Stories and Reports

Nisida's 2007 - 2008 season

Nisida started 2007 in the Caribbean after racing across in the ARC - see ARC transatlantic report. Over there we mixed cruising round the World Cup cricket matches with racing in the BVI Spring Regatta and Antigua Race Week. We were spellbound by everything the Caribbean has to offer; fabulous trade wind sailing, stunning scenery, charming cricket grounds in walking distance of our moorings, hugely sociable and well organised race weeks in perfect conditions.

After Antigua Week a crew of 6 sailed Nisida back across the Atlantic for her first ever visit to UK waters and Fastnet campaign. A busy summer followed of racing in the Round the Island race and Cowes Week as well as completing the three Fastnet qualifying races.

Our Fastnet crew was drawn from the London Corinthian Sailing Club - see www.lcsc.org.uk - and included a mixture of Fastnet veterans as well as 7 first timers. We had a hugely enjoyable race and were very pleased to end up third in our class. See the Fastnet 2007 report for more details of our campaign.

Then it was off to Malta. A crew of 5 took Nisida down to Malaga, braving the Bay of Biscay in September. That trip in fact proved to be a gentle cruise, while those who flew out to Malaga for the second half of the trip were given a taste of what the Mediterranean can bring - with violent squalls with 40 plus knots of wind.

Our aim once in Malta was the Rolex Middle Sea Race - one we'd previously done 3 times in woefully little wind. This year however it was to prove very different. Yachting World showed this photo of us, alongside a photo of an abandoned yacht which later foundered. See the Middle Sea Race 2007 report for more details of this epic.

Nisida is now in Malta for the winter and will spend next summer cruising and racing in the Mediterranean. We're returning to the Rolex Giraglia Cup in St Tropez in June as it was so fabulous last time. Then it's off to the Aegean to try two new race weeks - the Aegean Rally (which sounds a great deal more serious than a rally) and the Aegean Regatta. In between we're planning an archaeological cruise with an LCSC club member who is a very keen amateur archaeologist - her article 'In the Wake of the Phoenicians' about her trip on Nisida in 2006 was published by an archaeological magazine.

Finally in 2008 it's back off to the Canaries for the racing division of the ARC and then Christmas in St Lucia. Come early 2009 we'll again be racing in a selection of Caribbean regattas as well as following England's cricket tour. More details soon.