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round the island race 2006

(if you wish to print this out an Adobe copy is also available, more..)

Friday 1st June 2006

Jo (my daughter) arrived in time for lunch on Friday and we drove down to Warsash in the afternoon. I had decided that we would launch on a rising tide and although the hard is very flat at Warsash it should be straightforward to get the boat off the trailer and then wait until the water had risen sufficiently to get afloat. We rigged the spars and sails and then backed the trailer down as far the car wheels would allow. Then we uncoupled the winch line and pushed the boat into the water. She didn’t float so I drove the car and trailer out leaving her aground on the gravel. I left the car and trailer in the car park which allowed free parking of both! When I had walked back to the boat Jo was holding on to the mooring rope still waiting for the water to rise up enough to float her off. I brewed up a cup of tea to help pass the time and soon after we managed to push the bows round into the deeper water and start our journey to Cowes.

It was a pleasant evening and we sailed on a broad reach across the Solent. Soon after passing Calshot we noticed a number of yachts racing in the area. A motor launch drew up to warn us to keep clear of the racing area as it was the finish of the penultimate leg for the Volvo ‘Round the World’ race. There was not a lot we could do as we were smack in the middle of their track. So we took care not to get in the way and took some fine photos of an impressive sight.

 

It was the first time that I had decided to sail over to Cowes the night before the race and I was expecting the marinas to be jammed full of yachts. Sure enough we met with many really large ones rafting up six deep outside the South Yacht Haven. Nothing daunted we motored into the marina and found a small yacht to raft up against. A young girl in a small motor boat was monitoring the boats arriving and she agreed that it was a suitable berth for us.

Having secured the boat with sufficient fenders we set forth to the office to pay our dues. We then went in search of a drink along the main street. The whole place was buzzing and we were lucky to find a pub which was not overflowing with people. Having enjoyed a drink we returned to the boat for supper and early bed. Unfortunately we hadn’t reckoned on an open air party supported by a vigorous band on the quay two hundred yards away. This continued to make a lot of noise until the early hours of the morning.

Saturday 2nd June 2006

We were up early on Saturday and left the Yacht Haven at 6.15am. The wind was a light nore-westerly and we were fortunate that our start at 6.40am would allow the maximum time with a favourable current down to the Needles. We motored out towards the start line and hoisted the sails. There appeared to be more wind and current in our favour further out, unlike previous years when we had started close inshore. I tried to line up the marks on the shore which provided the starting line transit. Jo wasn’t convinced that I had got it right and when the starting gun sounded I confess I was not certain. However the current was strong enough to deter me from going to make sure – so we continued the whole race in some doubt. It wasn’t until Sunday when the results came that I was sure that we had been OK. There was one other Shrimper near us at the start (ahead of us!) and we noticed two others near the shore. There were several larger gaffers around with every possible sail up and drawing. They looked a fine sight and were soon pulling away from us in the fine fetch.

We stayed out in the middle of the Solent until we reached Hurst Point and then moved across towards the Island shore where I hoped the current would be greatest. By now most of the fleet had started and the site of over a thousand yachts with their spinnakers up behind us was a wonderful sight.

It had become clear by now that one of the inshore Shrimpers was a challenge. The others had disappeared and we learnt later that none had managed to get round the Needles before the tide had changed. We had managed to get a lead in the first hour but as we closed in on Hurst Point our rival headed up moving faster than us and started to open up a lead. He sailed more into the middle of the channel. We continued to close in on the Island but he still kept his lead. By the time we were three or four cables off the Needles he had changed course and was steering a course to nip close around the lighthouse, exactly as we intended.

