Wayfarer Round Britain – Hafren’s record attempt

by Jeremy Warren on 28 May 2014 Two British sailors are set to begin a round Britain challenge, in a 5m dinghy, with emphasis on offshore passage-making.

So just how long is a lengthy dinghy sail? Four hours, maybe six? Say a championship day with a long trip to the race area, and some hanging around between races? For two Bristol-based sailors most of June and July will be spent in a Wayfarer, as they attempt the round Britain record. Starting from Weymouth on Sat 31st May, Jeremy Warren and Phillip Kirk will head up the Irish Sea, going west of the Isle of Man, and clockwise around the north of Scotland.

Kirk describes the motivation 'Both of us have done a range of different sailing, but this is a completely new challenge. I’m a Cherub and Enterprise sailor. We’ll be adapting what we know about a dinghy to the distances and conditions we see in offshore yacht racing. This is fascinating stuff'.

'Wayfarer Hafren', named after a mythical goddess of this team’s home waters of the Severn Estuary, will spend a lot of time out of sight of land. Warren comments, 'We’ve sought advice from others who have done all or parts of this challenge. Unsurprisingly the problems occur inshore and when entering or leaving port. If we can get comfortable offshore, that’s where we’ll stay. We plan on ten legs of three days each, obviously weather-dependent. The first leg, from Weymouth, might get us all the way to Land’s End, but poor weather might as easily put us in Lyme Regis, less than 40 miles along a direct route of some 1500 miles. We’ll see.'

Regarding the record, currently 76 days, Warren comments, 'It is not about this record; it’s about being at sea in a dinghy and sailing it in the dark. The record is an informal record, with just too many variables, of route, propulsion and outside assistance, to make it assessable by the Guinness Book of Records. Current holder of this unofficial record, Ludo Bennett-Jones, did this trip in 2012, effectively demonstrating weather dependency; over his 76 days, 29 were storm-bound. Notably, he did this when just 21 years old, a second record beyond the reach of this pair; Phil Kirk is 41, Jeremy Warren 56.

Bennett-Jones comments, 'After the worst British summer ever in 2012, it probably would have been easier to sail across the flooded UK than around it. My circumnavigation completed a dream for me, a rigorous mental and physical challenge. It is brilliant to be that close to nature, dropping into remote harbours and meeting equally mad and driven people. With Hafren I will have the pleasure of watching from the safety and warmth of my sofa. Good luck to the two adventurers, fair winds. Never stop Exploring!'

The undisputed pioneer of offshore dinghy sailing remains Frank Dye (1928 – 2010), and it is his example that provides a lot of this team’s motivation. What Dye achieved, and what he suffered, makes round UK look relatively easy; Dye’s trips from UK to Iceland and Norway meant facing force nine gales, thirty foot waves and up to eleven days at sea. 'Wanderer’s' two-man crew capsized, broke masts and sails and genuinely explored the limits of endurance in a sailing dinghy. Kirk dismisses comparison of Wanderer vs. Hafren, 'So much has got easier since Frank Dye went to Iceland. He lacked GPS and weather data, and used agricultural oilskins that any farm hand today would think were a joke. They were on a pint of water a day and no sun cream, use of which Dye rejected as effeminate.'

Hafren is the pair’s second Wayfarer, and much modified and trialed for this trip. Warren comments 'We are engineers, and we’ve certainly done a lot to optimise living on board, with a stove and rudimentary sleeping space. The sail controls are simpler than a racing Wayfarer, but retain racing robustness and functionality. Sailing effectively and fast increases our safety and boosts our flexibility on route choices.'

At the core of this venture is a desire to demonstrate self-sufficiency, and experience some hardship beyond the daily work/life routine, in return for sunrises and porpoises, fresh fish and big distances.

Warren concludes 'Our daily business lives are hectic (Warren has just sold out of a successful high-tech start-up), mine with an agenda set by Microsoft Outlook’s task list and by a mobile phone. This will be very different challenge, sometimes demanding, sometimes requiring patience and certainly mandating time to reflect. Indeed, a very different test.'

Wayfarer Hafren will be raising money for the RNLI and a local charity that supports health and education in some of the poorest parts of southern India.

About Hafren Round Britain: Starts 31 May from Weymouth. Progress can be tracked (Yellowbrick) in real time at Xtreme Dinghy Cruising and on Twitter @hafrensailing.