ARC 2006by John KewleyBefore the start in Gran Canarial
|
After many days of preparation, victualling and (too much) drinking in
Las Palmas Gran Canaria, the time had arrived for the crew of Nisida to
slip to make way for the start of the ARC 2006. Nisida, entered in the
racing division, is an Italian designed GY 52 ideally set up for some
fast downwind sailing, with large roached mainsail and some huge kites.
Hopes were high for a quick crossing and some healthy competition
against the likes of Dark & Steamy (a DK 46) and Brave (a Farr 520).
Conditions were perfect for the start - sunny and warm weather with a
fresh F5 NE wind resulting in a nice downwind start. There was no
mistaking the committee boat end of the line, a huge ferry, but the ODM
was trickier to find along the long line with many ARC and local boats
milling around. As soon as we crossed the line, up went our biggest
asymmetric kite and we were off - next stop St Lucia. We hadn't started
the watch system yet and all the crew were keen to watch our progress
against the other yachts around us and catch the last glimpse of land
probably for the next 2 weeks. After three or so hours we were lying a
respectable 7th, especially as the yachts further offshore had got the
better breeze. Dark & Steamy were just ahead, but holding on to their
lead and Brave was just about level, still we knew a lot could change
over the next 3000 miles. The watch system kicked in at 16:00 with
myself, Derek Shakespeare, Trudy Netherwood and Duncan Haynes in
Starboard (a.k.a chocolate) watch and Hilary Cook, Trevor Davies, Rick
White and John Bowron in Port (a.k.a. Biscuit) watch. Peter Hopps, the
skipper, was on continuous alert!
By dawn on the second day we were virtually alone with one yacht visible
in the distance behind us, amazing considering there were 220+ yachts
taking part in the ARC. We were making good progress as we headed south,
attaining speeds of up to 12 knots when surfing down the waves - a speed
that we would continue to improve over the next 14 days with Hilary
holding the record by the end of the trip with a top speed of 16.8
knots. The isolation and feeling that you're all alone would be felt by
the crew throughout the trip as the few boat sightings we had, resulted
in much excitement and speculation as to who they were. Daily position
reports sent out by email provided encouragement that there were plenty
of yachts around, just not visible.
An early casualty during the trip was the vang - already damaged during
the delivery - but now beyond repair and so it was removed to prevent it
snapping completely and damaging anything else. We replaced it with a
block and tackle system more commonly seen on 15 foot dinghies, not 50
foot yachts, but it held out during the trip. We would end up finishing
the journey with mostly damaged sails - 2 genoas, a kite and a broken
the throttle lever, coming off lightly compared to some yachts taking
part with two yachts losing their masts, one losing their boom and two
yachts being abandoned. The crew on 'Y Not' definitely earned the
respect of the ARC participants for sailing their yacht for 1300 miles
using only sails to steer, after their rudder failed.
Food on board was excellent with some interesting menus being prepared
for dinner involving ingredients no self-respecting Michelin starred
chef would be without - marmite and even marmalade on a couple of
occasions? Yum! Still we had fresh meat for the first week, before
moving onto the freeze dried chicken. After a night of kamikaze attacks
by the ever-present Flying Fish we even had fried fish for breakfast.
Disaster struck, however, when the biscuits ran out on day 9, shortly
followed by the chocolate the next day which both watches blaming the
other for over-indulging on each others preferred mid watch snack.
One of things people kept asking me afterwards, was what you did to keep
yourself amused when not driving or keeping the yacht ship shape.
Certainly, you quickly learnt to catch up with your sleep when you
could. At best you'd only get 5 hours sleep during the night, split over
two off-watches. Reading and listening to your ipod were other obvious
distractions. At night, before moon rise or set, was a good time to try
and spot different star constellations and I now know the name of all
the stars in Orion, plus a few other constellations, although for some
reason we never managed to find Pegasus supposedly one of the most
prominent constellations in the Northern hemisphere. Our watch also
learnt several different variations of the bowline- useful. At set times
each day we looked forward to receiving the position reports and also
listening to Herb Hilgenberg broadcast his weather forecast on the
shortwave radio. Finally hygiene became an important preoccupation. The
water maker had given up the ghost before we started in Gran Canaria, so
there were no freshwater showers, but with the help of a willing crew
mate prepared to manually pump saltwater showers were readily available
- just make sure you keep your eyes tight shut!
After almost 14 days at see, St Lucia appeared on the horizon and
thoughts of beer, suppressed for the last 2 weeks as we were dry boat,
started to get the old taste buds flowing. Keen to make sure that we
moored up before the bar shut we kept our biggest kite up, even after
sun set. Previously, we'd always swapped down to a smaller, heavier one
for the night time. We'd had a few squalls and broaches during the
crossing, but nothing that we couldn't quickly right and get going
again. So having changed into our cleanest, smartest clothes it was only
right that the Atlantic through one more spanner into the works, just to
remind us who really is in charge. A big squall hit (35+ knots), we
broached and in the confusion the kite ended up wrapped several times
around the forestay. Immediate action was called for with seven crew
spending 30 minutes slowly unwrapping and pulling the kite down hoping
that we wouldn't have to cut it loose. Luckily we were able to continue
sailing towards St Lucia and amazingly the kite was retrieved with
little damage. Unfortunately we were all soaked, but this was all soon
forgotten as we approached the finish line. Poor old Trevor, in his role
as Chief Engineer, spent the final few minutes in the engine
compartment, ready to act as a human throttle lever so we could motor in
after crossing the line.
We arrived in Rodney Bay, St Lucia at 2206 having sailed 2893.9 miles in
13 days 13 hours and 26 mins. Hilary was particularly pleased as we had
beaten the time taken on Innovation by 30 minutes. We were the 4th boat
over the line in our class - 7 hours behind Dark & Steamy and 24 hours
behind Brave and great achievement. Overall, after all times were
corrected we were 8th in our class.
Many thanks to Peter for skippering and keeping as safe and to the rest
of the crew for helping make the trip both enjoyable and memorable - I
can't wait to start campaigning on Nisida in this years Fastnet!
|