New RYA courses June and end of July–only needs 3 days off work and you will see some of Cowes week

Updated 2nd May2013

May Bank Holiday was our first Royal Ocean Racing Club race to Le Havre and in winds up to F7 we set off well and had a fast crossing. Towards the finish the wind dropped to F2 and we slowed down but still finished 13th out of 35 in class and picked up 100 NM of the 300 needed before the Fastnet.
We turned straight round and sailed back as the forecast was for the wind to die and fog to develop. After a good run we popped into Cowes and had a good meal out before spinnaker practice on Sunday.

The last weekend in April saw the JOG race to Owers (off Selsey Bill) and we came 2nd in one of our most exciting races yet. Exocet who beat us into 2nd place both ways in the Cherbourg and return race chased us for over 30 miles but finished 50 yards behind.

The races are all filling but One Fastnet place has become available.

Courses are not filling as well as we would like and this is the same for most schools. We continue to do early booking promotions and ‘bundles’. If you want to build miles you can always just sail rather than do the RYA qualifications and we will do the odd special particularly if you have sailed with us before.

Cruises have quite a few enquiries, mainly from regulars and if things follow previous years we will get a sudden rush of bookings.

PayPal--you can pay by PayPal –we prefer you don’t as it costs 3.4% but it does allow you to use a credit card which means you would get your money back if we went bankrupt. I know we won’t but if you are new to us and worried about security please use it for your first booking.

I will be skippering Helsal 3 for the Sydney to Hobart and a few places are available–drop me an e-mail or phone to register interest. The cost will be $6250 with an early booking offer of $500 off. it is expensive but better value than the competition and we have an outstanding Yacht. several places have already been booked by last year’s team members.

The first Saturday in March gave some splendid sailing in the morning and we tacked up the western Solent in sunshine with the tide. Then we headed up Southampton water and hoisted the code Zero—officially a spinnaker but really a giant Genoa , which we can get to fly 40 degrees off the apparent wind.

As we started to accelerate away from Calshot Spit we heard a ‘Pan Pan’ from Capability a yacht by Calshot who had a Man Overboard. Whilst it was only a ‘Pan Pan’ I treated the call as a ‘Mayday’ as I think someone falling into really cold water fulfils the criteria of ‘Grave and imminent danger’. We dropped the Code Zero, turned round and started to motor back towards them but as we came close were relieved to hear they had recovered the casualty and he was OK. The Coastguard had already tasked the Hamble lifeboat and as we were released to continue we saw it coming out of the Hamble.

Offer on D-Day trip and you can do Competent Crew on it as well.

Despite the economic gloom and absence of a summer 2012 was a good year for Wild Spirit. Our big race was Round Ireland and this, plus a few other reasonable results, meant we finished 8th out of 90 in Class 4 of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. The six week cruise round Ireland had mixed weather but we had a marvellous time, met some lovely people, saw lots of tall ships, went to amazing places and even sailed under a cable car.

The Wild Spirits who sailed with me on ‘Kioni’ for our cruise out to Lord Howe Island and back (400NM due East of Australia) encountered some of the toughest conditions I have sailed in but came through.

As well as races we had several cruises and the level of repeat bookings remains high. RYA courses did not always fill as quickly as we hoped and it is clear we are competing against some companies who appear cheaper but have significant hidden extras, plus do not fully comply with RYA requirements. We will continue to do it properly, and we will continue with our ‘Easyjet’ marketing policy of reductions for early bookings.

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 2012

The weather in Sydney seemed even hotter than usual leading up to Christmas and in the mid 30s with high humidity I wished several times to be back in Somerset. Christmas day was however wet, fairly cold and much more like being at home. A former Wild Spirit now racing on a Volvo 60 had invited me and 2 other of the team on Kioni to Christmas lunch and we gratefully accepted. Kioni a French built First 47.7 was my Yacht for the 2012 Sydney to Hobart race and my first start as Skipper. The team of 14 were mainly Aussies with one Ukrainian, and 2 of the Wild Spirit UK racing team.

Training had been badly affected by repair work on board plus having to wait for spares to arrive, so this meant for the Boxing Day start we were not as well prepared as we would have liked. We were however a cohesive team, so although only one other member had completed a Sydney Hobart before I was confident that we would make it. I had already sailed with several of the team out to Lord Howe Island and back but unfortunately one of them, Ross, had been killed in an air crash a in late November. Ross had climbed mountains around the world and explored Antarctica, he wore ancient orange Oilskins from an early expedition. He had been going to do the race with his son Ben. Ross’s place had now been filled by his Son’s friend; both were called Ben and both were Aussie Commandos just back from Afghanistan; fit, fearless and great team players, all they lacked was sailing experience.

Boxing Day dawned fine and warm, the forecast was reasonable and all of a sudden the media mayhem was underway. As Sailors from England we have trouble understanding this as yacht racing in Britain just doesn’t hit the public imagination like it does in Oz. The Sydney Hobart is one of the top 3 sporting events of the year in Oz, a quarter of a million people turn out for the start with Millions more watching on TV.

There were only 2 school boats in the race and we were one, so we attracted some media attention and I did a couple of TV interviews, then they realized we had 2 Commandos on board and the throng became a blockage in the Marina. In Britain we quietly appreciate the contribution of our armed forces; the Aussies do it without the quietly bit! I set off slightly early to the start to escape the media distraction and let the team focus on the race plus practice a few things we hadn’t yet mastered.

We had agreed on a ‘safe’ start, which meant being a minute late over the line, not as spectacular as some, but in a 628 Nautical mile race it seemed a good move. The start was fast and furious and we had a good position right at the windward edge of the 80 strong fleet as we sped across Sydney Harbour, helicopters drowning out all communication. Leaving the Harbour through the Heads we hit the big Pacific swell and our 15 tons and 47 feet length gave us a clear advantage over the lighter yachts that would be faster in flat seas.

We beat on south for 7 hours until the first watch and then settled into the system of ‘sleep’ and work which would dominate the next 4 days. The weather was kinder than the last 2 years and we made good progress for several hours before the wind died; now our 15 tons were a disadvantage and for 9 hours the lighter yachts went past. Then the wind came back and from the Northeast so we were off towards Bass Strait under Spinnaker and making great progress until the largest spinnaker disintegrated forcing us to change to a smaller ‘Storm Spinnaker’.

Sydney Hobart races always have ‘a bit of a blow’ and as were about 30 miles into Bass Strait the wind picked up to over 30 kts, the instruments failed, the alternator stopped charging the batteries and a considerable amount of water appeared in the boat. I delayed the decision to abandon the race, we bailed and pumped, Phil and Greg successfully battled with the alternator and as we passed the half way mark we were determined we would finish.

About 100 miles north of Tasman Island we were changing helms when Aussie Bruce, a fairly large, stereotypical Aussie Farmer fell on me and the wheel breaking 2 of the spokes, I will not repeat what he said, but we now had to treat the helm very carefully as if another spoke went we would not be able to steer.

We beat on down towards Tasmania and heard a weather forecast of ‘South West winds will reach gale force’. Not a problem for us and difficult for some of our competitors, we were well positioned and looking good but definitely sailing in South East winds. We consoled ourselves that the 90 degree wind change would soon come but it was at least 12 hours late and we had a lot of extra Tacks to put in before rounding Tasman Island on the S.E. corner of Tasmania about 1100 on the 30th December.

We had been pursuing ‘Aurora’ whose skipper Jim Holley was completing his 25th Sydney Hobart and just as we rounded Tasman Island we overtook them. He the tacked in close but John my number 2 was adamant we would be better going on for several miles before tacking due to local tide effects. We went straight on and as we looked back we could see how right John was as by the time they had realized their mistake we were a mile ahead.

Now we had to cross the ‘Bay of Storms’ and according to the weather forecast we should be doing this in a Gale that had come over a 1000 miles across the Southern Ocean from the Antarctic. Fortunately the forecast was again wrong and at times the wind was so light we had trouble sailing at all.

