OBR Raw Content
VolvoOceanRace.com
Charlie Enright
http://vor.jbcsystems.com/person/charlie-enright
Charlie Enright /
Vestas 11th Hour Racing
gender
Male
![Tony, below: As Nick just said, could be ever. Nick: Not ever. Tony: Who knows? [he laughs] Good and bad. The race has been a blast. Full on. Windiest race ever. As a team we had our ups and downs, had to battle on, come through it... It's my sixth race. Finishing my sixth lap of the planet over 20 years. Nick's just sniggering away up here. He knows I'll be back. Nick: I'm still going back to sleep. This could be my last watch on this boat. Which will have just completed two laps around the planet on, because this was Alvimedica on the last race. The old girl. Tony: I think Nick's gonna buy it. He's gonna put it on a vacant lot somewhere in Newport, and he's gonna live on it. Because he won't know how to live in a house. Stacey: Can put a sprinkler system on it... We joke about it, but I'm a bit like Tony. Hopefully this is my last time. I think I said this last race as well. Who knows what the future will bring I guess. On deck, Phil takes off his neoprene hood and rubs his hair: Last watch. Not gonna lie I'm pretty excited. I really want to get home. Time to start being a dad again, I guess. A few more hours, try to catch these guys, and then get home and start planning the next Volvo Ocean Race. Jena laughs. Tony: She's just dreaming of racing again, next time. Jena: Next time. I will enjoy it, have a little meal with Phil, a romantic breakfast. And then a little lie down in the bunk. You'll probably see me in 5 minutes setting a different sail. SiFi: We are enjoying our last day of offshore sailing. Beautiful sunny day in the North Sea. Not too sunny; if it gets too sunny it will get lighter. Below, Phil looks at a food pack. Eats at the nav station next to Jena. Phil sneezes, says to the camera: Brian [Brian Carlin, head of the OBRs mayabe?], Jena says there's never any mail for her. Charlie, on a pedestal on deck: Miss the most? Waking up every day with one goal. When it's over you wake up and don't know what to do with yourself. The direction is nice. What am I going to miss the least? Water pressure. Stacey: Probably, the challenge every day. And soon enough you don't have that, and you have to figure out what your next challenge is. SiFi: Miss the most? Other than the entertaining conversation with the OBRs? Hanging out with all of these guys I reckon. Working with some good people, learning something new every day. Don't know what I'm going to miss the least. Looking forward to my newfound freedom. Tony: Some of the stopovers were great. I'm going to miss that. Looking forward to going sailing again without getting blasted with water. TJ, on the helm: Miss the most? Like SiFi said, the people of course. Fast flat water VMG sailing. Miss the least? Probably that forward upper bunk. I'm looking forward to never having to climb that one again.](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VvGL6W_4DBE/maxresdefault.jpg)
![Nick on deck: Another day off the top of God knows where in the moon. And it's windy. And beautiful! Home stretch, heading to Gothenburg right now. Getting back into these conditions where it's tighter angles with higher windspeeds that we know and love, dont' have memories of Falklands. Yeah, it's beautiful out. [He sounds sleep-deprived.] Tony talking in the cockpit. Islands to starboard. SiFi in the hatch: You see the headland, or? Charlie: Top of Scotland, Shetland Islands. Breeze should build as we get around the headland here, switch to a stronger sail. We think we're strong in these conditions, good tactics at the end of legs, so we'll see what happens. TJ on the helm: Never been this far north. Cold, windy, raining. Flat water. Actually quite nice sailign right now. Nice to move up the leaderboard. But we'll catch 'em. SiFi: Lovely: Might come here for my summer holidays. They do a maneuver. Charlie: Bear away, furl, then pull the 2 out. We see them do that. Folding the J0. Stacking. SiFi: Almost 4 knots of current at the moment. That's a good thing. Someone's keen to put us in the North Sea.](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vP1hDRiLYeI/maxresdefault.jpg)
![Crew sits forward. Nick: The change is so welcome right no. I've never been so happy to be in three knots of wind. Mark, on the helm: How quickly things change. Yesterday I got blown off the wheel, my life jacket exploded (crash cam footage of the life jacket deploying), and now we've got 5 knots of wind and we're drifting; well, not drifting, but it's dry. And I think everyone's enjoying the ligher conditions. Shot of socks and gloves drying on the cabin top. Nick: It's warm, and a bit sunny. And we're coming into Dongfeng, and MAPFRE's coming into us. And the whole fleet's going to pile up and restart. Shot of Dongfeng, 5 miles distant on their starboard bow (I think?). TJ and Jena in the cockpit talk about something having to do with food. Jena: I would put raisins in, to have the sweetness. TJ scoffs. Charlie, below on the PA, says something about [something] tasting really good. Charlie: "156 at 6 knots." He and SiFi discuss tacking. He points out Dongfeng on their starboard beam; have done a good job closing in on them from 11 miles to 2 miles. Waiting for a shift to make a tack. Phil steers.](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/B5daPSk6ick/maxresdefault.jpg)
