Wayfarer Hafren Round Britain - 3.5 knots is the answer to everything
by Jeremy Warren on 5 Jun 2014
Wayfarer Hafren Round Britain 2014 Nigel Goldsmith
In their work-up trials to an attempt on the Round Britain dinghy record, currently 76 days (Ludo Bennett-Jones in 2012), Bristol sailors Phil Kirk and Jeremy Warren kept coming back to 3.5Knts as the average speed achieved along the rhum line. After a big first leg, from Weymouth to Dale on the South Western tip of Wales, taking 67 hours and including three nights – the answer comes out at the same 3.5knts!
Departing from Castle Cove SC in Portland harbour this first leg took in tidal gates at Portland Bill, Start Point, The Lizard and Land's End, and included the 100-mile open sea passage to Pembrokeshire.
PK: 'The boat was sluggish in the light winds as we left Castle Cove, not least due to 25 litres of water and much food. Along the south coast we were able to make frequent contact with our routers and took advantage of the predicted wind shifts. Rounding Start Point was thrilling; very dark, lots of stars, good boat speed, favourable tide. As we closed with the Lizard the tide turned against us and we struggled a little.
Finally we were into Mounts Bay and experience the first Atlantic swells with a confused cross sea. The wind was blowing F4 but as it got dark it felt a lot more challenging to sail. Reefing down made things easier but the poor visibility, rain and shipping made it hard to find the Runnel Stone and Longships lights. Round the Runnel Stone we eased sheets and hoped that would be the end to the 36 hours of beating.
Once round Longships we had no reference to steer to and the numbers on the compass were too small to read clearly, in the dark. We found a ship on the right heading and aimed at his lights, checking our course on the GPS periodically. At this point we realised how tired we were; both falling asleep on the helm. We put the second reef in and furled some more genoa. This really made the boat managable making it possible for one person to sleep. After 10 minutes we swapped over and extended the shifts to 30 minutes and then an hour.'
JW: 'Land's End in the dark and a nasty cross sea was pretty scary. We were both tired after 36hrs at sea, but, wobble as she may, the Wayfarer looked after us. No matter how much prep we had done, nav is hard through layers of waterproof plastic. This was daunting, a point of no return; we both felt that'
Hafren made a long reach from Land's End to Dale on Monday started with light winds which slowly filled to a good force 3-4. The duo took it in terms to catch some sleep. By late afternoon they were level with Ilfracombe and 30 miles offshore and finally had a wind angle with which held the (old style 505) spinnaker, greatly boosting progress.
PK 'At dusk we dropped the kite and clipped on our harnesses. With some light from the moon and our own mast head light we could just see some of the waves allowing us to confidently helm through them, surfing regularly. Much more fun. The wind increased and we reefed down again. We were visited by a dolphin who stayed with us for ten minutes, jumping our bow wave and kicking up phosphorescence like a torpedo'
Phil and Jeremy found the lights for Milford Haven hiding behind a huge anchored ship and as they approached the marked channel the wind died.
JW 'Becalmed, we paddled energetically (Hawaii 5-OH) and just grabbed a channel buoy in the Milford approaches before getting swept past – clearly not allowed, but in the conditions, I thought it was sensible. Ten minutes later the Angle lifeboat out of Dale came at us at about 25knts, all three storeys of her, and I thought we were in for at least a dressing-down. None of it; the lads circled us, hailed and waved and whizzed off to a casualty that had hit the rocks off Milford, having made the same passage as us. Phew!' [aside – the French single-handed skipper of the wrecked vessel was duly rescued].
PK 'In summary, life on-board a wayfarer at sea is cramped. The space becomes our kitchen, then the chart table and the heads. Whenever one person moves the other has to compensate. But the boat looks after us.
Dale is lovely, and we must thank the members of Dale YC and other locals for making us so welcome.
So, leg one done, all well, but still 1250 miles left and a clear realisation we were very lucky with the weather'. Expect to see that 3.5 knts, again and again'.
Statistics Noon – Noon
Day 1 - 96 miles
Day 2 – 80 miles
Day 3 19 hrs – 74 miles
Leg one total 250 miles, average speed 3.5 Xtreme Dinghy Cruising
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