The final 20 miles up the Derwent River to Hobart looks simple but it has notoriously fickle winds and we had to work hard to make up about a mile and one place over 4 hours. At one stage we were virtually stationary in the wind shadow of Mount Wellington as the competitor we had overtaken crept up to within 100 metres, then just as he hit the wind shadow and stopped we were suddenly off again.

We finished in the early evening and the ‘Taste of Tasmania’ festival was well underway on the edge of the Harbour. Although we were the 57th Yacht home we did our lap of Honor to loud and sustained applause from over a 1000 people, a moving and uplifting moment made poignant by the sight of Ben wearing his dead father’s ancient Oilskins. We finished 5th out of 16 in Division and I was immensely proud of the team, the effort they had put in and the way they had pulled together without a single cross word in the whole race.

As I type this I am sitting on a sheep station in Gundagai owned by one of the crew. With no rain for 6 weeks and 41C plus strong winds we are on maximum fire alert and spent the morning making a small fire engine out of a 900 litre tank, a pump and a 4 by 4 ‘Ute’.

The nearest settlement is Nangus where the combined store and pub, an open tin hut and patio area surrounded by 1.5 m high tin fencing, is called the ‘Turkey Pen’ as whenever anyone gets near the heads of the customers all come up over the top of the fence like Turkeys.

Paul Jackson
Skipper Kioni Sydney to Hobart Race 2012

We have just spent over £5000 on a new racing main and spinnaker plus commissioned other works to ensure Wild Spirit remains a fast desirable cruiser on which to race, cruise and learn to sail.

The Annual Charity weekend raised over £1000 for St Magaret’s Hospice Taunton and we were blessed by superb weather and wind. On Saturday we achieved 10.9kts SOG going out through Hurst down to the Needles with a complete novice on the helm.

Hard of Earing
So there we were waiting for the start of the race back from Poole to Cowes on a sunny September morning but with no wind, I had just taken my annual swim in the sea when the Ch16 call came through.

Caller ‘Portland Coastguard, are there any dive boats in shell bay’
CG ‘ For routine safety traffic go Channel 67′
Caller ‘This is not routine, I have dropped an ear ring in shell bay and need a dive boat’

The rest of the call was drowned by the team laughing. Shortly afterwards we were off and completed the course of approx 26NM in under 2hrs 55mins to finish 9th out of 25 entrants. A superb spinnaker run of almost 20NM making it one of the most memorable races this year.

2013 programme on its own page–after missing a year the D-Day beaches trip returns.

Updated updated 21st April 2013

Updated 11/12/12

A murky Solent beckoned as Graham, Jim Paul and I slipped from Lymington at 0645 on Saturday 31st July. Heads just a touch sore from a good meal and the odd bottle of wine (it’s never the even ones that get you) this was not the weather we had hoped for. We motored out down the Needles passage against a thick mist on the end of the ebb before turning East to run along to St Catts as the tide turned. 2000 miles to go, surely the weather must improve—it did and before long we were running before 15 kts of wind in sunshine. The tide increased as did the wind and we were doing 10 kts over ground as we passed St Catts with only one other yacht for company. With a spinnaker up we continued quickly for another 48 miles before increasing swell and wind of 25+ kts required us to drop it.

Past Beachy head and on towards Dungeness surfing up to 11.6 knots we continued into the night and then the wind dropped so we had to motor for 2 hours before it returned near Dover and with the tide we shot towards the Thames at 9 knots. In the first 24 hrs we logged 145 miles but then the wind dropped and we flew the Pig (asymmetric spinnaker) as we headed towards the east anglian coast.

Still going North

Its Wednesday morning, our 4th sunrise at sea. Today it is with the mountains behind Montrose as a backdrop, yesterday it was sunrise over Whitby Abbey followed by sunset over Holy Island. Mostly the wind has been kind to us with anything from South West to North West but last night we had various directions and with 20 knots we sailed quickly but not always quite where we wanted to go. The navigation off Scotland is also much easier than dealing with the Gas and Oil platforms plus moving sandbanks off Norfolk and Lincolnshire and in the 4 years since I last sailed this way there have been extensive outbreaks of wind farms. Progress has been good so far although as I came on watch it was to the news that the spinnaker halyard was now wrapped round the top of the mast. Young Paul has volunteered but we will wait until watch change before we hoist him.

Our first Whale

541 miles in the 96 hours since we left Lymington and although we are motoring at present due to lack of wind, the vast majority of it under sail. We are heading in to Peterhead mainly to drop Paul off as he is only doing the first part of the trip. A few weeks ago he did his competent crew then he raced to La Trinite with us and cruised back, now he has over 1000 miles in his Log Book. He has just told me the wind is down below 2 knots and as I stuck my head up top some Gannets perform a good impression of a penguin trying to take off. Other than a Seal and the rather large Mackerel, caught whilst sailing slowly, there had been little wild life until the typing of this has just been disturbed by a small passing whale. It wasn’t very big, but was a whale as opposed to a basking shark or Dolphin.

As we progressed under engine towards Peterhead we saw more dolphins and large numbers of small Jelly fish. Reaching Peterhead around 1500 we were welcomed into the small Marina which had good facilities surrounded by the sort of security fence you might expect in a town famous for its prison. The locals were however very friendly and re-provisioning was possible although the choice of restaurants dictated a meal on board.

Kirkwall

The enforced on board dinner was accompanied by unenforced wine which militated against an early departure so we set off North with a favourable tide and Forecast. The promised wind appeared then vanished leaving us with some motoring before it re-appeared about an hour before we entered Kirkwall the main Harbour in the Orkneys. We had however become aware of a slight weep on a joint between the stern gland and its anti vibration seal so were anxious to effect repairs when we arrived. There was no Chandlers but a visit to the Orkney Sailing Club resulted in a very helpful Commodore driving us to an Industrial estate to buy sikaflex etc.

Kirkwall was also good for re-provisioning but the local stores combination of price and lack of quality forced us into Tesco. On the Friday evening, feeling the need to buy our new found friend a Beer, we went to the Orkney Sailing Club. Having accomplished our mission we fell into conversation with a Dutch couple, Mark and Martine and ended up racing on their Scannia 391 with them in the OSC regatta.

A good days racing, third in the morning race and first in the afternoon one, but the real highlight was the start of the second race when unexpected manoeuvres by another competitor forced two yachts ahead to tack on us. The gap between the nearest yacht and the mark was closing rapidly and I was robustly advising the dumping of the main, this was done and only just in time as the flukes of our anchor were either side of ‘Harmony’s VHF antennae and according to their helm only 1 inch off on either side.

The harbourmaster came round to check we would be at the prize giving adding that if we hadn’t won anything then Martine would get a special prize for the most exciting helming. We went.

The welcome we received was outstanding all Cups were filled with port or some other alcoholic mix and passed round. Food, whisky and a ceilidh followed and it was with thick heads and fond memories we departed Kirkwall at 0745 the next day bound North towards Fair Isle and Shetland. The tidal atlas and the electronic charts showed different rates and directions between the islands but the actual tide was different from both and forming tidal races or Roosts despite the only gentle winds. We opted for an exit out of Calf Sound and after a few bumps were heading towards North Rolnaldsay which is unusual in that it has a wall around it and the sheep live between that and the sea so that they eat seaweed which gives them a unique flavour.

The Food Chain

We wondered what flavour we might be as 2 killer whales headed towards us and then escorted us for 10 minutes. With Dolphins you lean over and get as close as possible but somehow these were not so friendly looking. At least 20 foot long, one was a couple of foot from one side of Wild Spirit level with me on the helm, whilst the other held the same position on the other side; both of them with their heads up and definitely ‘eyeballing’ me. Killer Whales do have a reputation for sinking yachts and I had just come up with a cunning plan to dissuade them (stop the boat and pour diesel over the side) when they started taking it in turns to swim behind us; still less than 6′ off but far less menacing. A little while before them we had seen 2 basking sharks and later a seal gave us some consolation for the lack of wind, but Fair Isle beckoned and as I hoped to arrive with some light, the engine stayed on. The forecast SE3 to 4 was a 2 at best but the visibility was superb and we could see Foula with its huge sea cliffs 39 NM to the North. This is the furthest west inhabited Island in the Shetlands and we hope to sail around it later in the trip.

