From Recife to Fernando de Noronha

by Nicholas Grael (´15)

REFENO 2014

When I first arrived in Recife for the REFENO 2014 things started going wrong: I accidently forgot my bag inside the taxi. I had to spend the whole night trying to rescue my bag and trying to find the taxi that had my bag, but after many hours, I finally found the taxi and the driver gave me my bag back. On Saturday morning, the day of the competition, I was very nervous and I knew that this race would probably be the toughest thing in my whole life. There were thousands of people at the starting line watching the race, and this was very exciting: I´ve never sailed with so many people watching.

I had a very good start and the first 6 hours were very good for us, but as the night came, and the wind and waves were getting each time stronger and higher, things started to get difficult for our boat. There were nine people including me. Everybody was suffering a lot. Some of the crew members were already vomiting and everybody was tired. We divided ourselves into three groups of three, while one group was sleeping inside of the boat, one stayed outside counterbalancing the boat, and the other was controlling the sails and “driving” the boat. We shifted every 2 hours.

There were many great things that made up for all our suffering during the race. The water in the middle of the ocean is extremely clean and transparent, the sky full of stars during the night. This was probably the most beautiful thing I´ve ever seen. There were many animals that we saw during the race, such as whales and dolphins, and it was wonderful.

After 300 nautical miles, 38h and 30min of race, winds of more than 30 knots, 4 meter waves, and a lot of rain and sun, we finally reached Fernando de Noronha, and we won the race.

I have no words to explain this incredible sensation!!

[nota do editor]: A REFENO é considerada a primeira regata oceânica do país criada em 1986.

O recorde dos monocascos é do veleiro carioca Indigo,

comandado por Ivan Botelho com Torben Grael na tripulação que,

em 2011, fez a travessia em 25 horas, 57 minutos e 59 segundos.

Nicholas Grael (´15)

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OLMatters - The School Paper

Capturing Memories for the Future

Vol X

Aug 2014 - July 2015

From Recife to Fernando de Noronha