An IOR classic
THE RACE
August 7, 2021 – One day before the race
The scope that the CORONA rules give the RORC and the participants for the race remains unclear until the end. Until shortly before the start, it remained uncertain whether yachts that had checked in in Cherbourg due to the barriers to entry and return to and from the UK would be able to spend the night at a berth in Cowes before the race. When this is finally confirmed, the final phase of our adventure begins on Saturday, August 7th: at 11:30 a.m. we cast off the lines in Cherbourg and set off on the 75 nm trip to Cowes.
The crossing gives us a foretaste of what awaits us on Sunday - just on the comfortable tour. Because we are rushing across the channel at 6 bft under G3 and with the main reefed half wind on course N. The further we move away from the tip of the Cotentin peninsula, the more noticeable the swell becomes. Great fun today, albeit tiring and wet - tomorrow we'll have to do it all over again. In Cowes we surprisingly find a fine berth alongside a floating jetty at the Cowes Yacht Club. The wind carries the sound of the festival mile from the land to us. There’s “Big Party.” We resist this temptation so as not to embarrass anyone for violating the COVID restrictions and stay on board obediently, also to take advantage of the last opportunity to get a good night's sleep before the race - this won't be a children's birthday party.
day 1
Sunday begins with gray skies and rain, the sheltered harbor at Cowes is quiet, but that's deceptive. Out on the Solent it is blowing at force 7, with gusts of 8. This wind will be in our faces and the ebb current will push us against the wave at up to 4 knots - that will be fun. Our start has been rescheduled for 12:10 BST, we'll set off in the rain around 10:00 - now's the time!
There is the expected hustle and bustle in front of the harbor. Although only 337 boats are competing due to COVID 19, Brexit and in view of the current weather forecasts, out of around 530 yachts reported, it is a colorful event. All starters must demonstrate their storm sails as is customary in the regatta and sail through one of two gates, only then can they be converted to the actually intended sails. Everything is in motion and it is often difficult to keep an overview. There is the current, there are also yachts at anchor near the start zone, the ferry traffic between Cowes and the mainland continues happily, and there is still the large commercial shipping. As soon as you leave the protected area at the southern end of the approximately 1 nm long starting line, which runs roughly in a N-S direction, to the north, you are hit by strong winds - not good conditions for changing sails and for the remaining final preparations for the start. Things are correspondingly tight here in the more protected area.
As expected, our start is rather mediocre. Given our primary goal of “getting there,” it was never our intention to push ourselves into the thick of the line at the line without any regatta experience and risk early breakage. Nevertheless, a few seconds before the start we manage to turn towards the middle of the long line of yachts, which are already sailing down the line on the port bow in imminent expectation of the starting signal, and thus get off to a decent start without a lot of risk - not bad for a start .
This is followed by a tight cross for a good three hours in the still dense regatta field down the Solent to the Needles, with the current, but 30 - 35 kn AWS from the front. The further we progress, the wilder it gets. From Hurst Point at the latest, the field is completely unprotected for the remaining 5 nm up to the narrow passage between Shingles Bank and the Needles, a good 7 bft from the front and exposed to waves that have already had some way to build up nicely here, and are now at The Needles meet the threshold of “The Bridge”. On the other hand, 3 to 4 kn Electricity – cheers meal. At home in the Weser it would never occur to us to set off from the NW in force 7 winds to seek the dubious pleasure of wind against current with around 2.5 knots of water at the Roter Sand. But we're not on the Weser here - we're at the FASTNET RACE!
But SNIFIX DRY takes it all in stride and meets the expectations placed on it. It can't be said that this was much of a Sunday sail, but the concern about the boat being overwhelmed or overloaded never arose. Apparently that wasn't the case everywhere. The RORC reports that in the first 5 hours of the race, 24 (!) yachts broke down or gave up. We were impressed right up to the end of the race and had the utmost respect for those who sailed here with modern, light 10m yachts and in some cases even significantly faster than we did with our heavy-weather classic.
Things continue to be lively overnight, but the waves are getting longer. The wind remains constant and there are also heavy rain showers - a sailing dream of the first order. After around 12 hours, our boat is uninhabitable by normal standards. But it's not normal here - we're at the FASTNET RACE! We have redefined the term “dry” and now applies to everything that cannot be wrung out.
Tactically, the Needles are followed by an exciting phase, because you have to consider whether you can reach the Portland Bill headland in time with the draining water and then benefit from the current there, or whether it is better to keep a clear distance early on. It is clear to us that our speed is not sufficient to reach Portland in time and we, like most of the IRC 4 fleet, head out to the channel. The only question is, how far is right? These passages make local knowledge and experience so irreplaceable at FASTNET. It's no surprise that when we analyze it after the race we find that our course wasn't optimal, but we're not losing any significant ground either.