Fair Isle

Fair Isle is a place I have sailed to before; towering cliffs and welcoming residents beckoned again so in we went. The Frenchman we went alongside was not so welcoming despite having put Fenders out ready for someone to raft alongside, and rather unusually, his English was worse than my French. As he was the only yacht large enough to lay alongside we moved to the open frame Pier but would have encountered a problem with lack of depth at low tide. Using the Lead line we surveyed all options and moved to the ‘Hammerhead’ which was actually only the end of the Pier and about 6m wide. By this time Ieuean had come along complete with 2 huge ‘Fair Isle issue’ Fenders which the Islanders keep for these circumstances. We also had an invitation to join him later on his yacht for drinks.

Around the corner came the solution to our problems plus the chance to do our good deed for the day and assist with the entente cordial all in one go. ‘One Hull’ was training vessel at least 75 foot long and with its crew of youngsters really did need to be alongside if possible. Having explained the depth issue they decide they could take ground with their long keel so they went alongside the Pier and we sat comfortably outside them without the need to worry so much about its open pile construction or shore lines.

They did sit on the bottom for a couple of hours and rose an extra foot or so above us but we did not have to adjust anything which was probably just as well after enjoying Ieuean’s hospitality on Ptarmigan 4. He was a retired Consultant from Inverness who knew the area well and his company was a real pleasure. ‘One Hull’ were also grateful the locals were as friendly as ever, the weather was fair for our walk round the island and then the wind started to blow from the right direction, a perfect day.

We motored away from the little harbour for less than 5 minutes before the engine went off and stayed off. The course up to Shetland was ENE and the wind was SE4, we sped along across the area known as the ‘Hole’ with its reputation for some of the worse seas around Britain. The forecast was for slight seas locally moderate, only a few waves came over the top as we surfed along recording 9.8 Kts through the water.

Onwards and upwards

Our original plan had been to stop half way up the Shetlands but the wind was forecast to go due East then NE up to F6 at times. A few calculations, refuges identified, we went for it and sailed all the way round the outer Skerries and up to the top with the wind staying on the beam whenever we changed course. Leaving a good margin at the North end to round the tidal races or ‘Roosts’ we managed to just catch the turn of the tide and hurtled past Muckle Flugga as the tide turned to push us South. The wind came round to the NE so it was on our Port Quarter as we logged 900NM since leaving Lymington sailing down the West coast of Unst at 8 Kts Speed over Ground.

The Alarm Sounds

All good things come to an end and the forecast was going cyclonic up to F6 before going variable then NE again—that’s 61 degrees North for you. We sailed into Sand Voe, justly described by the pilotage as ‘Spectacular’ anchored in solitary splendour and anchored in 2 metres near the head of the Voe to let the Cyclonic bit go through. Then it was down to Hamna Voe on the island of Papa Stour with its spectacular cliffs and sea caves; or it would have been if as we approached we had not suddenly run into Fog with 12 kts of wind and a tidal race of up to 6 kts. We had planned for the race and the delicate pilotage into Hamna Voe and our timing for the race was perfect but the Fog and wind combination was worrying particularly as we had no tide height corrections available and only 2m above CD on the Bar into the Voe (WS draws 1.95m). With Graham below on one GPS and me above on helm plus another GPS on Helm and Jim on lookout we edged forward with straining eyes. The jagged teeth of rocks loomed out of the fog the depth under the keel was down to 0.6 m and we hoped the Charts were really GPS compliant—they were and as we anchored the visibility lifted and with 45m of chain and warp out in 6m of water we relaxed at last.

To awake to the sound of an anchor alarm is not the best end to a night’s sleep particularly at 3am, however a quick check revealed that I had set it just a bit to close and we had swung but were still firmly anchored, just as well as later the wind was gusting to over 20 kts. Tucked up in our little bay we had no waves although in the channel just outside the tide was passing at 6 kts. The morning saw the sun and this was truly a beautiful place, better even than Fair Isle, as we sailed away we looked back at the stacks and caves and then on to the cloud in the distance with cliffs under it that was Foula our destination. The wind was forecast as 4 or 5 but we had to motor half way there although the sun now came out and the volcanic past of the island was clearly revealed. As we rounded the Island and its 1400 foot high cliffs we were surrounded by seabirds including ones which didn’t appear in Jims’ little bird book—probably immature juveniles in contrast to the mature ones watching them.

The wind came back and we sailed virtually all of the 25Nm back to Scalloway (are the residents really referred to as Scallywags?).

Scalloway revisited

So here we are in the library of North Atlantic Fisheries College and the locals are as helpful as I remembered before. Last night we ate at the Scalloway Hotel where the seafood platter for 3 people at £45 defeated us by its sheer quantity of superb fresh crab, scallops, crayfish, monkfish, turbot, halibut etc. Tonight we are eating at the College restaurant described everywhere as excellent. Friday at 0600 we set off South and I have spent the last hour trying to work out how to avoid tidal races ‘Roosts’ around North Orkney–not easy in the absence of any figures on tidal arrows or any diamonds but knowing it is springs so they are up to 8 kts!

Rona is an island not many have heard of, even more remote than St Kilda it depopulated earlier, we set off for it but the weather forecast was not good so we had to make do with looking for its light in the distance. The wind held well and we sailed down from the Shetlands to just off Cape Wrath where it first died then went to the South leaving us to beat down the Minch against both wind and tide to arrive at Loch Inver having logged 235Nm in 36 hours.

You catch it I’ll cook it

People giving you fish are a bit like busses, the first gave us some Pollack and we gave him bags to carry the rest, the second gave us Cod, Mackerel and one Cod like fish. Fortunately assistance with consuming the fish arrived in the shape of Anthony who at the age of 79 was sailing his Westerly Centaur solo around Britain. I gathered this is without the aid of GPS, and whilst we did have one example of a small grounding he had made it through the Pentland Firth intact. He is moored behind us and we haven’t seen him up yet which may be due to my attempt to recreate the parable of the loaves and fishes but using wine instead of bread. Fresh Mackerel for breakfast.

Leaving Loch Inver dominated by Siulven’s great dome behind we set off south with fish and some real wild venison. The wind didn’t blow well, so instead of our original destination of Gairloch we anchored in Loch Ewe (full of NATO facilities) for a quiet night, the next day we were off early to the Shiant Islands in the middle of the Minch. The wind blew according to forecast and we flew along in beautiful sunshine to these now uninhabited islands with their steep basalt column cliffs. Anchoring proved a bit interesting as the water was deep close to the shore but we managed and parked within 30m of our own arch in the rocks looking north under 30m high cliffs. A useful lesson here, the charts and reality are different we should be in at least 5 m less of water.

A Langoustine or 2

Now the weather did follow the forecast and it began to rain, really the first serious rain of the whole trip so far. We headed south down the coast of Harris towards Poll Scrot (seriously) with its 27 metre wide entrance. In poor visibility we crept in but then hit a discrepancy between the pilot book and the GPS Charts, We went for the pilot book and crept over the bar, where the GPS would have us on the rocks, and after tying up alongside a fishing boat, Jim has just purchased a box (about 14lbs) of Langoustines for £20.

113 Langoustines to be precise and everyone alive and wriggling—actually quite vicious but then you really can’t blame them. 1284 miles logged, we are assured by the local fishermen that ‘Jura’ the boat we are alongside will not go anywhere for a while. I know little of fishing boats but I sincerely hope they are right, not just because we want a good night’s sleep but also because every 15 minutes or so her bilge pump kicks in spraying several gallons of water against our hull. Not a problem at present as we can hardly hear it above the rain but if the rain stops then it could mean several visits to the heads in the night for at least one of our crew. A strategically placed fender diverts the flow and makes life quieter.

Poll Scrotians?

Leaving Poll Scrot and wondering what the inhabitants are called, under blue skies we headed for Skye and after phoning the harbourmaster opted for Uig, for which the Almanac has no details. After filling with water and Diesel at the pier head Graham and Jim set off to Portree for Gaz whilst I anchored in the harbour which had the brownest sea water I have ever seen due to the peat around it.