![Stern cam, spreader cam shots of sailing fast with massive washing machine. Nick on the face plate: It was pretty fogged up. But I think he needs it. I think we all need it. Slomo washing machine. Nick: We are totally miserable out here. He points out other crewmembers. Not sure where they are right now; picked up a meander in the Gulf Stream, probably. Sea state worsened. Tony on the helm. He gets off the helm, faces aft. Takes off his face shield: "Here you are. Good for nothing." Talks about it being 45, 46 knots of wind. Tony comes below, talks about how his life preserver inflated. "Well, the automatic part works." SiFi at the nav station talks about playing with the Gulf Stream. Helps push them, but also messes up the sea state a little. Pretty cool phenomenon, the Gulf Stream. Apart from saving Europe from being a frozen icy tundra. Also gives us a lot of current to play with when we're racing. Charlie: Because sea surface temperatures all over the world are rising, there's less of a gradient, and the Gulf Stream is flowing slower. Which means it is pulling less water out of places like Chesapeake Bay. Will contribute to sea level rise there over the next 100 years. Slomo of crew falling down in the cockpit. Nick, in the cockpit: We stand here, basically 2 hours at a time, getting the [blee] beat out of us, all for a freeze-dried meal.](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HaeiGmSIWag/maxresdefault.jpg)
![TJ looks for Bermuda. 60 miles away, but it's low, so won't be able to see it. He talks about the upcoming gybe. Then big wind, Gulf Stream, then finish with burgers and lobster rolls. Charlie, Nick talk about where they're going to eat when they get in. Charlie: If everything goes according to plan maybe I'll have the team over to my house to barbecue on my new grill. Nick and Charlie talk about the difference between Bristol and Newport. Charlie talks about Bristol's maritime tradition. Herreshoff museum. Boatbuilding. Nick talks about how he bought a house while he was at sea on the race. Looking forward to spending time there. And catching up with friends and family. Charlie: A home stopover is both a blessing and a curse. Have to try to see people, carve out time for family. Best opportunity for rest might be the transatlantic. Charlie: My wife [will be at the dock]. His folks, maybe, depending on the hour. Nick and Charlie talk about the arrival last time in Newport. Welcome was over the top. Shooing boats out of the way to do light-wind gybes. Took about 2 hours to cover the last few miles. Hopefully we'll have pressure all the way in, and a good position. Nick: This team's pretty hungry at this point. Have been on this board for about 5 days now; a lot of sleep. Everyone's pretty fired up. Stacking. Tony drills something on the mainsail tack. He explains that they had a rip in the tack webbing, so he's sewing that back on. With the front coming, want to be sure it's good.](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lsUNSgGcdUo/maxresdefault.jpg)
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![Jena, grinding in the cockpit on the middle pedestal, talks about making gains on every sched. Still hope with more than 1,000 miles to go that they can catch them. Mark, in the cockpit: "The two most competititve boats that we're racing are currently ahead of us in this leg. So yes, of course it matters to me. I want to beat them. I want to be first. I want to win." [Sounds a little annoyed with Sam's question.] Sam asks Jena to do a "weather dance". She dances at the pedestal. Jena: "What do you think about that?" Charlie, at the helm: "Well, we haven't seen any results yet. So." Jena: "Don't worry. I'll show my magic. Dancing magic." Crew kidding in the cockpit; TJ says something about going to Outback Steakhouse. Nick laughs. Charlie hands the wheel off to Chuy. Sam, to Charlie: "How was the watch, Chaz?" Charlie: "Transitional. It went from windy to not so windy. Drag all the sails forward... Little frustrated with the boatspeed... Kind of tough sailing right now with the leftover slop."](https://volvooceanrace-2017-18.s3.amazonaws.com/videos/cropped/thumb/m109393_13-03-171220-veh-00013_00002_1280x720.jpg)
![Drone shot of Vestas with the sun low behind them reaching in 15 knots of wind on starboard tack. (Think this is from late in the day on 2017-12-11.) Charlie, below, talks about the race so far. The plan they had when they left was not the best one, which put them on the back foot. "We've hit the reset button in the ridge." Simon, at the nav station, says they've just had the 0700 sched, and they look pretty good. He points out their position vs. the other boats: Scallywag, TTToP, then the other pack of boats about 20 miles south. Good to be further north. In 24, 48 hours it's good to be further north. "Certainly a more seamanlike [i.e., safety-conscious] way to go about it." Charlie, below, talks about "the weather, Friday, looks pretty fresh with nowhere to run." Setting yourself to be in the right place in three days' time in 50 knots of wind is more important. Simon shows the scary low on the computer forecast. Have to be careful to not get into a position where the wind and sea state are so bad you're pushed against the ice gate and have to slow down. Charlie: "Have to watch the weather pretty closely to make sure we don't find ourselves in a bad spot." Drone shot from ahead with the sunset behind them.](https://volvooceanrace-2017-18.s3.amazonaws.com/videos/cropped/thumb/m108411_13-03-171212-veh-00003_00002_1280x720.jpg)