As the night progresses, the wind decreases slightly, the clouds also become fewer, and in the morning the sky opens up completely. It will be a great sunny sailing day with around 5 bft, decreasing later. Now we head towards the Start Point headland and once again everyone is faced with the question of how deep it is best to go into the bay in front of it. We decide on a course deep into the bay and later in the morning when the wind continues to decrease we switch to our great G2. Unfortunately the maneuver takes longer than usual because the halyard is jammed in the masthead. It will probably take 15 minutes until we can sort this out - crap. Later we notice that two yachts just before the start point, very close to land, are making a noticeably better journey to the south than those sailing further from the coast - so let's go after them. We observe a few reference yachts on the AIS and, after passing Start Point, we are satisfied that this option has paid off - we have gained something and our tactical calculations have paid off here. The now fantastic sailing conditions also allow us to open hatches and sea breams and the drying process below deck is making progress.
day 2
The next important destination is now Lizard Point. The field cruises off the coast of Cornwall into Falmouth Bay, once again faced with the question of how deep and far under land makes sense. We are making good progress on our northern route, many yachts choose this option. Nevertheless, subsequent analysis shows that those, especially e.g. WINSOME, who stayed further out and only went close to land relatively late are better able to get around Lizard Point and score crucial points on this section.
Our field cruises into the second night of this race with steadily decreasing winds and is caught in a total calm early in the morning of the third day just east of Lizard Point. At first we just tread on the spot, then the flood that sets in actually pushes us back. It's an unreal situation: for a long time we could see the light of the Lizard tower, a great starry night, quiet attentive sailing. Then at dawn a sea mist rolls in, the world sinks into cotton wool, the wind dies down. Yachts that we were just in sight of first disappear behind the veil of fog, then they are completely gone. We can now hear the fog horn from the tower in the distance. We decide it would be better to anchor than to sacrifice distance. To do this, we put the chain leader, the anchor line and two spindle sheets together and bring the iron to the bottom at a water depth of around 52 m. That doesn't quite hold us up, we continue to drift in the wrong direction at around 0.3 kn - but the yachts around us are significantly stronger. It's like sometimes in politics: you gain positions by doing nothing. However, we are not completely idle. We are taking advantage of the lull to carry out a small repair on the masthead. And we can open all the hatches and create something similar to a clear ship below deck. The pantry is also open again, there is delicious roasted porridge with apples for breakfast, and you can even take a quick dip in the sea. The break is good for everyone and doesn't hurt our ranking. The dolphins always provide entertainment and follow the scenery with interest.
Then a breeze sets in and we clear to anchor. But the wind also pushes the curtain of fog aside and reveals a view of Lizard Point in bright, cloudless sunlight - a great scenery, the mood on board is great. Now it's time to get going again with light winds. Compared to more modern, lighter yachts, our SNIFIX DRY is not exactly the best discipline, especially since we measured without our large genoa. The new G2 – slightly larger than our old G2 and better profiled than the G1 – does its job well. We can keep up pretty well. When we reach Land's End, the SKORPIOS comes towards us about 10 nm away after only about 1 day and 21 hours under majestic sails. She is traveling at over 13 kts SOG and only has around 130 nautical miles in front of the bow, so for her the drops were sucked in around 10 hours - strong.
Day 3
Things look different for us. The wind remains light throughout the day and the route to Land's End is slow. Due to tidal conditions, the only option for our field is the route east and then north around the TSS Off Land’s End. So we take the current with us, but sometimes we drift more than we sail. Despite the northerly course we cannot spinnaker. Some boats choose a sharp gennaker course, but have to make a leeward bend to do so. We're cruising close to the wind, with a lead angle of sometimes 60 degrees, heading straight for the waypoint at the northeast end of the TSS. In the early evening a bit of wind picks up again and the ship gains more speed. The story ends like the Horneberg shooting: At the waypoint, almost everyone is close together again, regardless of whether they were with or without a gennaker.
This is followed by the long straight of a good 150 nm with a northwesterly course over the Celtic Sea to the Rock - only the TSS Fastnet Rock still needs to be taken into account. We have to head towards the northeast corner and leave it on the port side, then we head west for the last 5 nm to the place of longing, the FASTNET ROCK!