It was unfortunate that I had assumed that I had a mobile phone signal and that Jim and Graham would return to the steps close to where they had gone ashore instead of to a slipway which was closer to where the bus back from Portree had stopped but only 15 minutes or so after everyone waiting for the Ferry, I too became aware of their plaintive calls.

A Moral Dilemma

Uig has a brewery so we felt morally obliged to support the local economy before returning to a meal dominated by Langoustines and Venison (the 3 steaks Jim had previously bought were about a pound each). A quiet night at anchor was followed by sunshine and light winds as we sailed out past the Ascrib Islands (don’t trust the charts) and on through the Sound of Harris to the uninhabited Island of Taransay where we anchored in a bay of gleaming white sand before going ashore. I climbed to a summit from which I could just see St Kilda before returning to the beach where the others had discovered a very dead sperm whale about 40 foot long and capable of smelling for Scotland.

Running before the Storm

Now the weather forecasts took a turn for the worst and we returned through the sound stopping in at the tiny port of Leversburgh before seeking advice from the local Harbour master about where we could ride out a Gale. Rodel was the answer and as I type this Wild Spirit lies on a Buoy just outside McCloud’s ancient personal harbour. The weather forecast now has F11 Violent Storm expected tonight and whilst the harbour is open to wind it has only 3 small drying entrances so no waves. We are in Stornoway following a very scenic bus ride, and Judith’s flight has just landed.

Wild Spirit is very well attached, by 3 warps and a Chain, to a Buoy designed to take almost twice her weight and the locals assure me Rodel is really protected but in some ways I am relieved not to be on board (and even more not to have Judith on Board in 60+ Kts of wind). The forecast for the next few days is not good so St Kilda may not happen, at least not this year.

Après le Tempest

The weather forecast was right, after about 1800 all Ferries and flights cancelled and not a spare room in Stornoway. Fortunately as soon as we had arrived we booked rooms and Judith’s flight bounced down before everything closed. The wind in Stornoway was seriously strong and the harbour packed with fishing boats and a few yachts but the harbourmaster managed to get them all safely in. An acceptable meal a good night’s sleep and a reprovision followed by a Taxi back to see if we still had a yacht. Relief, Wild Spirit strained on the Buoy in a modest 30Kts and we now had a neighbour. As we ferried provisions out in the rubber duck we heard how our neighbour a regular sailor in these parts had dragged his anchor and had run through the 15 metre wide entrance in 40kts of wind in the dark then dropped his anchor before falling back to pick up a Buoy. The Council Diver was also inspecting the Buoys and explained how the 3 were attached to a huge ground chain with Anchors at each end. I wished I had known this before going to sleep last night as I had assumed the Buoy was just attached to a large piece of concrete.

We are booked into the Rodel Hotel for a meal tonight to celebrate Graham’s Birthday then we plan to be off at 0500 tomorrow to get through the entrance channel on the last of the rising tide. The wind is declining but is still over 20kts in our sheltered bay. I figure the swell out at St Kilda will not decrease enough to allow a landing for at least 36 hours and we have another Gale forecast for Thursday so with heavy hearts we have accepted we will not land on St Kilda this year. I have figured out that if we can get across to the inner Hebrides by Wednesday we can probably find enough shelter to continue to sail south.

A ring of bright water

On our way across to the Hotel something else happened that lifted our spirits, just in front of us surfaced two Otters rolling and playing, they looked at us rolled again and disappeared. Another splendid meal followed and despite over 20 knots of wind a restful night in the pool at Rodel. (This features as the cover photo on the Hebrides guide—although for some reason the carvings of a man and a woman exposing their genitalia on the church tower are omitted from tourist publications other than the rough guide).

We crept out of the entrance to the pool with 0.3m under us and as we headed south the weather forecast came on. It was better than before and whilst F7 was predicted in about 36 hours time I figured we could just get to St Kilda and back so, once again, we negotiated the Stanton Passage and headed west into a large and at times confused Atlantic swell that made sail trimming difficult.

St Kilda

We arrived at St Kilda about 1500 and quickly went ashore. Made famous for its remoteness and evacuation of its starving inhabitants it is the Island that yachtsmen want to sail to. Frankly it was a bit disappointing due to the power generating plant and several green army huts. Whilst they could see us on AIS (Automatic Identification System) from about 40Nm off any aerial the Coastguard had requested we gave them passage plans and we had done so. Leaving St Kilda we attempted to do so again but could not raise them. A small cruise liner ‘Skye Spirit’ was nearby and I asked them to act as relay, which they happily did, but it took them several attempts to get through as St Kilda really is a long way out into the Atlantic. As we sailed back through the night two small exhausted birds looking like some kind of thrush or fly catcher, landed on board and I popped them into a box for the night. As the sun rose over the mountains of Skye we sailed through Barra sound and picked up Diesel and Water at the pier on Eriksay then released our 2 feathered crew, who flew happily away.

Graham gets Crabs

Eriksay was seriously wet and with nothing obvious to do we sailed round to Castle Bay on Barra logging up our 1500th NM as we arrived. It is a lovely little bay with a small Castle stood on a rock just offshore, with a Coop and a couple of other shops, it also had a Library but internet access did not work as well as I had hoped so no download of the Saga so far. Like so many harbours there was nowhere to buy fish so Graham asked a fisherman and came back with 2 large crabs plus 2 Mackerel, all offers payment were refused. We are seriously wet after our run back from St Kilda through wind and rain but the sun has come out and all hatches are open so we are drying nicely. Despite the strong winds forecast for the night this is a very well sheltered bay and we are secured to another of the Council’s visitors moorings. The Western Isles Council also provide a self service fuel system which we have used.

Surfing South

We slipped from our mooring at 0645 and headed out of the shelter of the bay into a northerly 6 to 7. Soon we were surfing south and we sped on past our original destination of Port Ellen on Islay and down to Lough Swilly, 112 miles at over 7.5 knots and some big surfs of over 10kts. It should have been a quiet night but somehow the warp to the Buoy got twisted round the chain and the plastic buoy hit the hull several times during the night. My half naked efforts to sort the problem failed and it took 3 of us bringing the buoy to the stern the next morning to finally unravel it. Now we are heading west past the cliffs of Bloody Foreland and into an area with little shelter. To make matters more confusing the pilot book, almanac and charts all differ on depths of water for example the pilot has Bunbeg Quay 2m minimum whilst the charts have it as drying. For Burtonport alternative anchorages are given but the names do not appear on the charts nor are positions given in the pilot.

Graham gets more Crabs

The pilot describes Aranmore Island as having some of the most spectacular cliff scenery in Ireland, in my opinion it is right as we sailed round it and after a quick chat with a local fisherman borrowed a mooring for the night in Rossillion Bay off the village of Plughoge. Now, according to the, annually updated, Almanac there is a Pub in the village so we went ashore. At the Quay the fisherman we had met presented Graham (he must look hungry) with a large bag of Crab Claws and then me with a Haddock. The Pub closed over 2 years ago but we ate well and after about an hours work have enough Crab meat for 4 large portions. We popped back onto the Quay this morning and filled with water, Judith went off to the village with the rubbish and got a lift back with the same fisherman who has just given us a detailed, yet forceful, opinion of EU legislation on fishing; most of which is obviously ignored (both the legislation and his opinion). It is a stunningly beautiful morning and the local people are truly friendly, the only trouble is the lack of wind. The lack of useful wind for several days in a go combined with nowhere to get diesel, was not a major consideration until now, but as we motor along for the second day running it is with growing awareness of how sparsely populated this part of Eire really is.

Lifejackets

The Irish Coastguard are encouraging the wearing of lifejackets with each weather forecast comes the standard government message that lifejackets save lives. This morning’s announcement had a personal touch when the coastguard added ‘so get yer lifejackets on lads’. One of the things we have all noticed is how much more relaxed the CGs seem than in the Solent, but then they have far less traffic and Darwinism must have restricted the number of incompetent leisure boaters they have to deal with.

