Pre-race FB (www.facebook.com/maverickdoublehanded
) and website blog
(www.maverickdoublehanded.com/news
), reprinted below.
This year the biennial Fastnet Race, the most famous and storied of all
offshore sail races, celebrates its 90 year and 46th edition. Boats and crew
will be tested over a 603 mile course known for tricky tides and tactics in
the early stages, and reacting to quickly changing weather and seas as they
cross the often wild Irish Sea.
The race starts in Cowes, the ancestrial home and still-beating heart of
yacht racing, on the Isle of Wight on the southern England coast. With
nearly 380 entries, boats will start Sunday morning by class, slowest to
fastest, and many a race has been made or lost in the first hours as the
fleet negotiates tricky tides and shifting winds through the Solent and
along the series of headlands along the coast. After passing the furthest
west tip of England, appropriately (for the English) named Land’s End, the
next mark is the iconic Fastnet Rock, a promontory and lighthouse off the
Irish Coast near Cork. It seems fitting, though perhaps a bit cruel, that in
the middle of this testing race the participants take in the lush green
Irish coast, and can virtually smell the peat and Guinness, but instead of
stopping they round ‘The Rock’ (a classic photo op) and head back to England
and a finish in Portsmouth.
We sailed our first Fastnet in 2011, crowded and distracted with a full crew
on Rebellion, while in 2013 we managed a better result sailing doublehanded
with Christian Jeffery on
So What. This year we will again take Fastnet on doublehanded, on our older
but steady J-120 Maverick with Ken Parsons
. Reflecting the strong growth of
doublehanded sailing, this year 57 of the approximately 370 entries are
doublehanded, up from 45 entries in 2013, while the Dutch boats have nearly
doubled from 5 in 2013 to 9 for this 2015 race.
In every sailing competition there are races-within-the-race, especially
between boats from the same country or of the same type. Five of the nine
Dutch boats are currently in the top 10 of the Dutch doublehanded season
standings, with Xcentric Ripper holding a mortal lock on first place,
Maverick second and Team Firestorm
fourth.
Five of the Dutch duos raced in Fastnet 2013, with Junique Raymarine Sailing
Team
earning a terrific third place in the doublehanded class and Ripper coming
in eighth. A reflection of the quality and benefits of the IJspegel Trophy
winter series in Scheveningen,
five of the boats took part this winter, with Junique, Maverick and Panther
Sailing Team taking the three
podium positions. Zeiljacht IL Corvo
, Joost
& Vrolijk, and Arethusa Fastnet Race 2015
have all managed top
doublehanded finishes and are also very much in the mix for the Dutch
bragging rights, while Splendide also has the chance for a Splendide
Fastnet.
Much of our initial boat preparation and training races has been with an eye
towards Fastnet. Our sail selections from John Parker and OneSails GBR
(East)
have proven highly competitive and durable, and we much appreciate our set
of Lancelin lines and running rigging from Rake Rigging bv
. More importantly, our safety
offshore depends on key systems and equipment, from lifevests and liferafts
to horseshoe buoys and radar reflectors, and our Scheveningen neighbor
Vrolijk Watersport has
provided terrific expertise and support for all of our safety needs – in
addition to a friendly cup of coffee and all the other little bits and bobs
needed through the season.
In addition to qualifying races and safety inspections, there are a myriad
of other essential preparations and details involved in a major offshore
race. Since arriving yesterday at our welcome ‘home base’ at East Cowes
Marina we have picked up repaired
sails from the local loft, checked lines and rig, enjoyed a full English
breakfast, had the hull cleaned by the friendly MMC Divers, and started the
early navigation work and routing. While the most fanatical teams share
toothbrushes and eat the lightest and driest and of freeze-dried meals, we
will be enjoying a range of delicious, albeit heavy, vacuum-packed creations
from Chef Ken, as well as Welsh Cakes, Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut, and many
other savory and sweet treats from Waitrose’s. That's just how Team Maverick
Doublehanded Sailing rolls.
The race can be followed online from Sunday morning, with real time
positions and standings via onboard tracking systems. Maverick will be shown
in the doublehanded class as well as IRC Class 2, where we are also
competing against fully crewed boats. Additionally, we will compete for the
venerable Martin Illingworth Trophy is for the top three boats from the same
club, and Maverick, Xcentric Ripper, and Panther proudly represent Jachtclub
Scheveningen
as
‘Team Scheveningen’. Please root (or cheer) for all three of us, as well as
our other Dutch doublehanded friends, as we take on the other top
international boats in Fastnet 2015.
http://www.rolexfastnetrace.com/…/2015-fleet-tracking-race-…
