Team SCA in the Volvo Ocean Race - Day 26 - One more sleep!

In less than 48 hours, after sailing over 6,450 nautical miles, we will reach Cape Town, South Africa. The concept seems too strange wrap our heads around—it only feels like yesterday we left Alicante. It’s then even stranger to think that this is only the beginning and we are sailing around the world. Time has a funny way of playing with your head.   We’re all incredibly focused—we are still in the fight against MAPFRE—and it’s all about eking the most out of the boat in the remaining miles. Each extra half a knot is a possible mile gained against the Spanish team. 

Our focus to catch MAPFRE is helping the miles pass by quickly, but even then, the miles seem to tick by at a snail’s pace despite us racing at 20 knots! We’re also trying really hard to not think about the want for a hot shower and need for fresh food but it is becoming stronger and stronger by the minute. “It’s funny how the last 48 hours, even though it’s a short amount of time, always take the longest,” Abby said.

We’re also “waiting patiently” to be reunited with the rest of our team. Dee Caffari and Elodie Mettraux took the drier and cleaner route (and perhaps the more sane route) to Cape Town. In the last three weeks, the two women have been in the gym, getting bigger and stronger so we will not recognize them when we arrive. Dee and Elodie have been in touch with us over the last few weeks, but emails are not the same as the real sailor—their smiles were seriously missed. Regardless, their E-encouragement has been monumental in getting us through the good times and the bad.

And then there’s the shore team (who are easily the best shore team in the race) not only because of their track records (most of them, from our boat builder to our chef, have been apart of winning teams) but also with their support. The shore team will be the first to greet us on the dock; they will be the first hugs and wishes of congratulations. Each and everyone of them know how hard we’ve worked these last three weeks, and to make them proud to be a part of Team SCA is something worth focusing and fighting for these last 48 hours.

That’s the unique thing about Team SCA: we’re all fighting for this together, it’s not just the 12 sailors on board at the moment. It’s a unique project that has us all intrigued about how far it can go off the water. What if we can change the world through sailing? What if we can make a global impact through our jobs and our passions? Despite the fact that the last 48 hours are easily becoming the longest of the leg, they are, hands down, becoming the most important part. The last 48 hours are becoming not just about fighting for 6^th but also about fighting for what it means, on a global scale, to be a part of Team SCA.

(www.teamsca.com)