Terry to the Rescue

Today we ran down the coast admiring the magnificent cliffs and featuring in quite a few photos taken by cliff top holidaymakers. The only problem was a lack of wind so we burnt more Diesel. The weather was again fair and is predicted to be so for the next few days which is a marked contrast to the heavy rain currently hitting Southern England. I caught a couple of Mackerel (skipper 3, crew 0) but one was small and undamaged so it went back, the other went to a young lad who had been fishing at the Pier when we arrived, but without much luck. So here we are in Killybegs which lands more fish than any other Irish Port. It is not really geared up for yachts and with a 4m tidal range, sorting fender boards and lines was interesting (a chunk of chain hanging off a line helps keep position). The Almanac indicates Fuel and Water; we encountered some difficulties but help was on hand in the shape of Terry who was on holiday and very kindly drove me to a Garage where I bought agricultural Diesel before he drove me back to the Port. Then another Jim arrived and fixed the water for us, it came from a fire hydrant via a reducing valve and long wide hose pipe, all supplied by the harbour authority. The help we have received in Eire and the Scottish Islands has been inspirational and caused us to reflect on several occasions.

An empty Sea

We sailed out of Killybegs and headed south to the Aran Islands and ran through the night with up to 25 kts of wind mainly behind us. We ran down past the 644m high cliffs of Achill Island under a bright moon. It was Friday night and the fishing fleet was in so for more than 20 hours we did not see another vessel. We picked a Buoy in the harbour at Inishmore and went ashore. Judith engaged the services of Thomas O’Toole and his trusty vehicle and we toured the island starting with the Fortress of Dun Aengus built on the cliff top in 1500BC. We did not know that our Thomas was mentioned in the Rough Guide but we could see why as he gave us a fascinating, amusing, if politically incorrect half day tour for 10 Euros each. The next day, with a forecast of NW5 to 7, we set off south for Fenit.

Fenit

In Inismore we had met another sailor who was also the landlord of a Pub and a lifeboat man. I had said we were going to Kilrush and he told me Fenit was a better alternative. It certainly is an attractive little Marina and was easy to navigate into after a very fast run before the NW breeze. Along the way a group of Bottlenose Dolphins caught up with us and did their impression of the Red Arrows, after a while they disappeared but returned twice more to entertain, it was one of the best displays I have seen and really did look choreographed.

Overlooked by mountains and with a large statue of St Brendan the Navigator on a rock, Fenit is also a tourist centre. This was one of the Ports from which the starving people emigrated during the Potato famine and the rock was one of the last views most of them ever saw of their homeland. On recommendation we ate in the award winning West End Pub and had a marvellous meal before walking back to the Marina along the breakwater which was now filled by sea anglers none of whom appeared to have caught a thing. Chatting with one of them it seems that they hoped for Mackerel and Sea Bass but there had been very few Mackerel this year and not many Sea Bass. There were around 50 anglers there settling in for the night and in 15 minutes I didn’t see any catch a thing, but then I suppose many people think sailing is daft.

West to Great Blasket

A quite morning sail in light airs between islands down to the pretty bay of Smerwick where we spent a quiet night at anchor before sailing along towards the Blasket Islands which are Eire’s answer to St Kilda. Initially the light SE winds allowed good progress but as we went into the tidal race between the mainland and the Islands the wind picked up to over 20kts and it rapidly became too lumpy to anchor and go ashore so we pressed on to Dingle to be met in the entrance by Fungi a Dolphin who has made the harbour his home since 1987. Dingle is a tourist town and prices for meals are expensive by both English and, Irish standards, also the place to eat in is closed tonight so it is dinner on board. This was Judith’s last night on board and Paul rejoins us either late tonight or tomorrow morning. Paul arrives earlier than expected having got a couple of lifts and the wine flows. The next day Judith is off early and we clean up the boat fill the tank with diesel from drums the friendly leprechaun, who runs the Marina, has supplied and then we are off south beating into SE5.

‘Are you alright there Fella?’

The Irish Coastguard do not work from prompt screens and the amount of traffic is much less than the Solent. We did not hear the call that started the emergency but it became clear that a sea kayaker was out near the Skerrigs in F6 wind and quite big seas. We were about 7NM off and a local fishing boat was closer. After about 20 minutes the coastguard got a reply to his question and the kayaker was safe.

The entrance to the little harbour of Darrynane looks daunting when seen in the pilot book. In 25kts of wind the narrow passage between jagged rocks covered in foam looks even worse, but we made it and soon were tied to a visitors mooring before finding the local bar. This is just a room in a house but very cosy and welcoming. Next to it is a small field used as a campsite and as we sat in the bar a young couple came in and enquired from the Landlady whether it was free to camp there, the reply was, “Sure but you don’t think it would be free to camp in the most beautiful spot in the whole of Ireland”.

Under a Cable Car

There cannot be many places where you can sail under a cable car but we found one and with 21m clearance at HAT we fitted under easily as we sailed between the mainland and Dursey Island. Actually it was too windy for the Car to be running and there was a strong wind warning for SE up to force 7 which meant that once again we were beating into it as we headed for Crookhaven which was to be our jumping off point for crossing the Irish Sea. Arriving at 1845 the crew had the boat put to bed and the tender ready by 1900, clearly a record, which must have had something to do with O’Sullivan’s bar being separated from us by just 30m of water. We paid our mooring Fees at the bar and went on to the Crookhaven Inn for a good meal and a great evening talking with 2 Irish couples on adjoining tables, it seemed a very fitting way to conclude the marvellous time we had had in Eire.

Homeward Bound

We slipped our mooring at 0730 and set off past the Fastnet Rock towards the Isles of Scilly. The forecast was for SE4 to 6 and it was more or less right so the crossing turned into along beat which reminded me of the last time I sailed round Britain, which was in the race in 2006, when we beat continually for 11 days. This time it was not nearly as bad and we had various groups of Dolphins for quite long periods, this included one individual who specialised in a barrel roll in the air very close to the boat. About 20 miles off Cornwall the wind died, by this time the forecasts of E to SE 4 to 6 plus gales in Sole had already put us off what could only have been a whistle stop visit to St Marys and I put the engine on to get inshore of the Traffic Separation Scheme off Lands End. The wind returned but as soon as we turned east round Lands End it was on the nose and we tacked on and on as the fog started to form. The weather forecasts were getting more serious with Gales in the Irish Sea and Fastnet and I wanted to be round the Lizard so we pressed on to Falmouth arriving around 1000.

Maritime Museum

What better place to spend a wet afternoon—lots of interesting exhibits and buttons to press, even better as the school holidays are over we could play on the bits designed for kids. Definitely worth the visit and the £10 annual entrance fee. We visited the Seven Stars, the only pub in England where the Licensee is a Vicar, it was as full of characters as I remembered and had the accents been Irish we could have slipped back a week or two. The conversation was the same, fishing, the EU (with adjectives) and the evils of supermarkets. On returning to the Marina I found Cimaroon alongside, a Swan 38, owned by a friend of mine who unfortunately was not on board. A forgettable Marina restaurant meal followed by a good night’s sleep.

Fowey revisited

Fowey is one of my favourite ports but the sail from Falmouth to reach it was one of the wettest I have done for some time. Cimaroon left just before us but ran aground (easily done) reversing out of the Marina. Based on ‘It is a wise man who learns from the mistakes of others’ we turned Wild Spirit round on warps and consoled them as we passed that the rising tide would soon carry them off—it did 10 minutes later. Just outside of the harbour the wind picked up to 25 kts and the heavens opened, at times it rained so hard the sea went flat despite the wind. We plodded on towards Fowey and after a while the sun came out but we were still seriously wet. We visited Fowey Yacht Club which has a superb view over the harbour and makes visiting yachties welcome before returning for a last meal with Paul who was off back to Middlesbrough the next day.

