Steep seas and bruised knees....

Back home after a wicked race to Guernsey!

We didn't have a particularly great start when the gun went at 1620 on Friday afternoon, but we were able to claw our way through the fleet as we left the western Solent on port tack. Once out past the Needles, the fleet split; some sailed close hauled, while others freed off their sails onto more of a reach. Our routing suggested that we should reach over to Portland, tacking a few miles off the headland when the expected front came through. 
However as the routing didn't quite match up to the true situation on the water, we decided to come back onto a close hauled course, sailing just north of the rhumb line to Guernsey. 

Checking the Nav is quick & easy on the Figaro- it's all there on the laptop

Late into Friday evening the breeze had built, making the boat difficult to depower. It was time for a 'peel', a process of changing head sails simultaneously so as not too lose any boat speed or headway. In theory this was an easy manoeuvre- we had hoisted the genoa up on the starboard halyard in the right hand groove, leaving the port halyard and left hand groove free for the solent. All we had to do was pull the sail up, onto tack onto starboard and drop the genoa. 

It all sounds simple on paper, but throw in a few breaking waves, a dark night and 30 knots of wind and your left with a challenge. It was tricky to clip the tack of the Solent on, and when it came to hoisting, the whole thing got washed down the deck, so I had to go up again to drag the luff forward and try again. Winching the solent up seemed to take a lifetime; usually you can hoist these sails by hand relatively easily! 

 By the early hours of the morning we had reached Les Casquets; you can see the lighthouse for miles off, but it is only when you get close that a wide stretch of rocks appear between breaking waves. 

Clear skies Saturday morning

After a 100 miles or so and a few more tacks around rocks & headlands, we were on the final approach to the finish line, broad reaching along the coast of Guernsey with the big kite up. With the gusts I was fearful of broaching out near other boats - or worse, the shore- but we were fine, crossing the line just after 9am. 

Despite being really peckish and thirsty for a decent cup of tea, we didn't get to stop in Guernsey. St Peter's port looked very pretty in the bright sunshine, with all the colorful houses dotted along the front. Perhaps next time I go it will be by Condor ferry! 

With just 80 miles, straight line blasting with the kite back to the Needles Fairway, it took just seven hours to get back again. Finding the steering pretty heavy I had two hands on the tiller, and will admit to broaching a couple of times, but nothing too dramatic happened. With 40 knots coming through Sam took the helm, and I had a very comfortable kip sitting at the back of the boat; although I missed seeing our SOG of 20.7 knots on the instrument panel! 

In hindsight I should have worn this!

When we got a gust of 47 knots, it was time to drop the small the kite, particularly as we were back to sailing with a full mainsail. The run back in to the western Solent was exciting- at times we were still doing 17 knots boat speed, goose-swinging the headsail and surfing down the waves. Seeing 50 knots in the Solent made it feel like we were far out at sea, with white horses and some steep chop. Packing up the boat was tricky, as each wave would knock the bow down making it difficult to drop the sails...not helped by being a bit close quarters with the Red Funnel and Red Jet ferries! 

I would say the highlights of the race were:

1)eating sloppy muesli
2) trying to not drop a boiling kettle while checking nav, making dinner & staying on two feet
3) water crashing over the deck while Sam was trying to sleep
4) having dry feet
5) the great snooze I had while we surfing home at 20 knots with the little kite up. Next time I will remember to   
     clip on...
6) Finishing quickly, leaving Sunday free for surfing and road biking!In three weeks time I am jumping ship to sail OC 43 with Alex Gardner, for the Cowes-Dinard-St. Malo race. 
We make a good team having worked together last season, campaigning a J/109 to podium position in the Commodore's Cup, so I am looking forward to prepping the boat with him. I expect his IPAD will be coming with us- he tells me it is for navigation, but with all those Apps on the market these days I am not so sure. Perhaps he just wants to play Angry Birds? 

Round the Island 2013- windy enough to blow the spinnaker in two pieces not long after this photo was taken