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Spellbinder making a good start in the Solent |
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On our way home, 25 miles to the Bishops Rock |
The following
article appeared in the Autumn 2003 edition of the Phoenix Yacht Club
newsletter:
FASTNET
2003: Patience Rewarded
On the
Gosport ferry at 10.00am the Saturday before the Fastnet and not a breath of
breeze, 608 miles is a long way to go with no breeze. I arrive at Spellbinder to
find a hive of activity not only on Spellbinder but several other yachts also
preparing for the big race. Being off-loaded are; the dinghy, spare ropes,
oilies, spares (probably don’t need to take a spare prop!), pilotage books
which if we required would mean definitely being in the wrong place and most
importantly the old main sail. So yes, for the big race we have a shiny new
mainsail that we can set, tweak, and most importantly beat to wind without
dropping back through the fleet.
| So what is the Fastnet Yacht Race? The biennial Rolex Fastnet Race was first run in 1925 and is one of the 3 classic, 600 NM ocean races in the world, together with the Sydney Hobart and Newport Bermuda races. The race is organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, with the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Royal Western Yacht Club, Plymouth. It now always starts on the Sunday immediately following Cowes week. The 608-mile course starts off Cowes, takes the yachts past the Needles and out into the English Channel. The headlands along the South Coast of England - Anvil Point, Portland Bill, Start Point, The Lizard, Lands End - must each be weathered on the way to open ocean and the 170 NM leg North West to the Fastnet Rock with its mythical lighthouse. The return leg to Plymouth is via Bishop Rock Lighthouse on the South side of the Scilly Isles. The race is a fantastic test for skippers and crews with its tricky tidal currents, changeable weather and open ocean leg out to the rock, combined with fatigue and competition take their toll The Rolex Fastnet Race attracts every type of sailor and boat from just about every sailing country in the world. Sailing schools, corporate institutions, family owned and crewed cruiser-racers, dedicated amateurs, club sailors along with the hardened champions from the Grand Prix circuits, are all make up the fleet of 240 yachts. Everything from Mike Slade’s 94-foot super maxi sled, to Sigma 33’s and Contessa 32’s. For additional information see www.rorc.org |
No wind on Saturday means we cannot
go out and play with the new toy but there is plenty to do including rigging of
the storm jib, tri-sail and checking how we would stream the sea anchor. ‘Must
be a serious race’ says an onlooker from the pontoon and whilst not wishing
for 50 knots and testing the tri-sail in anger, a bit more breeze would be
appreciated.
Sunday
morning and an early start as we need to leave the berth by 7.30am, I hope there
are not too many hangovers from the Spellbinder and Entrantress team meal the
night before, with 240 yachts competing in the Fastnet the start line gets
pretty busy even with class starts and 10 minute intervals. The breeze has
arrived and we hoist the new mainsail, it might not be Kevlar but straight from
the sail makers it sets beautifully and we wonder how we sailed with granny’s
knickers in the previous races. A nod and a wave from the committee boat at the
qualification gate that our tri-sail and storm jib are OK and we are into the
race countdown. Staying alert is key, hitting Kingfisher, Nicorette a Whitbread
maxi or Leopard of London, Mike Slade’s 94 Super-Maxi sled would get us in
Yachting World but for all the wrong reasons. A puff of smoke from the squadron
line and the super fast, Super Zero boats are off. They could be back to
Plymouth by Tuesday and we wonder if they have packed anything more than a
Thermos of soup and a few chocolate bars against our 7 days supplies.
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Spellbinder making a good start in the Solent |
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On our way home, 25 miles to the Bishops Rock |
| What does Spellbinder’s IRC 0.970 rating mean? IRC is the rating system used by 95% of racing yachts in the UK. It is a simple handicap system, for example in the Fastnet we took 5 days, 8 hours, 46 minutes multiplied by 0.970 gave us a corrected time of 5 days, 4 hours, 54 minutes. A Sigma 38 has a rating of 0.995 so needed to be 3 hours 15 mins quicker across the line to beat us after 125 hours of racing, only 2.6% faster. A Beneteau First 40.7 has a handicap of 1.047 whilst the big boys such as Leopard a 94-foot super maxi sled have a rating of 1.605. The formulae to calculate a yacht’s IRC handicap are a secret. These help avoid yachts developing with extreme designs to give a good handicap, but are detrimental to sea keeping and sensible yacht design as happened with the old IOR handicap system. |
We get a good start, in the first
half of class 3 and rush to hoist the spinnaker. Even the big boys hoisted their
spinnakers after the start, OCS (On Course Side) and having to beat back against
wind and tide would not have been a fast manoeuvre. Ah, the first drama of the
trip, we have a wrap in the spinnaker but with all hands on deck a bit of
tugging and halyard antics we have it set and are away. The wind starts to
decrease and with Andrew consulting the newly purchased book ‘Tides and
Tactics’ we head for the mainland shore, a great move as we see a large group
of class 1 and 2 boats parked-up near the Isle of Wight Shore. With Jerry
calling the depth we trade a bit of tide to stay in the wind and creep up the
coast but eventually a few miles from Hurst Castle we too run out of wind.
Thoughts again that this is a long race if we have no wind, but soon the kite is
down, the wind has picked up and we are now beating, who says the Solent can get
boring. Through the Needles channel still in front of the multi-hulls who
started only 10 minutes behind us and note that even the professionals get it
wrong as Tony Bullimore and his mega cat Team Pimsic have gone aground. Why did
he go in there with less tide, less wind and now not less water, but no water?
The wind picks up at with everyone on the rail we are not only looking like a
proper race crew, but with 7.2 knots on the log we finally have Spellbinder
driving up into the wind.
