Ostar Finish - Katie Miller
Wow. Wow. Wow. Its finished! How surreal! It typical Katie style I finished in the middle of the night. The last few miles were a real test as the fluky wind backed and veered, dropped and increased. We fetched the majority of the final leg in toward the coast. Just as the light was dropping I caught sight of Nomans Land, just the the southern tip of Marthas Vineyard. After that it was time to concentrate on figuring out the lights for the approach to the finish line.
The final few hours were very strange. I was stuck in limbo. A Massive part of me couldn’t wait to finish – the food, drink, friends and family. The bed! But another part was happy with the routine, always happy to sail in the general direction of a distant goal. Except that goal was quite so distant now! I could smell the trees, and I suddenly found the land invading my space!
Soon, I was joined by a Rib, driven my a man call Tom, and onboard were my parents and sister, bluQube’s Lorraine and Pete, local sailing enthusiast Carol and a brilliant photographer called Billy Black. After much cheering, and finally figuring out where I was and where the line was, it was time to head toward it! Typically, the wind kept heading me as I had to beat toward the line, and at one stage I wondered if I would actually ever get across – was it a sign? Maybe I should just turn around and head back? Common sense kicked in pretty face!
I had decided on the way in that I wouldn’t do a flare on the finish…. That was way too rockstar! But as my dad jumped on he said, “Billy would really like it if you set off a flare to celebrate. It would make some excellent pictures.” No need to ask me twice! In retrospect, it was a fantastic thing to do. While I wasn’t celebrating a win, I was most definitely celebrating a massive milestone…. Transatlantic! First ever! Solo! And now youngest ever female competitor. Southampton Solent have a double win with the youngest ever male and female finishers as a students.
As Dad jumped onboard along with Jerry Freeman it was very strange to have to share my 33ft world – but I wasn’t going to complain!
So after customs were cleared, a lot of hugs, a couple of pictures and interviews, it was time to cross the Newport Bridge (a land mark I had seen on the horizon before I even saw land) and time for a celebratory G&T (how yachtie) before bed. Not surprisingly I wasn’t too tired, and it was time for a catch up before a bath (heaven!) and a soft warm, unoving bed. The best thing…. No 2 hour alarm!
The plan next is to try and catch up with as many OSTAR skippers as possible, get that Fry up/Pizza/ and steak and just enjoy the atmosphere – its electric!
UPDATE: I am enjoying the atmosphere still here in Newport
Submitted By Katie Miller on 16 Jun
Ostar 2009, Katie Miller, bluQube, OSTAR, transat, Rhode Island, Newport, singlehanded, sailing, sailboats, yacht race, singlehanded sailing
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WAY TO GO KATIE!!!
WAY TO GO KATIE!!! WE ARE ALL SO PROUD OF YOU! BARRY
Your my hero Katie :)
Your my hero Katie :)
I'm 14 and someday i'm going to do this to!
Britney in Syracuse
Congratulations Katie!
Well done!
You really, really earned that flare.
Mike
WELL DONE KATIE!
WELL DONE KATIE!
Katie Miller the rock star
Nice photo Billy Black. Not an easy photo to take i'm sure in the middle of the night like that. You really make Katie look like a rock star.
Amazing voyage Katie. You're incredible!
Dan NY
Katie Miller
Congratulations Katie
Bravo Katie
Bravo Katie
An amazing achievement for such a young lady or for anyone for that matter. I sure as hell couldn't do it
Nick
Nice one Katie!
Wahoooo!
Bravo Katie! Well done mate. You are a bit of a rockstar now so that flare suits you!
Congratulations from San Francisco, reading your blogs has been great fun.
Can't wait to see what's next...Rock on!
-Fred
I am enjoying the atmosphere still here in Newport
Having just re read a lot of the blogs that I posted during the race, it does seem that all I did was day dream about food, read books, break things and play spider solitaire. I would like to point out that, while these were achieved, the majority of my time was actually spent sailing, trimming, analysing weather and making rash, risky tactical decisions. Obviously, for entertainment reasons, the extra curricular activities were happily overemphasised!
Having now got back online with a slightly faster connection, I have had the pleasure of watching the race tracker. Boy, I think I went a little too far south! No wonder I had guys ringing me double checking I was okay. Clearly I didn’t realise quite how fast we were heading south. I am still convinced my tactical decision was sound – I was supposed to reach/fetch back towards the NW on the Day 13 gale, but that didn’t happen. Post race analysis is a wonderful thing, and happily I am just so happy to have made it over that I won’t be eating myself up about it. I know I could have got here faster, and I am certainly going to learn from this experience.
So right now I am enjoying the atmosphere still here in Newport. I am currently trying to source a new rudder, which is a real pain in the backside, but the guys back in the Ancasta Haslar Office are proving very helpful – thanks guys.
Pip onboard “The Shed” came in last night too. What a phenomenal journey, having cracked a rib and damaged some rigging in the first couple of days, two events that could have put anyone else out of the race. Pip though, restarted and finished still in a really credible time… imagine if she hadn’t have had to have stopped! She showed me a picture of a pretty immense iceberg she saw too!!
So bluQube’s journey back to the UK has been arranged. I think it will be the fastest crossing ever for a Figaro II – shame its not with me at the helm! Then it is on with Cowes Week and some double handed sailing with Hannah Jenner. There will be some pretty intense work onboard as we fix everything I broke!! Until then, I am working hard at regaining the weight I lost – which wont be difficult with the abundance of Newport Fudge, Ben and Jerrys, Duncan Donuts and American food in general. Shock of the month…. I haven’t eaten any pizza yet!!
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