided a base that has all the facilities we could ever need

Very soon after I started all three boats and all the rest of the equipment arrived as deck cargo in Southampton. We all rushed over to help unload them and I for one was like a kid opening his Christmas presents. I have to admit to being really impressed with both the 2000 boats - they were in excellent condition and very carefully packed away. Because of this we have been able to put them together very quickly and have already done almost two weeks sailing with one boat and have the next boat ready to go in the water this week.

I sailed with Sydney95 in the San Diego cup so it is a while since I sailed any IACC boats although our first outing in the Solent soon reminded me how powerful and fragile these boats are. Even pulling the main up requires a huge physical effort and lots of concentration and organising. Once you get sailing it only gets worse! Every manoeuvre is a real effort and requires precision timing and Herculean effort to get right. And we are a long way off getting it right all the time yet! When it does go smoothly the rewards are high - one good gybe after doing 30 or so in a row and it makes the day worthwhile.

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