I’ll go first…my name is Margaret and I am addicted to the race viewer. I suspect that I am not alone in my constant need to see where our team have got to; I even looked at Yellow Brick whilst in church! Not during the service I hasten to add, before and after. It is fantastic to see how the team have put the disappointment of the previous leg behind them and are leading the pack at the moment, long may that continue.
One hymn often sung on Remembrance Sunday is the Naval hymn, Eternal Father. For those who do not know/cannot remember it, this is the first verse:
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
I am biased but I love that hymn. I also think that it is rather apt for our team mates who are certainly on the sea, but hopefully not in peril. The whole fleet has been battered by strong winds and they are in them again as I type. It was not pleasant reading about all of the injuries and I do so hope that the current low does not result in more casualties. Another part of the hymn springs to mind:
Our brethren shield in danger’s hour,
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe’er they go
Go Qingdao, sail fast, sail safe.
Margaret Corbally
Team Qingdao - Clipper Race 2013/14 
Me too. It’s 4 am. I’ve got up to go to the loo. I check the race viewer. When I wake again in the morning, I’ll reach for my ipad. I check the race viewer. Every 5 minutes, it seems, I check the race viewer. I also thought of the fleet when we sung that hymn on Remembrance Sunday, though I didn’t check the race viewer during the service; not for lack of wanting to, it’s just that you get a worse mobile signal in Ticehurst than in Tibet.
Go Qingdao
It’s a beautiful hymn, fitting for this time especially in the Southern Ocean. The reports and the pictures show great courage by these tough, tenacious men and women. The race application says it’s a “yacht race crewed exclusively by amateurs, with no sailing experience required.” Maybe at the start, but not now.
They sail with all our prayers.