The great
breeze doesn’t last and we fight our way to Portland Bill. With the dying rays
of Sunday’s sun the wind also dies and the tide is about to set in the wrong
direction. VMG (Velocity Made Good) on the GPS starts to read negative and
it’s time to drop the hook. If you have ever wondered why there is so much
chain and warp on Spellbinder, well it is probably for us racing types who like
to kedge in 35 metres of water, or in the Brixham race first 49m and then for a
second time in 50m of water. And yes pulling up 50m of anchor and chain from 35m
is hard work but the team pulls together and we continue our slow progress to
the next mark of Start Point arriving at 9am on Monday.
The wind picks up and we make good progress for once. With tidal gates
being in our favour we pass the Lizard at 10pm Monday and on to Lands End in the
early hours on Tuesday morning, 180 miles down 425 to go but the 170 miles to
the Fastnet Rock is further than Cowes to St. Malo!
By Tuesday afternoon we have made great progress and are half way to the
rock. Capitals Sailing’s two Sigma 38’s Zanzara and Sigmagician keep us
amused with their banter on VHF and we find ourselves about 10 miles behind,
well in contention when handicaps are calculated. The rock is on schedule for
midday Wednesday but this race is never predictable and with only 20-30 miles to
the rock the wind dies and changes so we are now beating or should we say
gliding towards the rock. Those yachts who have rounded the rock now ghost pass
us with their spinnakers up. The rock is tantalisingly visible for 12 hours as
we fight our way towards it with the barest of breezes and by the time we call
Ocean four, the RORC committee positioned in the Fastnet lighthouse it is 10pm
and the powerful light illuminating Spellbinder with every rotation.
Now on our
way home and with the new weather system finally having come in only 15 minutes
before passing the rock and I realise we should be able to use the kite. Having
had the barest of breezes for the last 12 hours I haul the 0.75oz lightweight
spinnaker on the deck. Rigging the spinnaker at night with a building breeze
heightens the scenes and twenty seconds after launch Andrew feels a big pull on
the sheet as the wind kicks in. Tim is on the helm, Andrew giving a few words of
advice as his knuckles grow a little bit whiter as the breeze builds even
further and we pass 6 other yacht who haven’t been quite so fast to hoist
their spinnakers on this broad reach. Hopefully Andrew’s words of advice help
Tim avoid a broach, as I struggle on the foredeck changing the number 1 for the
number 2 headsail as we need to get the kite down pretty soon. With a great team
effort we hoist the number 2, spike the kite and haul it down below. Spellbinder
is now flying and with all the excitement we have no time to celebrate rounding
the rock and it’s back to the watch system for the 150 miles to the Bishops
Rock.
Thursday
afternoon and we have made some fantastic progress catching a few yachts and
then we make huge ground on the yacht ahead, binoculars out. Yes they are
changing their headsail and it is our favourite Sigma 38, Degree of Latitude run
by Girls for Sail. We sail in company for about an hour exchanging waves and
photo opportunities and then onwards to the Bishops Rock lighthouse which we
pass at 11pm on Thursday. The Scillies look absolutely beautiful with a
cloudless night and calm seas as the islands shield us from the Northerly swell.
‘Target beer’ of into Plymouth by Friday evening looks achievable.
We can just
about lay the Lizard and hope for that wind shift but with leeway and the wind
veering not backing we get pushed 10 miles South of the Lizard. It is now a long
hard beat up to Plymouth, initially we try and get close to the Lizard to catch
the beneficial tide but wind over tide make us tack out again. So only a short
sail into Plymouth, but the 608 mile race has changed our scence of distance as
it is still 50 miles to the finish, the Nab tower to Cherbourg! So we spend all
day beating up towards Plymouth eventually hearing other boats calling in their
finish times to RORC Ocean 1. A
final tussle with Dolfijn a Swan 38 who just beat us across the line,
unfortunately both us knowing the line is much closer at the lighthouse end and
as we cross the line we get a gun. 7 beers have survived all the way from
Gosport and are gratefully sank by a tired but very happy crew proud of what we
have achieved. Thoughts turn to showers and a night in the Royal Western Yacht
Club bar and Fastnet party tent.
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Fastnet
Rock South-West Ireland. No
wind but very beautiful and nearly on our way home |
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The
finish, Plymouth lighthouse. Navigator Andrew has got us to the right
place |
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Spellbinder GBR 1751T Fastnet 2003 Results 148th of 235 in IRC |
So onto a few words of thanks; to
Andy Bowerman who has supported us at every stage of this campaign from the
initial concept, to persuading the management committee of the need for a new
mainsail, to running Enchantress as mother ship to meet us in Plymouth. To all
those who have sailed in the qualifiers particularly John Shield who skippered
the Le Havre race enabling members to gain qualifying RORC miles, to the sailing
and management committees for supporting the project and myself as skipper. Now
sounding like the Oscars, to Bob for his huge amount of work on Spellbinder
including arranging the fitting of the inner forestay, taking her out of the
water prior to the race for a thorough check out, arranging the repair to the
bow-roller in time for the race and of course his enthusiasm and encyclopaedic
knowledge of Spellbinder, always useful to have the Bosun onboard. And finally
of course to all my crew who have come through both a steep learning curve of
offshore racing and the frustrations of the qualifying races to produce a
fantastic result in the Fastnet.
Jerry Jones,
Lawrence Nicholls,
Tim Sulman,
Bob Goff.
Andrew Bruce,
Lenie Stephens,
Martin Johnson
Martin Johnson Spellbinder Skipper, Fastnet 2003
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