Sail the Channel? That's Optimistic

Nick Rogers may have retained his 470 European Championship title recently, but he has relinquished another that he had held for 18 years, the record of being the fastest Optimist sailor around the Isle of Wight. In fact, until 9 July this year, Nick was the only sailor known to have sailed around the island in an Optimist.

But on 9 July, three Lymington Optimists helmed by a team of 11 sailors, aged between 11 and 14 years old, completed the voyage in 11 hours and 11 minutes exactly, smashing the record of 13 hours 55 minutes set by Nick in 1987. In one sense, Nick's record still stands because he was the sole participant in his circumnavigation, while the new one was completed by swapping helms in and out of the boats every few hours.

Still, that isn't to belittle the achievement. I think it's fantastic for such young sailors to have taken on this challenge in such an unlikely boat as the Optimist. Jane Porter from Lymington sent in this report of the big adventure.

"Thanks to the timing of the spring tides and near perfect sailing conditions with a 12-18 mph north-easterly breeze and a sunny day, the team who met at Lymington at 0400hrs and set off from the starting platform at 0508hrs, slightly apprehensive and wondering whether they'd be back before midnight, in the event enjoyed a perfect day's sailing around the scenic Isle of Wight coastline. 

"At any o time three of the team were sailing, one in each of the three support RIBs ready to transfer, and the remainder taking a brief rest on the mothership yacht and keeping a supportive eye on the proceedings.  All transfers between Optimists and RIBs (practised in two previous rehearsals) were accomplished swiftly in motion wasting no time.  There was only one capsize all day when just after rounding the Needles the sailors were met by strong katabatic gusts off the high cliffs. 

"The team were prepared for the Overfalls at St Catherine's Point where, although the wall of water looked intimidating, in the event it presented no real problem.  The Solent was busy and choppy off Cowes on a Saturday afternoon but the sailors, buffered also by their RIBs who moved in close to protect them, were on starboard and ready to call if needed, to the crews of the racing yacht fleets.  Members of the Royal Lymington Yacht Club race committee greeted the team home just after 4.15pm, and for their ‘finale' they sailed in pairs across the line until each sailor had officially crossed the finish."

All the participating sailors live close to Lymington. They were Mark and Paul Minors, Gareth Moore, Henry Lloyd Williams, Connie Stock, Misha Bruml, Oliver Porter, Robbie Urwin, Karen Thomas, Sam Batten and Liam Garrison.

Optimist dad David Minors organised the event after his 14-year-old twins, Mark and Paul, asked if they could sail across the English Channel in their Optimists! So father and sons settled on the Isle of Wight challenge as a good trial run. Apparently the sons are now pushing dad to give them the chance to conquer the English Channel next year. Good on them. The team are using their profile to raise funds for RYA Sailability, the charity which gets disabled people out on the water. If they do the Channel next year, that's the sort of daring challenge that will grab the eye of the local TV stations such as BBC South and Meridian.

Wacky Races

Talking of swapping people in and out of boats, the big daddy of all team events will soon be upon us again. I'm talking about the Southport 24 Hour Race, which since 1967 has been run every year by the West Lancashire Yacht Club. Never having participated, I don't feel very qualified to talk about this event but people rave about it. Sailing clubs from around the country come back year after year to compete in this non-stop relay race. You can choose whether to compete in a GP14, Enterprise or Lark, although looking back through the West Lancashire website at the results of past races, the GP seems the best all-round bet.

Papercourt Sailing Club in Surrey have taken part in 36 races - which I think must mean all but two - and they will be back this year for the event which takes place over the weekend of 17/18 September. Club member Alex Perkins has written about the appeal of the event and also interviewed a couple of his Papercourt comrades. This is what Lorna Dixon had to say about her experiences at Southport.

"I was first invited to join the Papercourt team for the Southport 24 Hour Race in 1999. As a 15-year-old Southport-first-timer and a female sailor who weighed very little, this event was obviously going to be different but surely with not much more sailing than any other? I knew some of it would be at odd hours of the evening but I was doing it with my friends.