The wind stabilizes around WSW 4, later increasing, and allows a quick, unproblematic journey upwind on a compass course to the waypoint. We have a few yachts in sight and more on the AIS to benchmark and can gradually improve our position. The conditions suit SNIFIX and the new sails. With the REINDEER in sight we are in a dead heat for over 100 nm. She can't outrun us, but SNIFIX can't catch up with her either. The course of the big DANTÉS from Hamburg, a stately SWAN 48 with Fastnet experience, is interesting. Late in the evening of our third day of the regatta she was sailing a little higher upwind, i.e. not on a direct path to the waypoint, but at a slightly higher speed between the REINDEER and us. What is she up to?
Day 4
After about 100 nm the picture changes. The wind has picked up again. We are sailing heavily reefed but still on course with the G2 on the starboard bow when the wind shifts sharply to the right within a few minutes. We use the turn to turn on the port bow and, in anticipation of an announced turn back, decide to take a long tack on this side towards the SW. This will be exciting because we are moving far away from our previous companions. They disappear from our AIS, we can no longer keep track of how things are going, and after we go back to the starboard tack it feels like before the presents at Christmas, when the others will appear on the screen again and whether we will then be with ours Special way to look like a winner or a loser. We briefly fear that we have built up unnecessary excess height, as we can head towards the waypoint at full speed, and the concern increases that we would be punished for our courage to move away from the field. At the waypoint it turns out that we have gained around 3.5 nm on REINDEER, the DANTÉS is even further aft.
So now on course for rock. We have a scene like in the catalog (and exactly like on this year's promotional photo wall for the ROLEX FASTNET RACE in Cherbourg): Under a blue sky, we are sailing high on the wind in golden light towards the sunset and the rock. Euphoria is spreading. On August 11th at 21:24:20 BST, three days, nine hours and 14 minutes after launch, we set our sights on FASTNET ROCK at 180 degrees - done! A cork pops out of a larger bottle of French origin, at the right temperature thanks to our energy management. We can even toast with glasses, because (with optimistic foresight) they hadn't all been cleared away before the race.
Now it’s “only” about 330 nm to the destination. But the conditions are different than on the way there. A constant WSW of around 20 kn soon sets in. We rush along in half wind, the sky is cloudless, long waves push us, the boat pushes forward, but wants to be kept on track with strength - picture-perfect sailing. However, navigational care and also that of the helmsman is still required, because there is still the waypoint at the southwest end of the TSS Fastnet Rock - it must remain on the port side.
Day 5
We don't know whether it was a result of the Fastnet champagne or whether it was due to a plotter setting that was zoomed out too far and lost some precision in the control, but in any case no one was aware of a mistake when we were already close to the islands of Scilly received a worried text message from our followers on land saying that we had minimally touched the restricted area after the Rock and had received a time penalty. Irritation on board is spreading. We check our waypoint and are not aware of any guilt, but we push it aside and enjoy the fantastic sailing. Things are also going well in relation to the other yachts in our field. However, the We're wondering what they're going to do with the no-go zone within an 8 nm radius of Peninnis Head lighthouse on the Isles of Scilly. And there is still a small challenge. In the south, the TSS South of the Scilly Isles is a short distance away, and we're not allowed to go there either - the regatta practically goes through a letter slot here. Warned by the incident after the rounding of the rock, we check our waypoint again, add another one for safety, and thus properly reach the relevant waypoint at the northeast tip of the TSS to be avoided.
The next tactical decision awaits us here: North or south around the last restricted area before the target, the TSS Casquets north of Alderney? The classic route, which is around 10 nm shorter, leads south of this TSS. This then triggers the follow-up question as to whether you should aim north past Alderney directly towards the Cap de la Hague, or, if the tide constellation is suitable, choose the (longer) route south around Alderney and then with extremely strong currents (up to approx. 10 kn!) to be “washed” to the Cap de la Hague. However, our current weather data suggests we head north around Casquets, as the wind is expected to last longer under the British coast. The program promises us a time advantage of around 1:30 hours on this route, and we have no better knowledge or experience that would make it a rational decision to ignore this recommendation from our digital weather and navigation expert.