We meet the Bismarck

Well actually the German Warship was called Berlin and it plus various British Navy ships, ribs, helicopters and planes surrounded us as they carried out some kind of exercise—I think it was probably about international relations rather than anything else as they all seemed to go into Plymouth for a lunch break. It was however the Berlin parked in front of us when she came out after lunch and we had to call her on 16 to find out her intentions. After a quick chat we went round her stern and then she set off as fast as she could only to stop again a mile or so further out. After just a spot of rain we flew the asymmetric for most of the run to Salcombe and were watched in by the Coastwatch volunteers as they opened their new visitor centre at Prawle Point. They can’t call out on VHF but we called in and sent them a jolly greeting as one of them used to work with Graham.

Salcombe

Salcombe has much to commend it as a port, a beautiful setting, a welcoming Yacht Club and an excellent little Bakery but there is something about the place which doesn’t appeal so much to me and the moorings are expensive. However, we did have a pleasant couple of pints in the Club a quiet night and some lovely croissants etc which Jim sniffed out as we filled with water alongside the town quay at 0730. Then we were off to Dartmouth on the last 3 hours of tide leaving a misty harbour behind as we crossed the Bar into brilliant sunshine. Formidable in an onshore Gale against tide; the Bar at the entrance to Salcombe inspired the poem ‘The night we crossed the Bar’ in 1916 it also claimed the lives of 13 Lifeboat men as they attempted a rescue.

The Iron Genoa

There was no wind, or perhaps more accurately the true wind matched the tide so you couldn’t even use the tide induced wind. We passed a sailfish whose sail fin was failing to fly. We tried with just the spinnaker, our last resort in light airs, but the engine (Iron Genoa) was on for most of the 20 Nm run up to Dartmouth. Just as we came to the Harbour entrance we had wind and torrential rain which with the spring tide and a difficult Marina berth made parking interesting; especially as it involved ferry gliding in astern to fit into a 45 foot gap under the prow of a huge Gin Palace. As we near the end of the trip the choice of food is more constrained and I am wondering how to break the news about the 6 large Chorizios, 36 part baked Petit Pain, 8 canned Fray Bentos Pies and 4 litres of UHT custard to the other two.

The Dartmouth Diet

There has been some resistance to the new dietary regime which has not been helped by a visit to the Ship Inn at Kingsweir, lovely pub, good beer, pity about the food. We are now heading back across Lyme Bay bound for Weymouth and as the wind has dropped we have put the spinnaker away and are now motoring. One of the notable points about the whole trip was how many inaccurate weather forecasts there have been, we should now be in 15 kts from NW and have 5 from the SW. Jim is skippering this leg as part of his Yachtmaster qualifications and has worked it all out to arrive off Portland Bill just as the tide set to the east. It is a spring tide today with up to 7 kts off the Bill so I watch progress with considerable interest.

Surfing Home

For an hour or two we had little wind but the sun shone and slowly but surely the wind picked up from behind us. We popped up a tri-radial spinnaker without the main and went along smoothly at 5 kts, as the wind rose so did our speed and after 3 hours or so we were regularly hitting 10 through the water with a high of 11.4 as we neared Portland Bill. Our progress over the ground was less impressive as we had over 4 kts of tide against us but as we arrived of the Shambles bank just SE of the Bill it turned and we flew into Weymouth over an hour ahead of Jim’s ETA.

The last Leg

The trick of getting from Weymouth to the Solent is to get the tide right but miss the overfalls off St Albans Head. This meant a 0600 start and out into 20kts of SW wind. As the tide picked up we sped west often achieving 10 kts speed over ground under just the Genoa. As I type this we have just passed through Hurst at 9.6 SOG an hour and a half before the tidal gate closes. So here we are back in Lymington, 2555Nm completed in 42 days with 48 night hours. Just as we arrive we use the last of our 480 tea bags, provisioning perfection!

You know how they say when sailing that you are always sailing towards, never to, your destination – well sometimes even that isn’t true. We left Lymington late on a very hot Friday afternoon for the cruise to the Normandy beaches, only to find that due to a combination of wind (or lack of, in the right direction) and tide, if we wanted to sail rather than motor all night that Alderney was a better destination. By the end of the first night watch we actually had enough wind to turn off the engine, which also happened to be just before I retired to my bunk, so I could look forward to an undisturbed 6 hours. The wind did die down considerably during the skipper’s watch, but very kindly he decided we would sail on slowly rather than disturb the sleeping beauties with the iron tops’l. By this time the decision had also been made to head for Cherbourg, not Normandy, because due to a misunderstanding, lack of communication, or call it what you will, we weren’t heading as directly to Alderney as intended. But it had been a good night’s sailing, with clear skies and lots of stars, and we tied up very early Saturday at the start of another glorious day.

After a good French petit dejeuner (croissants, French bread, cheese etc), we left Paul and Graham doing boaty things, whilst Sue, Peter, Jim and I headed up to the Roule Fort; a very steep climb, but the taxi managed it OK. The Fort now houses a very interesting museum covering the D Day Landings, with spectacular views across Cherbourg and the bay. A splendid meal at our secret Cherbourg restaurant rounded off the day.

We made a leisurely start on Sunday, and favourable winds saw us heading off, this time in the right direction, for an excellent sail towards St Vaast. However we were enjoying ourselves so much we continued past St Vaast, had a quick look at the Isles de Marcouf, and continued to Grandcamp Maisy a little further east. Being 6^th June we were pleased to find the presence of some Americans in D Day style uniforms and vehicles, even though they were mostly far too young to have been there 66 years earlier.

A very early start Monday (5.35am!!!) and a brilliant spinnaker run east brought us to our anchorage off Arromanche just 4 hours later, where Paul ferried us ashore in the rib. The ladies set forth for a little retail therapy, leaving the men to tour another museum. Having managed to find a very rudimentary weather forecast, Paul decided that remaining at anchor overnight was probably not the most sensible idea, so a somewhat damper return in the rib to Wild Spirit was effected, and we made an excellent run, this time using the beautiful lightweight spinnaker, westwards to St Vaast.

Tuesday was declared a day of rest, and most of the crew took the amphibious bus across the oyster beds to Tatihou island. A visit to the top of the 17^th Century Vauban tower, which involves a climb up the steep spiral staircase, is worth the effort for the views alone, but does upset the seagulls with their young nesting on the roof. We also walked down to the islet fort which is now home to a colony of egrets, and visited the maritime museum and gardens. Planning to take the ‘bus’ back, we found that everything had shut down for lunch, so we braved the Rhun, or causeway, back through the oyster beds, which is only uncovered at low tide. The tide not being quite low enough yet, after a quick recce we managed the walk in only about 6 inches of water. After some more exhausting shopping in St Vaast, we are now going to put on our glad rags for another night on the town; or failing that a good meal in the Fuchsia restaurant will suffice.

Wednesday

A bit of a strong aroma on board now – both Paul and Jim bought two rounds of very ripe Camembert from Monsieur Gosselin’s delicatessen. It is excellent, and we are doing our best to consume it before it leaves of its own accord!

From the weather forecasts for today we expected the winds to be building during the day, so set off early for a good day’s sailing. Alas, we were thwarted by the wind Gods, and had little wind all day. We hoisted the flying pig (asymmetric spinnaker) around 11.30, but couldn’t get her to set properly, until the skipper noticed our deliberate error (we try to keep him on his toes) – the clew and tack were the wrong way around! In the light winds it was easy to rectify, and we managed to sail for abou t20 minutes until the wind headed us; engines back on before lunch. Undaunted, we did another hoist mid afternoon, which lasted for about 90 minutes. The brief respite from engine noise was very welcome.

We overnighted in Bembridge, and made use of the local watering hole. Local except for the Marina residents that is. A very brisk 30mins walk across paths and a narrow causeway worked up a good thirst. It was quiz night at the pub, but our joint lack of knowledge on soap operas, fashion designers and so on meant we were wise not to get involved.

Now on the final dash back to Lymington. We have wind, and now, for the first time this trip, a big wave crashing across the boat and water down the hatch! In true heroic fashion Paul tried to stop the ingress by taking the force of most of the water. Glad I’m down here as I would have been the only one without full foulies on up there. All calm up top now, sailing nicely downwind under whites, and the kettle’s on. What more do we need!   

