The editor of TheMainSail, Cathy Brown, gave this year's Fastnet a shot but her Grand Soleil 40, Brave, was forced to join numerous other competitors in the shelter of Plymouth harbour not long after the start. She eventually withdrew from the race, but David Whitewood, a reader and contributor to TheMainSail forum, managed to stay the course. He tells us in his own words how he got on.
I was on a Beneteau 40.7, Keel Over, with a mix of five charter and three pro sailors that made it to the rock and back. I thought that I would share some of our experiences with you.
A fantastic beat to the Needles saw us in the middle of Alfa Romeo and Leopard - I can't wait to see if Beken got the shot! Then it was into the watch rota.
The night had been heavy but the training races had got us used to living at 45 degrees, dressing, eating etc. Coming on to watch at 3 am in a sh** fight was no fun, but we were only shaken not stirred despite an encounter with a trawler and almost being run down by a gas tanker in the bad visibility of Tuesday morning.
At change of watch the skipper held a crew meeting. We explored the options and, working through them, decided it was imperative to get an updated weather report. Having no Navtex or Iridium phone we needed to get close to land to get a GSM signal to download UGrib files onto our laptop. Weymouth and Falmouth were equidistant so we headed for Falmouth with a plan to lay-over and let the bad weather pass if necessary.
The overnight chaff damage to the racing #3 meant that it had to be replaced with a white one and the bilges, complete with diesel from the leaking spare jerry can, were cleaned (I take my hat off to Beard and Rob for taking on this unenviable task).
Closer to land we got useful updated weather info and decided to go for it. Rounding Landsend we were treated with the site of several Basking sharks (or Cornish Great Whites as the Sun would have us believe) and then dolphins which were our friends most of the way to the Fastnet and back. We paid our respects to the Cornish with an M&S pasty, our caterer for the journey.
We took a northerly reach course in anticipation of a wind shift which eventually arrived. The Irish sea was green. Waves hit us from the north and south west and many a green one landed in the cockpit soaking the crew. However it was a welcome rest from the short, sharp chop of the English Channel and most of the crew managed to get some rest and even our single sea sick crew member recovered.
Showers greated us on the southern coast of Ireland close to Kinsale and we had an M&S Fish Pie which was as close to 'cockles & mussels alive alive-o' as we could get.
Rounding the rock we headed back to blighty and took a decision to hoist the heavy weight kite.
The night was a long one. The waves made stearing an almost dead run difficult and an unplanned gybe resulted in us sheering the main sheet block at the boom. We continued under #3 alone until the block was lashed up (you can never have enough string on board in the Fastnet) and a preventer was rigged.
The next watch saw a kite wrap from hell at 4am with an exhausted crew and we watched the two yachts that we had just rolled over regain their places. We strategised every option and tried everything but this bugger was not going to come easy. The first mate went up the mast to spike the halyard and try to encourage the kite to play nicely. But it was stubborn and determined. A second attempt saw the first mate cutting the pole uphaul and then trying to slide down the forestay to cut the kite. It didn't work. Eventually, exhausted, we released the clew and handed over watch proceeding under main alone. An hour into the next watch the kite dropped to the deck and was recovered before it could attack the keel and prop.
The kite was shown who was in charge and rehoisted using a spare spinnaker halyard as a pole uphaul but an hour later it was retired in shreds. The cause of the disaster - the pole track had broken away from the mast.
The air was as blue as the kite when the skipper was awoken from his bunk. We proceeded under #1 and main alone losing a couple of knots.
Sleeping below was actually harder downwind than on the beat. We slid from side to side in our sleeping bags and the fixings on the lee cloths pulled out of the boards below. However it was dry and I discovered that the friction from the oily salopettes prevented the sliding. The rock and roll meant that it was too dangerous to light the stove and there were no hot drinks or lunches particularly as liquid propane was spurting out of the regulator valve on the gas cylinder. Take note everyone - it turns out that the regulators only work in the close to vertical and we had stashed the gas on its side in order to accomodate a smaller spare cylinder. The weight of the liquid gas combined with the rock and roll overcame the physics of the regulator.
The Scilies approached and the dolphins said good bye. The winds were dropping and the light weight kite went up then down, then up, then down as the winds dropped and then increased. No way was the skipped going to explain away a second shredded kite for no places.
Friday morning saw a glorious sun rise and we followed a Swan into Plymouth. Once tied up, 8 very cold beers were cracked and we exchanged stories with Manhattan Furniture. I almost broke my ankle clambering over rafted up boats exhausted and with sea legs.
The hospitality offered by the RSW Yacht club was fantastic. We were met by a rib, guided to our berth by a dory and led to the club house and a sumptuous breakfast by a very helpful lad on the shore.
Looking back it was a great experience. The boat had taken a hammering down below - a broken table, two broken door frames, fancy chrome handle smashed in the heads but above deck had performed well in extreme conditions. The crew also held together and many long term friendships have been struck. I will be back for more in 2009!