As he closed in on the rocks a class of large yachts converged to the same point and our rival took fright and turned out to sea to go round to the back of the queue. By the time we reached the turning point, at 10.00am we had caught up to within forty metres but as we turned we sailed into a small hole in the wind and he started to open up a lead again. It was clear that he had decided to sail out to sea, with most of the big yachts, to catch the early sea breeze which was expected to arrive any minute. We weren’t so sure about this and although it was clear that we should not sail too close to the cliffs and get blanketed by them there still appeared to be some land breeze left and we decided to keep reasonably close to the shore and stay within the eddy which existed there. After an hours difficult sailing, trying to catch every vesper that came anywhere near we realised that our tactics had paid off and we had overtaken not only our rival but a large block of large yachts which appeared to be stationary. Our rival had clearly noticed this and had changed course to come inshore. After another forty minutes he had crossed astern of us and headed inshore and in so doing started to overtake us again. The dilemma was to follow or to stay our course and continue to look out for the sea breeze. We noticed that the boats out to sea were now on the opposite tack showing that the new wind had started, but they were not moving as fast as us. Then at about 11.45am we noticed that the yachts at the Needles were beginning to pick up a fresh breeze. Immediately we turned and headed south-west to meet the new wind. We were luck not to sail into a hole and as the land breeze faded we immediately felt the new wind in our faces. We bore round onto a broad reach heading for St Catherine’s Point. This was a splendid wind force 2/3 and stayed steady until we had reached the point. We arrived at 1pm and by this time had set up a lead over our rival of about one and half miles.

As we approached the overfalls at St Catherine’s Point the wind dropped and we went through the passage of disturbed water in a flat calm without even steerage way. The boat slowly circled completely out of control as it was driven past the point. It wasn’t until twenty minutes later when we had reached calmer water that the wind reappeared. We broad reached to Dunnose Head and the turned north on a direct run for Bembridge Ledge. This part of the race has always been the worst part for me as I find myself falling asleep at the tiller. This occasion was different as Jo had kept feeding me with drink and snacks – bananas and chocolate- making sure that I kept alert. However the further down this leg we got so the wind dropped, down to Force 1, by the time we reached the buoy at 4pm. We turned the mark and after half an hour the wind dropped down to nothing, luckily by now the tide had turned in our favour. Horror of horrors we looked back to see our rival sweeping down towards Bembridge Ledge. He had picked up a special breeze and this brought him into strong contention. In fact he sailed up to within seventy metres of us before losing the wind.

We were now back to the guessing game. We could not make up our minds where should aim, although the north side of the Solent seemed to be slightly favoured. Then we noticed that the yachts sailing out of Bembridge had some wind so we turned in that direction. Fortunately we picked up this new light breeze from the west a few minutes before our rival and we took a starboard tack towards Bembridge. I was sure that there was more favourable current in the middle of the Solent so as soon as it was clear that the wind had spread out we tacked on to port and aimed for No Man’s Land Fort. Our rival chose the inshore route and we had another tense half hour to find out who had got it right. We had gained and this gave us heart. Then soon after passing the fort we had a big stroke of fortune. A new land breeze suddenly came in from the north west. Bumble Chugger picked up her skirts and in a pleasant Force 3/4 speed forward for the final hours dash to the finishing line. We arrived soon after 20.00pm very please to finish and keep our rival at bay.

After picking up our goodies bag from the barge we celebrated on board with a drink and then set off back to Warsash under motor. As we entered the Hamble we noticed that a yacht had gone aground on the eastern shore. Another yacht was trying to get close enough to pass a line, but the skipper shouted to us saying that we might find it easier to get in close. So we went in and picked up a line and under full throttle with our Honda four stroke 5 hp engine managed to pull her off the mud. We and they were equally chuffed about this and they provided us with a bottle of red wine to show their appreciation. It had been a long day and we at last tied up on the pontoon adjacent to the Harbour Master. I made us a simple supper and we got another early night quite pleased with our efforts.

It was a pleasant surprise to find out a few days later that we had won both the trophy for Shrimpers (Whale Trophy) but also for New Gaffers (Discovery Trophy – a ‘dead-eye’ from Scott’s ship Discovery). A few weeks later I discovered that we had also won the Civil Engineers’ Smeaton Trophy.

Robin Whittle 1st August 2006