Hopefully I speak for all when I say it’s been a great trip, with plenty of excellent sailing, good food and wine, and great company. A big vote of thanks to Paul from us all.

Now signing off,

Crew member Pam

© 2011 Wild Spirit

The race to La Trinite turned out to be classic. With 30 kts of wind on the nose for the start we had 3 reefs in and water coming over the top as we beat down the Solent. Whilst the forecasts had the direction correct the strength was higher than predicted and it only dropped a little as we hurtled down past the needles and out into the Channel.

Our tactics had been based on the forecast and like most other competitors we were aiming to get south of the Casquets traffic separation scheme before the wind dropped and tides swept us back up Channel. The wind dropped early and we decided to stay in mid Chanel instead; north of most of the shipping.

We progressed slowly down towards Ushant until in a complete absence of wind we were drifting backwards in 80 metres of water for several hours. As we were north of the main fleet we could not tell how they were doing and assumed they might have land breezes. Eventually the wind returned and we resumed progress beating down towards Ushant and out into the Atlantic swell before a long night of tacking in the company of 3 yachts that should,  judging by their handicap, have been well ahead of us.

Once past the notorious tidal race of the Rade de Sein on the outside we settled down for a long beam reach in 15 kts of wind and a large swell. After 50 miles of this the wind began to drop and the spinnakers came up. The wind continued to drop but the tide was with us, could we make the finish in time for a beer?

About 7 miles south of the finish there were marks to pass and a course change through a narrow channel limited by rocks, the tide would carry us there but could we make it round the marks. With only 2 kts of wind our ability to steer was limited and we used several sail plans including goose winged with the asymmetric spinnaker before finally creeping past the marks and on to the final run in.

By now two things had become clear, firstly we weren’t going to make it for the beer and secondly the tide would turn against us we could drift across the line. With about 3 knots behind us we flew our biggest spinnaker on a lightweight sheet and with Pam trimming developed 2 knots of boat speed as we continued to creep the last few miles.

No-one saw the squall coming and it hit with 20 kts of wind and heavy rain from the port bows. We bore away and hoisted the whites but the spinnaker sheet detached and the kite was now streaming from the masthead. As long as the wind kept up we could make it and for the 15 minutes the squall lasted we sped over the ground at 8 kts whilst recovering the spinnaker intact. We crossed the line as the rain stopped and the wind dropped then felt our way up the river to Camaret in the early hours before rafting up at the Marina.

Other than the storm/ heavy weather sails we used every sail on board at some stage in the race and managed to make progress between 2 and 30 kts of wind to achieve 6^th in class and beat our old rivals ‘No Fear’ in by several hours.

The hospitality in La Trinite exceeded the normally high JOG levels with a Mayoral reception (short speech lots of bubbly—vive le beaurocracy)  followed by another at the Yacht club and then some moules frite before a couple more drinks on board.

I was genuinely surprised at how perky the crew were the next morning at 0730 as we set off for Loctudy about 60 Nm north. Perhaps the forecast of WSW F4 had cheered them, do they really have more faith in French forecasters them than the Met office? NW to WNW and lots of tacking. Clearly we weren’t going to make it for a good meal out so with Andy skippering one of his YM qualifiers he decided to press on through the nigh a sound decision as the weather wind was due to go further N and increase the next day.

 About 0300 I was rudely awoken by the crew taking an emergency tack to avoid running aground, the chart showed 30 metres but the depth gauge less than one. The steering seemed heavy and the boat slowed, when we started the engine a worrying brown streak appeared. We turned around and the steering seemed better and the boat speed increased. Consulting the chart we were in an area where no trawling or anchoring was permitted and we concluded we had just hit a huge lump of kelp.

We tacked on through the night towards the Rade De Sein a notorious tidal race that requires careful timing, as we closed on it Yachts appeared from several directions and about 10 of us shot through as the tide turned but before the overfalls developed, immaculate timing after over 100 miles of tacking.

Our plan had been to continue up through the Chenal du Fourl but a weather forecast of NW 5 or 6 caused a rethink as this would make L’aberwrach our revised destination, uncomfortable even in the Marina. We turned east and soon arrived in Camaret where we ate well whilst being entertained by 3 bands including Breton pipes—like smaller bagpipes but more musical. The next morning we set off with a much more benign forecast and ran up the Chenal du Four under spinnaker. About 20 Nm later the wind dropped and we had to start motoring towards our revised destination of Weymouth.

For almost 12 hours we had little wind and then the fog closed and the Radar went on, this was the first time we had used it in conjunction with the AIS and the correlation was reassuringly accurate. This was Andy’s second qualifying passage as skipper for Yachtmaster and he was definitely experiencing different conditions. The fog burnt off and the wind picked up, we hoisted the lightweight spinnaker and sped towards Weymouth in up to 20 kts of wind arriving at 1700 on a splendid afternoon with the town packed with holiday makers drinking beer—when in Rome.

A 0600 departure after a heavy night is never the most popular but with a spring tide it had to be done and in glorious sunshine we sped back along the World Heritage site Jurassic coast and home to Lymington having sailed in everything short of a full gale and logging 859 miles.

We crossed the line just after the gun and hoisted a spinnaker to set off east towards Selsey Bill. The line I had chosen reflected the relative inexperience of the foredeck crew rather than the best for tide etc so it was a surprise when we realised we about 6th in the class as we neared the Forts.

In varied winds we ran past Nab tower and then Jibed down to the mark off Selsey before settling down for a run across the channel on winds that were much stronger than had been forecast. Had these winds lasted we would have made excellent time but instead breakfast found us in company with several other competitors off Cap Barfleur and struggling with little wind against an increasing foul tide.

With 60 metres of depth anchoring was not an attractive option and we worked hard to reduce the speed at which we going backwards. The tide eventually turned and we made progress again in very light wind.

Approaching Cherbourg the wind dropped below 2 knots and it was clear that we would struggle to finish before the tide turned. Determined sail trimming and no unnecessary movement of crew kept us going and we just managed to work our position on the eddies of tide to arrive at the Western entrance with a few minutes to spare. 

As we rounded the end of the harbour breakwater the tide drew us in and we lost all wind. Along with 3 other yachts we were now drifting backwards towards the finishing line.

We readied the anchor to drop it at the stern and immediately recover but the redistribution of weight alone allowed us to turn and we were able to regain steerage and make a fraction of a knot to cross the line some 26 hours after the start.

This was one of the most exciting finishes we have experienced and we were all tired. There was however more to come.

We set off back to Lymington as it was too late to eat out in Cherbourg. A watch system started and I was fast asleep until 0400 when the engine suddenly stopped. My initial thought was that perhaps we had at last been blessed with wind but it was in fact 25 metres of fishing net round the prop and rudder.

We were in the middle of the channel and at the limit of VHF range. I considered the options and decided against Andrea kind offer to go over the side. There was fog about but we were in a clear patch and between the 2 main flows of shipping.

I spoke with Solent Coast Guard and commenced half hourly Securitee broadcasts while we waited for some wind.

The wind did not come but instead Scarlet Jester a smaller competitor came to us and offered a tow which we accepted. We were now making less than 2 knots north towards the Isle of Wight but there was a possibility of some wind and we had reasonable visibility.

I had not issued a Pan Pan so was surprised when the Coast Guard called us to say the Yarmouth lifeboat was on its way. An hour and a half later we slipped our line from Scarlet Jester and accepted one from the Yarmouth lifeboat. Then we were off at over 8 knots across a flat sea.

Just off Yarmouth we went into a close coupled tow and were put carefully alongside in Yarmouth by the lifeboat. This is an interesting experience as one slip by them and we would be well and truly squashed.

Seastart had a diver waiting and in a quarter of an hour he had cut all the net away and we had ceremonially carried it to the skip. A quick check of the prop and a visit to thank the lifeboat crew and we were on our way.

76th out of 111 entrants so not brilliant but at least we finished.

