round island

Round Island - NCSC boat wins

NCSC SUNSAIL TEAM - Photos from Pete Walters

The eight person team gathered at Port Solent around midday on the Friday to take over the Sunsail 37ft yacht that we were to use for the Round The Island Race. This was our prize for winning the Sunsail race regatta last November.

Having checked the boat over we motored off the mooring and headed for The Solent where we hoisted the sails and took in some practise as we sailed over to Cowes. Everything seemed to work ok and we felt confident that the boat would not let us down. We picked up our mooring in Cowes marina and hit the town for suitable refreshments.

The Round The Island race is a massive event with around 1800 boats entered. There are many categories of yachts; the one designs have their own fleets and the rated yachts sail in both handicap groups and for an overall position. We were competing in the Sunsail Sunfast 37ft one design fleet with an entry of 60 boats.

The start times are staggered with the elite fastest boats going off first . This group included names such as Ben Ainsley, Shirley Robertson and Paul Goodison aboard, (all Olympic Gold medallists.) These boats started at just gone 5am and our start was to be at 05.20.

So, an early start for us at 0400 to get the boat ready. The forecast was for about 15knots of wind but this did not materialise and we limped out to the start line in about 8 knots. The tide was high and just turning prior to our start which, with it being under us meant that we had to be careful not to get pushed over the line. Having consulted Pete’s ‘Winning Tides’ booklet the decision was made to start fairly close to the Cowes shoreline, this being in direct contrast to the advise that was given at the weather briefing the previous night! With a start line of over a mile where we started could make a massive difference to our race.

With the wind on our quarter we chose our place and made a good start in our planned position. With the kite up and the wind fluctuating between 5-8 knots we made steady progress but with a full tidal flow beneath us we were actually eating into the distance quite quickly. As things settled down after the start we appeared to be just about in the lead with a couple of boats just inshore of us making good progress. One of these got about 200 metres ahead at one stage but with good use of the kite and Pete looking out for the best tidal flows we overhauled them and by the time we reached The Needles we had a healthy lead of around ¼ mile.

As we approached The Needles decisions had to be made. To stay in close meant a shorter route and less adverse tide but less wind; to stay out meant more adverse tide but a better wind. We elected to stay around ¾ mile off shore and after having gybed the kite had to come down as we were headed. Inside us, but slightly behind, we could see a massive raft of yachts . A few of them seemed to find a favourable breeze. Outside of us several Sunsail boats had elected to stand further out seeking better breeze. The wind was all over the place for some time. The wind freed off a little and Pete made the call to get the kite out. It was very tight but it made all the difference in popping us out of the weird wind area. We were able to carry it for maybe 2 miles before again it got too tight, so it had to come down. At this stage we knew we had seen off the boats who had gone further out but we were just not sure if one had got through us on the shoreline.

St Catherines Point was the next passing point. By now the wind had picked up and we were fetching along in 15knots. We reached St Catherines at around 10am and again this area of the course produced some really challenging wind patterns as it came over the Island and through the valleys.

An ever increasing wind, 25knots now, saw us beating up to Bainbridge (The Eastern point of the Island.) Long Port tacks and a few shorter Starboard to keep us about 1-1.5 miles off the shore. The bow crew were now getting bitterly cold. With not too much to do with these long tacks they were having to sit beyond the rails to keep their weight out and the combined effect of the biting wind and the soaking from the waves was beginning to take its toll.

Around Bainbridge and head back into shore to keep out of the tide. With the wind backing to a northerly this next stage also turned into a beat! We had to stand off slightly to keep out of an exclusion zone and with a lot of traffic around things started getting a bit hectic.

As we went past the forts we had hoped to be able to use the kite for the final 5 miles bak to Cowes but it was just too tight and we had to settle for a two sail tight reach in about 15knots.

We crossed the finishing line at 13.56.41 which meant we had completed the course in 8.36.41hrs. By the time we had got back into Cowes we had it confirmed that we were the winners! The 2nd boat came in 15 minutes behind us (about 1.5 miles). Of course we were all very pleased with the result.

