"They gave me a red shirt and I put it on to look like one of the crew, taking up my position opposite a giant from New Zealand who everyone called “Meat”.
As the ship’s “grinders”, our job was to power the winch that trims and hoists the sails. “Stand with your legs wider to get the balance right. That’s better,” said Meat, known to his nearest and dearest as Andrew Taylor. Meat and I alternated our hands on the machine’s handles, mine soft and white, his like two prime cuts of best beef.
Six of us wound at the pedestals to raise the powerful mainsail of Puma, the Open 70, that is currently in third place in the Volvo Ocean Race, the world’s most extreme team sailing race."
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