Our thanks to scarlet Jester, her skipper Jamie Muir and crew.
The cruise to Sark, Alderney and Cherbourg was a much more relaxed trip with some superb weather and for most of the time enough wind to sail by. We had a few regulars plus Carl on board and he proved himself to be an excellent cook and affable team member. On the crossing back he was skipper and completed a Qualifying Passage towards his YM

The Round the Island race was a more laid back affair than the last few years and most of the crew had not used a spinnaker before our practice day. After tacking down the needles passage we went further out than most competitors to give us a simple spinnaker run. With wind against tide off St Catts things got a bit exciting at times and several other yachts tore their spinnakers. We rounded the East end and tacked up the north of the island in very close quarters with shouts of starboard all around.  At 494th out of 1771 far from  our best result but quite commendable for a novice crew flying a spinnaker for the first time.

We came 37th out of 79 in the Royal Ocean Racing Club Channel race last weekend and have now qualified for the Fastnet. Not a fast race due to lack of wind at times but good fun and we improved our light wind sailing skills.

The Eddystone race saw us of to a flying start and we made good time until just before the light house when the wind died. It took us and about 30 other Yachts some 3 hours to inch our way past against the tide but we were entertained by Basking Sharks one of whom circled us in a good impression from Jaws. (I know they only eat plankton but this one was 30 foot long and had a mouth as big as a dustbin). On the way back the wind died completely and the forecast was for very little so with a heavy heart we decided that we would not make the finish in time for the international flights that had to be caught on monday and likely many others retired

The Competent Crew and day Skipper Course run over 2 long weekends was a more lively affair and on the second one we ran down to Weymouth on a spinnaker with the promise of a South or Southwesterly to speed us back. Yet again the weather forecast was wrong and on the Saturday we had to beat back aginst between 20 and 28 knots of Easterly.

Andrew our Day Skipper navigated well and we passed over St Albans ledge shortly before the tide turned to run with us, but against the wind. After a short choppy little section of Anvil point we sailed into the bay and back to the Solent logging 59 miles in just under 10 hours.

All 4 students passed successfully and we had a great time.

The RYA require 100 miles minimum and we did 165 including visiting, Cowes, Haslar, Portsmouth, Southampton and Yarmouth. Excellent company made a for really enjoyable course. All 4 students have indicated they want to sail on WS again and 2 have already booked to do so.

We had just come through the overfalls off St Albans Head in 20 Kts of SW with the tide when we heard Mayday Polly. We were informally racing against Turning Point a Bavaria 38 which had been berthed alongside us in Yarmouth and were now comfortably a mile a head.

Hearing the MAYDAY I immediately put the crew on close watch with a quarter each and then heard the Coast Guard respond.

The conversation was along these lines.

CG—What is your position?

P-We don’t know

CG-Where have you come from.

P-Poole.

CG—Several questions about speed, course etc with the only useful bit of information elicited that Polly had passed 2 light houses.

P—I can see a yacht.

At this stage Turning Point suggested that the Yacht Polly could see was Wild Spirit and I spoke to the CG reporting the crew had been on close watch but we could not see any vessel other than Turning Point.

CG—Polly do you have any flares on board—Polly found One and fired it then reported it had failed. But for a second or 2 there had been a red light which Rob had seen and was sure about. Based on Rob’s observation I then moved the Cursor of the GPS onto Polly’s position and both us and TP turned around and beat back towards it and the now rather white looking Race.

Polly confirmed she could see both of us heading towards her and we spotted her with Binoculars. Shortly after we had turned and confirmed the flare fix visually the Swanage lifeboat came round the Headland and would clearly arrive before us. I spoke to Portland CG and we were released to continue our passage to Cowes.

Apparently Polly was a 7 metre fishing boat with engine failure, she had been purchased the day before—I make no comment about the wisdom of trying to take such a vessel against tide and wind through a renowned tidal race at Springs.

The bank holiday traffic meant that 2 of the crew decided to go direct to Cowes and we would go up the evening before the race on the tide. Unfortunately 2 other crew plus enough provisions to ensure Waitrose makes a profit this year were delayed on the M3 for a couple of hours. This meant that we did not reach Cowes until around 2330 and by the time we had tied up etc the pubs were closing. We did however recover the 2 crew who had been forced to eat a huge Tandoori washed down by copious quantities while they waited.

This was our first Royal Ocean Racing Club race of the Fastnet campaign and we would be content with finishing safely/ acquiring the qualifying miles. Also in the race was Space Race a first 40.7 crewed mainly by former Wild Spirit team members and we were keen to beat them as well.

After a good start we beat down to the needles then turned on to a spinnaker run which was to last most of the way to le Havre. The wind was better than the light ones forecast and we cracked on with the Asymmetric ‘Flying Pig’ at first, changing to the Radial Spinnaker later.

Some confusion arose at the Finish line and we, plus some other yachts, passed the wrong side of the committee boat, fortunately a few minutes later I realised this and we sailed back on whites rounded it and finished correctly but almost half an hour later. Despite this we just beat Phil and his team on Space Race by 6 minutes and came 81^st out of 106.

Our next RORC race is the Eddystone on the Bank holiday weekend.

We crossed the line about 10 seconds late, whilst others suffered recalls, and we were soon doing 11 kts SOG. With the wind gusting to 30 kts I decided against a spinnaker as we surged down the Eastern Solent. Just over half of our class went for spinnakers so we saw some impressive broaches and a few wraps. About half way down the leg we noticed a batten coming loose on the main and we had to drop the sail, refix it and hoist again—this cost us afew minutes but was well executed by the crew.

We rounded Nab and began tacking back against gusts of up to 37 apparent and pulled back a few places. I joined the crew on the rail and a few minutes later suddenly found my feet in the water as the Helm was deceived by a gust and wave into heaving to. Calling out kind words of consolation I rejoined him in the cockpit and we tacked back onto course. (Do not try this trick on a less stable boat without prior consent of all the crew).

Once we had passed the Forts we we beat down the final leg in style except for 2 short tacks to round a mark before crossing the line at 11 kts SOG to come 18^th out of 25 in class.

Sunday saw us out in the Solent and the only yacht with a spinnaker up, with just 2 kts of true wind we flew the spinnaker on the lightweight sheet and then practised with the flying pig which responded well in light winds and even better as the breeze freshened to 15 kts.   

Ocean Rigging have replaced all the standing rigging and incorporated modifications to the backstay adjustment to help give a few degrees higher pointing when beating into the wind. This step was taken after detailed consultations with a Naval Architect, the Sailmaker and the Riggers. The cost was significant and in combination with the new sails it really does work.

I have just returned from the annual RYA Yachtmaster Instructors Conference. A well attended and fairly interesting event, the inevitable ‘How’s business?’ question was frequently asked. As far as I can tell new yacht sales have stopped but other parts of the sailing game continue fairly well. Lymington Yacht Charter who look after Wild Spirit for me were certainly receiving bookings when I was sat in their office last week.

 One of the things about conferences is that there are trade stands with special offers and with up to 50% off I ended up buying new navigation instruements, charts, teaching aids etc–in fact I spent more than the cost of the conference, lets hope they really were bargains.

Marinas; however seem to be having a tougher time with special offers, particularly if you sign up for several years. It looks like Cowes week and the little Britain will be hit hard by sponsors withdrawing. If you or your company are interested in either of these I will give you a very reasonable quote. You may get a cheaper deal elsewhere, but we will still be in business on the day.

If you are a keen sailor with some experience and qualifications, but suddenly no job, you could consider working on a tall ship via the Sail Training Association. You don’t get paid much but it is good experience and looks well on a CV.

Our IRC Certificate for 2009 has changed to reflect the new sails and has gone down which is to our benefit. I queried this with Peter Sanders who made the new sails and on further research  found that the previous measurements we had been supplied with were wrong so we have been racing at a disadvantage for the last 3 years. This probably would not have made much difference for our Royal Ocean Racing Club results, although we may just have made the top 10, but for our RIR result of 124^th it would have made a significant difference.

The material used for these sails is similar to Mike Perham’s round the world attempt—see Practical Boat Owner Feb 2009 p70