The general opinion was that this is quite a different type of racing to the ‘round the cans’ type that we had done previously. There was not much racing at close quarters and for much of the time we were just having to race flat out as we had no idea if we were leading or not. Also, for some of the crew there were long periods where there was not too much to do due to the long legs we were sailing. But, great fun none the less. To see so many boats on one racetrack was just amazing. To look behind you and see maybe over 1000 boats is just an incredible site. Definately an experience not to miss.

We spent Saturday night in Cowes Most of us agonised over yet another miserable England performance!

The prizegiving was at noon on Sunday which we attended. The trophy table was just laden with some of the most incredible, and valuable, trophies in British sailing.

We collected our prizes and that was it; our 3 year yachting campaign was over! We have all had some great experiences during that time. We have all learnt a great deal and I think we have formed a fantastic crew. Our success is down to everyone on board, And indeed to Nicola and Ed who helped us out along the way. But ,of course, not of it would have been possible without Pete. Pete had the experience before we all came along and has shown us how to do it. In return we all gave Pete what he had been missing.. a fantastic crew!!

What next? Well, who knows, maybe we do it all again next year or maybe we mix the crew around a bit to make up two boats with other interested parties from NCSC.. all suggestions on a postcard please, when the bar is open!

The Team:-

Pete Walters - Skipper / Helm
Simon and Fiona Hextall;- Bow, Spinnaker
Hilary Whittington :- Mast, Spinnaker
Rachael Walters:- Navigation, Spinnaker
Simon Hibbert and Matt Potter :- Winches
Tim Cripps :- Mainsheet Trimmer (and author)

In Aberlady (ISRC class) our representatives where 1st in their ISRC class, 2nd out of 141 in their division and 18th out of 841 ISRC rated boats to their Division trophy. The representatives were Ross Ryan (RS400 fleet captain) and Kathryn Hinsliff-Smith.

(Photos upplied by Tim Cripps & Katheryn Hinsliff-Smith)We will no doubt ge a full report and photos soon.

Pre event report:NCSC SUNSAIL TEAM ROUND THE ISLAND (Isle of Wight that is) - 19th June 2010

Three of the RS400 helms will be out on yachts along with crews from the club.

In ISC rating 7, Aberlady (sail 198L) with Ross Ryan and Kathryn Hinsliff-Smith part of the seven man/women crew, hoping to better their 2nd place last year starting at 6.30 amand starting at 6.20 am in ISC rating 6, D'Artagnan (sail 232L) sees Paul Reynolds crewing an Ocenianis 37.

We look forward to hearing and seeing their pictures next week.

The all NCSC boat sees the clubs ‘Sunsail’ team heading back to the Isle Of Wight to compete in the ‘Round the Island’ race. You will no doubt remember we won the honour of taking part as our prize for winning the Sunsail series last year.

The team are heading to Port Solent this Thursday evening and will be picking up the boat Friday midday. We will sail to Cowes Friday afternoon, get in some practice hours and then soak in the atmosphere of Cowes with around 1800 other sailing crews.

The plan is then to watch England win on the ‘Big Screen’, keep Simon sober and then get an early night for our 5.30 am start Saturday morning’. (Ok, we will make the start but for the other two?...)

The forecast is for a north easterly 10 knots of wind; could be an interesting full spinnaker broad reach start along with 80 other Sunsail boats in our fleet. We will be sailing Sunsail 9, so keep an eye open for us.

Good luck to all the other NCSC members who are competing; we will wait for you at the finish!!

A full 8 person team is needed to sail these boats at their best and our No1 team will be out.

Simon and Fiona Hextall;- Spinnaker
Hilary Whittington :- Mast and Spinnaker
Rachael Walters :- Navigator and Spinnaker
Simon Hibbert and Matt Potter :- Winches
Tim Cripps :- Mainsheet
Pete Walters :- Helm - TC

follow progress http://www.roundtheisland.org/