So we drop off a bit and set our next waypoint at the northeast corner of the Casquets. This means that we can now do a spinnaker course - but do we want to try it? It continues to blow at a cheerful 20 kn true, the wave is considerable, SNIFIX is already traveling very quickly under G2. The assembled team has no shared spinnaker practice, some have hardly any experience in sailing in 5 bft and sea conditions, and it goes on into the night - not exactly training conditions for spinnaker novices. As completely lacking in ambition as we are here, we don't want to give anything away, and after some instructive palaver, the spi goes up around 9 hours after the start of our fifth day of regatta in the late light shortly before sunset. And since it was just in the bag, it's the big one, we don't spend long with our smaller "Spi heavy". Since Erhard and the author are the only ones on board who have experience with such conditions, we decide to change the helmsman for two hours. Everyone stays on duty in full gear so that they can be on deck immediately if necessary, and the ride begins. So it goes into the 5th night at sea. The conditions are great. In order to reach our waypoint, we have to unwind an AWA of around 150 degrees, a great course, but with up to 24 kn of true wind, sometimes at the limit of what we can hold. And beware if the boat is pushed to windward by a wave, then the sun shot can no longer be avoided. The rudder blade extension and optimization initiated by Willie is paying off, especially now, SNIFIX can be tamed much better than before. There isn't much room on the leeward side before the spinnaker threatens to collapse. In addition, a course that is too deep for the long term would cost us distance and force us to luff towards the waypoint later - difficult to dangerous in the conditions. The two helmsmen are now required to keep SNIFIX DRY in the narrow corridor that will lead them safely and quickly to their destination.
Day 5 1/2
But it works, we fly through the night under a spinnaker and it is only on Friday afternoon around 5:00 p.m., i.e. after over 20 hours of fully concentrated spinnakering, that we recover our large spinnaker because we can no longer maintain the altitude required after passing our waypoint.
Now things are getting exciting again. Was our extra tour worth it? On the AIS we could only watch as our “fellow travelers” gradually disappeared from the screen because they had chosen the southern route. When will we see her again and where? Since things have been going great so far, we are optimistic that we have actually been able to achieve the time advantage promised by our Grib files and calculations are being made that we might be able to reach the goal around 9:00 p.m. But as is well known, the settlement takes place at the end. As the afternoon progresses the wind decreases and finally dies down almost completely (that wasn't in our forecast...). At the same time we are getting closer to the current capsizing. Soon those who are down below and have been held back by the ebb current will get the upper hand and the game will go against us. Because of our slow speed, we are carried further west than planned by the ongoing ebb current. It requires strong nerves and the wisdom of our navigator Willie not to head tensely but unsuccessfully south towards our destination after the current capsizes, but rather to let the current take us eastwards on a sloping course with more speed through the water in the hope of benefiting from that which gradually turns to the right east of the Cap de la Hague and gives us a route to our destination as soon as there is wind again. Meanwhile, we can see on the AIS that REINDEER and XARA's strategy is working. They come around the corner at Cap de la Hague in time and cross the finish line before us. However, others in our previous field cannot do this, and in this respect our tactics have given us an advantage over at least some of them.
But the bag isn't closed yet and the harvest isn't in the barn yet: the wind picks up again in the last 10 nautical miles to the finish, at times we're back in the game at 8-9 kts, which increases as we get closer to the finish line But he took off again and the last 2 nm of this race were perhaps the longest of our lives. We are just crawling along, carried mainly by the weak flood current, and it is now just before high water Cherbourg at 01:56 a.m. local time. If we don't make it over the line by then, we are in acute danger of being sucked out again defenseless by the ebb current that will soon set in. At least we are now in an area where we could anchor and wait for better times - but who wants that 2 nm from the finish??
But there is a happy ending: On August 14th at 2:17:46 a.m. local time, 5 days and 13:07:46 hours after the start, we reached the finish line! Corrected by our IRC factor of 1.002, the calculated time is 5 days 13:22:58.
So it can work out well if a few quirky older men want to treat themselves to the FASTNET ROCK, and do it very well. We reached the destination and had no injuries on board. However, there was serious material damage: a coffee pot and a pair of glasses broke.
And do greenhorns like us have a chance when it comes to the result? We think yes and are very happy with our result. The opening of the tips we gave before the race submitted, confirmed: With the exception of one of us, all of us guessed significantly worse rankings, our expectations were exceeded in every respect. Ultimately, according to IRC and after our time penalty of 10%, we finished in 170th place out of 181 ranked yachts - but we also beat 88 others who didn't reach the finish at all (including many larger yachts than SNIFIX). This results in 170th place out of 269 in the “IRC all” ranking. In our group IRC 4 we reach 46th place out of 70 yachts that started. Before the penalty is taken into account, i.e. based on the pure IRC-corrected sailing time (5 days 13:22:58), our sporting performance is ranked 136/269 in "IRC all" or even 31/70 in the IRC group 4 – not too bad for a crew of regatta beginners with no experience in the area who just wanted to have some fun.