Got back recently from a short camping holiday to the south coast with my Wife and Daughter. I Managed to catch a little of the Cowes Week regatta whilst I was there.
My Wife, Fiona dropped me off at Southampton and I took the fast ferry over to Cowes on the Isle of White. I had arranged to thumb a lift back to Dorset with Steve White on his Open 60 race yacht ‘Toe In The Water’ from Cowes later that afternoon. This left me with a bit of time to have a quick look around the events going on at the regatta.
I’ve not been to Cowes Week regatta before and the first thing that struck me was the sheer number of boats crowded into the Solent. Don’t get me wrong, I expected to see a huge amount of boats, but to see it with my own eyes was incredible. I really really must move down there as soon as possible.
I was told I would be picked up by a rib at the Artemis Ocean Racing hospitality tent and be taken out to Steve’s boat. I couldn’t find the Artemis tent and ended up walking the full length of the promenade and back trying to find it – it was right next to the ferry terminal! But it was a welcome diversion because I came across a marquee selling fresh seafood Paella. I swear it was the best thing I’ve tasted for ages. I really want to tell you all where you can get one,- it was that good, but I can’t remember the name of the restaurant who made it! It was near where the America’s Cup was on display if anyone wants to chip in.
I eventually found the Artemis tent, you had to walk through someone’s garden to get to it! The people at OC Group and Artemis were very accommodating. I must admit, when I crawled out of my cold wet tent that morning, I wasn’t expecting to be drinking Champagne and eating nibbles in a nice hospitality tent over looking the Solent later that day.
A little while later, the rib arrived to take me out to Steve’s boat. Honestly, it was worth the trip to Cowes just for that. If anyone hasn’t been at full chat on a rib before, then you’ve not lived – I want one! We saw the huge main sail on Steve’s boat beyond the 100′s of other boats and quickly made our way over. It was then I suddenly thought, how the hec am I going to climb from one moving boat to another moving boat, I’m not exactly built for this task. I thought something’s going to go splash… that something being me. In the end I don’t even know how I did it, only that I seemed to hold on tosome dignity during the process which is a bonus.
It was good to be back on Steve’s Open 60 (3rd time now…luck boy!). The number of boats in the Solent had dwindled a little but there was still a lot of traffic to thread our way through. The wind was also coming from the direction we wanted to travel, which meant a lot of tacking. This continued until we reached The Needles, which was the last bit of landfall of the Isle of White. Now were were in the open English Channel and we could do longer stretches between tacks. Heeled over, the guardrail partly submersed it was exciting stuff. I took a peek over the windward side and I could see the keel just under the water.
She really is a beautiful boat and it always feels like such a privilege to sail on her. After all she’s not just any boat, she took Steve on what was his biggest adventure of a lifetime (so far), around the world non-stop and she kept him safe for all those miles. I’ve done very little by comparison in my little Hurley, but I love my boat. Most sailors would admit to strong bonds with their boats, which is perhaps hard for non-sailors to understand. I can only imagine what Steve and his boat have been through and I have the utmost respect for them both.
I eventually crawled into my tent at 3am. I tried to climb in without waking anyone one up. But in the dark and my confusion over which bit of the tent I was supposed to occupy, I think I sat on my wife’s head – which didn’t go down amazingly well. However, the concussion seems to have made her forget so it turned out well in the end.
Cheers, Julian
PS: This winter Steve White will take on the toughest challenge in sailing when he attempts to break the Solo Non-Stop Round the World record sailing Westabout “the wrong way round”, against the prevailing winds and currents. It really is sterling stuff whether you like sailing or not.
You can read about Steve’s Westabout challenge here.
And watch his video here.
