Crew Blogs - Rolex Fastnet Race 2009
The RYA Keelboat Programme sailors update us from the Rolex Fastnet Race onboard John Merricks II
WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 1445:
Luke McCarthy- Skipper:
We reckon we're about five hours from the finish now and estimate ourselves to be in about 10th place.
We had a tough beat up to the rock, but now we're in downwind dreamland, cruising round the Lizard before heading into the finish at Plymouth. We've picked up a lot of good shifts on this run and that has gained us several places, so morale is good.
Fatigue is starting to kick in, but generally everyone is still pretty lively and we're pretty much racing as if we were competing in a standard inshore event.
At present we have a very pleasant 15 knots or so of breeze and we're all reasonably happy with our performance. We were hoping to be the first TP52 overall, but it looks like one may have got away from us. We shall see...
MONDAY 10 AUGUST - 1015hrs
Luke McCarthy - Skipper:
Its been a tough start, and we’ve been having to work the boat pretty hard.
It’s looking like we’re going to be on a pretty dead beat to Lizard Point and an upwind slog pretty much all the way to the Fastnet Rock, but at least we’re in a bit more breeze again now which should make things a bit easier.
I’ve been impressed by the attitude everyone’s shown - in spite of the drizzle this morning, everyone’s been in high spirits and just getting on with it.
We’ve got a lot of good trimmers and helms on board so we’ve been running a three watch system – on watch, standby and off watch – to try and keep people rested and feeling fresh.
So far only Ed Dyer’s been a little bit off colour – he seemed to have a bit of a stomach bug at the start of the race so has been off watch a little more than expected, but he’s getting back into the swing of things again now.
SUNDAY 9 AUGUST: 2345hrs
Luke McCarthy - Skipper:
Phew, what an eventful first 7 hours! An unexpected downwind start gradually led to a transition into a light south westerly sea breeze. With reasonable wind and fair tide for five or so hours there was a chance to get past Portland before the tide turned against us.
However, this was not to be, meaning we had to make the difficult choice between getting enough offshore or hugging the cliffs to avoid the worst of the Portland tidal race.
We chose the latter, leading to an eventful few hours working the boat hard within metres of the rocks off Portland Bill. We eventually made it through, and are now making reasonable speed straight towards Start Point, the next headland on our route.
The season's worth of racing on the boat has really paid dividends this race, as we have had to do numerous sail changes, most recently at night. These have all gone incredibly smoothly, which is great testament to the young crew.
Another thing I have been hugely impressed with is the atmosphere on board - everyone gets on with their jobs calmly and efficiently, with very few raised voices and no complaining. This goes for everything from the actual sailing of the boat to dealing with the more mundane (but massively necessary) things such as preparing food for the crew and clearing up afterwards.
Special mention must go to Becky for her continued excellence in offshore catering!
SUNDAY 9 AUGUST: 1448hrs
Ed Dyer - Trimmer/grinder
John Merricks II's Fastnet race has begun. We started with about 10 kts of breeze from the north east which allowed us to use our manouvraility under spinnaker against the rest of class super zero as well as the heavier boats in the maxi class who were struggling ahead. Immediately after the start we held first position out of the TP52s in the class and also manged to put our arch rivals Chernikeiff 2 behind us.
The first hour has provided the team with four sail changes and numerous patches of shifting breeze up the western solent. Currently we're having to send people down below to reduce windage and really push for speed. Hopefully this is the indication of things to come!
SUNDAY 9 AUGUST: Hour before start of 2009 Rolex Fastnet onboard John Merricks II (GBR76R)
Luke McCarthy – Skipper of John Merricks II:
I’m pleasantly surprised how relaxed and calm everybody is on board and I think that’s really testament to the amount of time they have all spent working on the boat and making sure they know every part of it inside out.
We spent three or four hours doing all our final checks and making sure everything was stowed as and where it should be and that the boat was as set up as she possibly could be ahead of the start. Then we had a nice crew meeting and dinner last night just talking through the weather charts and making sure that if anyone still had anything they wanted to ask or things they wanted to say they could do so.
We’re expecting a pretty tricky first 24 hours; the forecast is for light winds around the start and into tomorrow. That’s going to require a lot of concentration and working the boat pretty hard to get the most we can out of her. But that is one of our strengths I think because we have so many sailors with dinghy backgrounds who are both excellent trimmer and helmers we are able to switch people in and out of positions to keep everything focussed and fresh.
On the whole it’s been a relatively light airs summer so the crew have gained some decent experience sailing in such conditions plus they all know their jobs inside out now having raced on the boat so many times so there is no reason for them to feel nervous.
As we approach start time it’s going to be interesting as the adrenaline starts pumping but it won’t be nerves it will be the excitement of just wanting to get on with it now.
Chris Noble – mainsheet trimmer and Fastnet first-timer:
There is a pretty optimistic atmosphere on board, we’ve come a long way as a crew this season and we all feel confident that we know the boat so well and are so prepared that it is going to take something pretty big for us to have serious problems.
I’m most looking forward to the team effort it’s going to involve getting round in one piece and hopefully scoring a decent result. To round the Rock is going to be a great feeling.
We will be in our starting positions, which are our strongest positions, until about 6pm this evening and then we will go into the watch rota. It’s great that having all sailed together so much this season we all know our roles inside out and everyone has complete faith in everybody else’s reliability.
Over the first 24 hours it seems it’s going to be a real test of patience for everyone but that is where the youthfulness of our crew may come into its own as we have to concentrate and keep everything completely focused to make sure the boat is running at its full capacity.