(1).jpg) |
| Yours truly, happy to be out at sea! |
My plan for end of July has been to join the 100th Rolex Fastnet Yacht Race. I've sailed five Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Races and it made sense to do some racing closer to home. Also, when an anniversary race turns up - I'm in!
To be able to do that, joining a race boat, I had to do pre-qualifying races. One of them was the De Guingand Bowl, and the second one was the Myth of Malham, both starting in the beautiful Isle of Wight, in the tricky waters of the Solent and the English Channel.
A certain percentage of the crew has to have over 300 nautical miles (or was it more?) in order to qualify for the big race. The thing with Fastnet is that it is known for one of the deadliest races, actually the 1979 Fastnet being the deadliest in yachting history. Naturally, the rules and certifications have been changed so that would not be happening again, but still it's got a bit of a reputation.
 |
| Race start for the De Guingand Bowl |
The race runs every second year, and this time it was a 100 year anniversary since the first one. The course, however, has been changed recently to end in France. This is to accomodate for the ever increasing amount of yachts wanting to join.
I was contacted by a skipper I've sailed Scotland - Orkney - Shetland with during last Autumn. His mate was skippering a boat, Cariberia, that was going to race Fastnet. I said I was interested and was offered to join and race.
 |
| The crew: David, Shandile and David |
I have been to these waters before, as I had sailed the English Channel during winter time a few years ago, in 2016. I had not raced here, so it was to be a new experience.
Both the skipper and the crew were new to the boat. The boat itself, a Class 40, painted as a dragon, was a solid racing boat - however, it suffered a lack of maintenance. Some of the systems, such as AIS receiver, the wind instruments, the log etc were not functioning. The engine cooling system had a leak, and there was a bit of other stuff to "figure out". Nevertheless, the race was just 24 hours and the weather was very fine, so we set out.
 |
| Sailing off. A bit rusty, a bit dusty, in a fair need of maintenance - but a good racer nonetheless |
The British train system is just as lousy as the Swedish, so I was late to the Isle of Wight - getting just a few hours of sleep. On a new boat, it's not great news, but I got a few hours of shut-eye on board so it was all good. The toilet was unfortunately smelling so bad that it was a bit difficult to relax. On the other hand, it's a question of how tired you are. Tired enough? Sleep will be wonderful. Same thing goes for food. If the food is not tasty... you're not hungry enough :)
 |
| Lena Wilderäng |
The fact that all were new to the boat meant that we had to be careful and not take any chances. The lack of spinnacker (it got wrapped around the forestay in the last race) made it more difficult in the light winds coming straight from the behind us. Furthermore, the tactical decisions were also quite conservative which had us stuck in a wind hole. However, we had a great bit of sun and the seas state was more like on a lake, which allowed for a relaxed and easy going race.
 |
| A pretty sunset |
The race was all around the cans in the Solent and we returned in the morning, 24 hours later. Nobody was much upset about the race taking a bit of time, as we've had fun and got a good feel of the boat. We were very slow and finished the last, but sometimes it's not the result that counts, but rather the collective learning experience. On the other hand, it could have been better to learn and train outside of the races - nevertheless, this is how this was done.
 |
| Crossing the finish line |
I hade identified a few points to follow up with the skipper. Also, thoughts were raised about how the food and drinks were to be managed as we could potentially get much more shakey weather during Fastnet, and the current solutions were not scaled up for up to a week in tougher conditions.
I had to go back to Cowes, Isle of Wight to get my bags, as I thought the race would finish there - but it was OK. I actually left some of the sailing stuff there because I would be getting back for the next pre-qual race just the weekend after.
 |
| Festive Cowes |
Cowes was like a racing village in itself, with everything from dinghies to tallships racing around. Great ambience, and a lot to see - very cozy.
 |
| Cowes, Isle of Wight |
Then I took the ferry to mainland and got there in time for most of the planned stuff. Mid-May, there was so much to do at home, and I would be getting back the next weekend too. Standby for more posts!
 |
| Able deckhand pigeon on the ferry, somewhere in the Solent |