The beginning of
the 2015 Rolex Fastnet was a whirlwind of emotions for me; excitement,
anticipation and a bucket full of nerves. I was particularly thrilled to have
my family there on the water that day to cheer me on!
Our planned
cautious start was possibly a little bit too conservative in the end, but we
were certainly glad not to be over the line in those light winds. Tacking our
way up the Solent amongst all those boats was epic, and Chris did an amazing
job navigating his way through, and even avoiding a certain boat that got
grounded right in front of us very early on.
Light airs upwind are
not a great combination for us on Nunatak, and the first 24-36 hours were
particularly slow. We suffered even more with a major wind hole just to the
east of the Scillies. With electronic problems and no means of getting updated
weather reports it was an extremely frustrating time for us both, especially as
we watched lighter boats sail on around us. When we finally got round the wind
picked up and it seemed like a different race had started and we were finally
on the move.
Chris and I got
into a great watch routine of swapping every couple of hours, and eating well
with my wonderful home made cuisine (cough!). At least my Mum had baked a great
loaf of Welsh Bara Brith to fuel us
on.
It was very breezy
(gusting 25+kts) as we approached the rock, and not having 10 men sat on the
rail meant that we had to put a reef in. It was also my first time on the helm
in such strong winds at night – so took a bit of adjusting!
As we rounded a
rock we toasted with some bubbles, took the standard selfies and went on to enjoy what would really be an epic downwind home
run.
We peeled our
kites around five times (hard work when there’s only two of you to manage an A2
kite), and probably didn’t drop below 8knts of speed for the whole journey
back. Downwind helming in that wind was a major thrill that really was a first
for me! Chris was beaming from ear to ear as he surfed down waves, making up
for our lost miles in the first couple of days and ticking off one boat after
the other.
Our approach to
the finish line saw us have a luffing tussle with The Sirens, which was great
fun after a 600+ mile adventure.
Although Chris is
more used to podium positions in his sailing endeavors – for me I was just
thrilled to have completed my first ever two-handed Fastnet in my first ever
season racing two-handed. In what was an
extremely competitive fleet I’m also very proud of finishing 124th
overall out of 340+ IRC boats, 35th out of 72 in IRC2 and 30th
out of 54 two handed boats. Overall under IRC this year, France
claimed seven of the top 10 spots – not sure how the Welsh faired but I’m
optimistically claiming that I was in the top 10 Welsh spots at least!
What’s more I’m
now absolutely addicted to short handed sailing and thrilled beyond words that
Chris has agreed to keep me on as his co-skipper! I really can’t thank him
enough for the opportunity, for the constant teaching and for making sure that
Nunatak is safe to sail and race ready.
We proudly branded
our boat and jackets with Findacure logo in a bid to raise awareness for this
amazing charity that is closely linked to my professional career, and very
happy to have raised over £800.
Thank you so much
for those that generously supported us. As always, it is really greatly
appreciated.
Until the next
race, Elin (and Chris!)
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