Julian Megson Ocean Ventures

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.

Recently I got a call at work from my wife, Fiona. She had just taken another call saying that Steve White was sailing his Open 60 Race Yacht “Toe In The Water” that same night to France, to have some work done to the boat and that he had invited me to sail with him.

Steve lives a good 6 hours from me so If I was going I needed to go now. My boss at work was brilliant and allowed me to take the rest of the week off immediately. So I quickly dashed home to pick up my things and before I knew it I was on my way to the south coast.

I arrived at Steve’s house after a long drive through some nasty weather. I was really tired and beginning to wonder if I was going to be able to stay awake for much longer. A short time later we were at the marina but with over 40 knots of wind it was going to be very difficult to leave the pontoon without damaging the boat. So we waited until morning before attempting to leave. I must admit I was glad about that decision because I was so tired from the long drive that there was a good chance of me sleeping through the entire sail across the channel and missing everything.

Early the next morning however, we were under way. Once we left the shelter the land the wind picked up to force 8 and it stayed like that for the 120 miles across the Channel. Now I’ve been privileged enough to have sailed with Steve on board ‘Toe In The Water’ before and that was impressive. But in gale force winds this Open 60 really does comes into her own. I have to say that I wouldn’t have missed this experience for the world. It was just like you see in video footage from the Vendee Globe with the rough seas, spray cascading over the decks and whizzing along at over 20 knots. I realise that Steve has seen much worse conditions than this – or “better” conditions depending on how you view things – and I’m sure he doesn’t give them a second thought, but this was proper exciting stuff for me. The waves were about the biggest I have seen but I was amazed how ‘Toe In The Water’ seemed to iron out the bumps. OK, it might have been a different story had we been sailing into the wind, but the whole experience was brilliant. After a short time I was wishing for even bigger waves but it was all over too quickly as we arrived in France later that afternoon.

The next day however, there was still plenty to do. I spent the second day helping Steve to prepare ‘Toe In The Water’ so she could be lifted out of the water. I actually quite enjoyed this, it was a really good way to get to know the boat. As Steve’s Open 60 was to remain in the boatyard for a while we packed up and took the overnight ferry back to the UK. After a short stop at Steve and Kim’s for bite to eat and some very welcome sandwiches for the drive home (thanks Kim!), I was on my way home after an excellent couple of days.

To get the latest news on Steve White you can visit his website at whiteoceanracing.com

PS: My camera got a real drenching and broke, hence the flaky photos from my camera phone!

On Saturday, I went for a sail on Steve White’s Open 60 race yacht ‘Toe in the Water‘. Yes i’m not joking. I’ve had to pinch myself a few times since but it really did happen, thanks to a kind invite from Steve and his wife Kim.

We met at the marina at about midday.  Steve and I walked to the boat to get her set up whilst my wife, Fiona and daughter Megan went with Kim to get a bite to eat.  There is a fair bit to do to get ‘Toe In the Water‘ ready for sailing, but it gave me a chance to have a good look around.  It was the first time I’ve seen an Open60 in the flesh and she didn’t disappoint.  She’s a beautiful boat and looks fast even when she’s stood still.

Soon enough we were ready to cast off.  We slipped the lines and were on our way.  As soon as we were in clear water we hoisted the Mainsaill and the Gennaker and we were away. I’ve never seen anything like it, the boat just took off.  I looked over the stern and it was like the parting of the red sea.

Now at this point I was told we had broached.  You would imagine that I would realise we had broached, so I may sound a bit dumb when I say that i hadn’t realised this at all.  Sure enough the boat was heeled right over and it did look like an awful long way down to the low side but I guess ignorance is bliss.  But I’ve not sailed an Open 60 before and so I just thought it was normal, besides, Steve looked calm enough so I was happy. Steve filled the ballast tanks and ‘Toe In the Water‘ was skimming across the water like a dream.

I then took the helm for a while.  I must admit I didn’t do too well at first I just couldn’t get the balance right. I went from sailing too high to too low, over powering the sails then almost stalling then back to over powering again.  Steve did say the tolerances worked within very small margins which is why I might be struggling.  However on the way back I did get the hang of it..

It was the most amazing afternoon’s sailing for me.  It was such a wonderful privilege and I am so grateful to Steve and Kim for the fantastic opportunity. I can’t finish without mentioning the man himself.  Steve White is modest with not even a whiff of ego. But then he has nothing to prove, his achievements speak for themselves. Steve and his wife, Kim have successfully managed a sterling offshore racing career culminating, so far, in an 8th place out of 30 competitors in the recent Vendée Globe. I have no doubt that Steve will do even better in the next Vendée Globe in 2012. So Steve, Kim a big thank you from us for a fantastic experience.

If you want to know more about Steve White and follow his race campaign please visit whiteoceanracing.com.