Never stop trying
As there has been so little racing this year, and one of my classic favourites – The Round the Island Race – had been cancelled, I decided I would make an attempt to break the world record for sailing a monohull single handed around the Isle of Wight. The record was set by British Sailor Phil Sharp a few years ago and it stands at 5 hours and 5 minutes.
The purpose of this exercise was not to break a world record, it was to put me and my boat to the test, to give me a challenge, a goal to work to, a reason to push hard, to be under pressure, not to take the easy option to ‘save the boat’. I was unsure about the concept. As those that follow me know I am not fond of fanfares or accolades, I do things because they get under my skin, because I want to make them happen and to know if I am capable. Attempting world records has never been something I considered or set out to do.
To set a world record on a short course like this requires a good weather window. The Isle of Wight is roughly diamond shaped, with a corner at each of the four points of the compass. To sail quickly around the course would require a wind direction from either due North or the due South, to ensure that no leg of the course was directly upwind or downwind.
(For the non-sailor readers, this is because a sailing boat like mine is not able to travel directly into or away from the wind. We must zig-zag to get the right angle of wind in the sails. This means we have to sail a longer distance, which is not fast for a record attempt).
On Monday the forecast was shaping up to be NNW and 20-25 knots for Friday. We notified the World Speed Sailing Council that we were on standby. As the week progressed, the forecast strengthened but became more NW in direction. Two legs of the diamond course run NW-SW so this was not perfect. However, the breeze was strong and I was looking for a reason to push Medallia on my own, so yesterday we decided to give the record a go.
After running multiple routing scenarios it looked like 10.30am would be the ideal time to start. I left Poole with a crew to ensure I arrived at the start in good shape and refreshed. Onboard were my world record guru’s Paul and Helena who worked away for years before they gained the outright world speed sailing record in SailRocket. As we came across Poole Bay to the Needles – the W corner of my course, we checked the breeze and immediately realised it was more Westerly than the forecast. The second and last leg of my course would be dead upwind and dead downwind. Not ideal conditions.
It was good to have Paul and Helena there, to talk about the many attempts they had made, what they learned, the concept of always trying, even if you think it’s not going to work out. There was going to be huge value for me to sail this course in these conditions anyway, so I decided to make the attempt. There was so much more to this exercise than breaking a record.
We arrived at the start line in Cowes, two support RIBs turned up to take off my crew. It was already windy, I was feeling nervous about having Medallia in the confined waters of the Solent and I didn’t want to hang around. As soon as the last person was off, I rolled out my jib, put the bow down and crossed the line, slowly to start with, it was inauspicious and I felt a bit stupid, like none of this was possible.
The first leg out of the Solent the breeze was building. Medallia was fully powered up, and with every gust she leaned further over, the pilot struggling to steer. I already had a reef in the main, and it felt like I needed a second. For a moment I was torn, was I backing off? Was I sailing too conservatively, showing that I did not have the power to make this attempt if I reefed again? I had the RIB alongside me with Richard the team photographer and Mikey who has been helping me to prepare for the Vendee. I felt their eyes on me, I hate being watched, I guess I am nervous to show myself incompetent – imposter syndrome still lives within me. With the next gust my instincts took over. I know this boat better than anyone. I would sail how I knew best and if it wasn’t good enough then I could learn and adapt but this was about me.
I reached the needles and the first corner after one hour and 15 minutes of sailing. Just ahead of the record. The next leg would be super fast – downwind but with a gybe. By now it was regularly gusting over 30 knots of wind. I had never gybed Medallia solo in 30 knots – I have never had these conditions in all of the year and a half I’ve had the boat. I needed to swap sails, calculate the best angle to approach St Cats (corner number two) and then make the gybe. Pulling out the new sail, and putting the old one away was hard work. Pulling rope after rope on the grinder. I was overheating inside my foul weather gear but couldn’t stop. Medallia had taken off and we were approaching my gybe point rapidly. Gybing I was full of nerves. Getting it wrong could mean lying the boat on its side out of control and would lose me a lot of time on the course. I mentally went through the checklist of ten sequential actions then went for it. The gybe came off perfectly I was relieved and happy– but no time to celebrate. Medallia was smoking towards St Cats. Walls of water were washing over the deck at me. Speeds were between 18 and 23 knots, it was incredible sailing. The big waves filled up the cockpit, picking up all of my neatly arranged ropes and firing them out of the cockpit drains. At one time the cockpit was so full of water it went over the top of my boots. I was constantly picking up ropes, checking nav, trimming sails, getting waves in the face. I felt like I was at the other end of a tennis court with a faulty ball launcher firing at me unremittingly. But oh, my word it was fun!
Arriving at corner number two we were one hour ahead of the record. Medallia had sailed that leg so fast the RIB was struggling to keep up and the chase car on the Isle of Wight had no chance. Rounding the corner, I pulled out another sail, excited by being so far ahead but knowing that the final leg would be a killer and I needed time in the bank. Leg number three was a straight run, with a dip to roll away my downwind sail which I left up in the air to save time, but with the wonderful benefit of hindsight I should have taken down. At this point the gradient wind was between 28 and 35 knots, and I saw gusts of 38 knots. I checked the weather stations in the Solent, but they all seemed to be reporting 26 knot average. My gut said put in a third reef before turning the corner. The internet said no! Always trust your gut over the internet children!
I rounded corner number three over 45 minutes ahead of the record. Full on into Armageddon. The wind between me and the finish was directly on the nose, so I would be beating all the way home (zig-zagging). The space I had to manoeuvre became limited, due to the depth restrictions for a boat that draws 4.5m. There were seven ships anchored right in my path which I had to duck around, I had to tack back into shallow waters to avoid two ships leaving the Solent and I regularly started to see gusts of over 40 knots of wind.
I spent half an hour struggling to make any headway at all. I put the third reef in and was sailing with tiny sails, but the time between each tack was so short I did struggle to complete any task. I could not cant the keel because this has to be done down below on my boat, and the runway on each tack was so short I couldn’t afford to take the time to go below and perform this operation, so the keel stayed in the middle which meant every 40 knot gust flattened me. If leg two was a tennis ball launcher, leg four was a classroom bully, pushing me over every time I stood up. At one stage after four tacks in these extreme conditions and having made very little headway I looked around me, I knew there was no chance I could break this record and I considered giving up, sailing out into open water and giving myself a rest. My boat was not made for confined waters, and this was actually the first time I had ever tried to sail it upwind in more than 30 knots. To tack one of these boats so frequently in these conditions is just not a normal thing to do.
My deliberation lasted only a minute. I pulled up my socks, set my teeth, my inner dialogue telling me it was just another couple of hours or hard grind but I would finish. This was never just about a record. I had set the objective to sail solo around the Isle of Wight and that was what I would do.
13 tacks and two more ship avoidances later I crossed the finish line. I had gone from 45 minutes ahead of the record to half an hour behind. But I had finished and I proved to myself that I am strong, I am capable and something like this is within my grasp.
Yesterday was a great day. I failed to break a world record but I learned a lot, I had some of the best sailing ever and both Medallia and I have come away from it stronger.
I need to say a huge thank you to the crew who supported me on this day. To Mikey, Richard and Phil, who followed me round in a RIB (when they could keep up) Richard taking amazing pictures and all of them having an equally awful time as me on leg four. To Paul and Helena who have given me untold support and encouragement in every way. To Paddy and Jeremy who also got soaked in a RIB and blatted around the island trying to keep up with me in a car. To Richard who loaned his RIB.
Time is short but if the weather looks good…...