"Little did I know that this event entails being dragged out of bed at the early hours of the morning having crawled into the sleeping bag what seems like only minutes earlier. Also you can be so concerned not to miss the handover sometimes you resort to sleeping in your dry suit!

"When I joined the team I did not expect to get such exhilaration out of the 24 Hour Race. Sailing in the dark seemed a scary prospect. It still does when my mobile rings at 4am and someone screams: ‘Get up changeover is in half an hour!' It feels like the last thing you want to do is leave your warm sleeping bag and go out into the cold and wet outdoors, especially when you know it's windy because your tent is on the verge of taking off! However, as a member of the team you get up, you know you can sleep when you get home and you learn to trust your team mates.

"There have been years when a helm and crew have been admired for not capsizing, and years when a lap takes an hour. There have been years when your have been flying down the run so fast that when you take off on a wave you are almost praying that there is no boat ahead of you; if there is, in the dark (even with the glow sticks) the spray and speed at which your going will block out all signs of life ahead!

"I have many memories of screaming ‘Last lap','Coming in' and ‘Need shackles' as we sail past our caravan, either hoping that they have heard us or hearing shouts of ‘Two more', ‘Not ready' or ‘Coming' in return.

Then, when arriving at the changeover point, the switch takes place in a fraction of a second. Once you have entered the ‘Docking Area', the weary crew is out in whatever way possible (even head first into the salt water has been known), anything to change crew over and get the boat moving as soon as possible."

Alex Perkins offers this advice to would-be entrants: "To send a team you will need some preparation before you get there. Whether it is an Ent, GP or Lark you are sailing, it does not have to be a state-of-the-art craft. Remember this is an endurance event. You have to keep going for 24 hours; for some boats that is more sailing in one weekend than the rest of the season! What is most important is to ensure that the boat is in good working order. Renewing control lines, sheets, rigging and a wire kicker all help towards the goal of keeping going for 24 hours; arguably more important than a new suit of sails. For most teams to survive the race, in the extremes that the 24 Hour Race can throw at you, is an achievement in itself.

"As far as the team is concerned, make sure you have a good cross section of people who all get on. Ensure that they are prepared and willing to sail in the dark. There are at least 10 hours of darkness so it is no good only having only a couple of people who are willing to sail in those hours.

"The event always produces a few funny instances and surprises. One year we had a whirlwind to cope with, which took the mast straight off the Enterprise. Being well prepared, we had a replacement mast on and the boat back sailing within half an hour, only losing a lap in the process. When it does get windy life can become real fun. The race has only been stopped once in its 39 year history, and by that time even the main marquee was down.

"Before the days of mobile phones, waking sailors during the night for their stint could always prove a tricky business. Being reliably informed that the next helm was sleeping in the back of an estate car on the driver's side I duly opened the car and tried to awake the body in the sleeping bag. Failing, I picked up the body and threw it out into the nearest puddle. This produced a violent reaction from said helm's wife who did not appreciate the night-time muddy bath.

"Then there's the social. As with all sailors, people have sailed many classes and made many friends along the way. Although the race can only be sailed in Larks, Enterprises and GP14s, sailors from all classes attend. So the chances of bumping into someone who you know are high. On Friday night the bar is full of people catching up before the friendly inter-team rivalry starts on Saturday (as soon as the hangovers have gone). The bar and dancing on Saturday night would look very strange to any onlooker as not only do sailors stand chat and drink in sailing gear but also the odd dance in a dry suit is not out of the ordinary.

"When people ask ‘Why do Southport?' - it is hard to explain. Most people don't understand why someone would want to sail up to eight hours over a weekend in all hours, camping and drinking especially when you have to drive half way across Britain to get there. But there's nothing like the 24 Hour Race."

If you are interested in competing, further information is available on the club website, www.wlyc.org.uk, or you can email the Race Secretary (Mal Postance) at 24-hour-race@wlyc.org.uk.

Five Gold Rings...

Oh, by the way, in case you hadn't heard. We got the Olympics!