How the crew of Try Flying nearly got to Try Frying!

by Phill Brander on 27 Jul 2010 In all honesty, I don’t know how the stove caught fire. But when I turned around, angry flames were threatening to engulf the saucepans. In an effort to manage the spontaneous combustion of the Try Flying kitchen, I went to turn off the fuel supply.

Unfortunately for me, in my haste, I turned it up instead. The flames were now around 18 inches high and we were developing a real fire. So, how did we get in this situation during the 2009 Heaven Can Wait 24 hour yacht race -- and live to tell the tale? Read on.

For the second year in a row I was fortunate to be crew on Mark Hastings’ Farrier Trailer Tri 720 Try Flying.

We were pretty happy with our race last year -- but this year we had an extra puff of wind in our sails: youth!

Mark’s 15-year-old daughter Meggan was nice and light with keen eyes and a deft touch on the tiller. Buoyed by the knowledge that we were now a complete crew, Try Flying was in for a good race! .

The forecast was for a race start in 13 knot ESE, with the breeze forecast to build to SE 29 knots just as it got dark, and then stay above the 20 knots throughout the night.

A little too eager to get a good start, I set my watch on a 5 min countdown with the 10 min gun, Meggan took the tiller and Mark and I got to work setting the boat up for the start.

Try Flying was living up to its name, soaring across the line ... when I realized my mistake. We were 5 minutes early!

'Uhh… Good practice-start guys. Let’s go around and do it for real!' I hoped my cup-half-full attitude was infectious.

Meggan pulled us off the line, and circled the fleet up to the committee boat. She ran the line beautifully and we veered onto the course with the distant pop of the gun.

Careful not to repeat past mistakes, we concentrated carefully on our own game -- trimming the sails to keep the boat free and fast. We did notice the big guns climbing to windward of us, but they didn’t seem to be going much faster. It’s not about speed or height, the game is VMG.

Our first tack instilled some reality into our position. We were about mid fleet and feeling pretty good. Nothing we couldn’t sort out in 23.5 hrs or so.

As we tacked off we saw a number of our main rivals continuing on. Knowing they were headed for the knock we’d just tacked out of, we nodded confidently to each other.

We were now sailing on a smooth lift. Try Flying was flying steadily, and Mark was insisting that we had overlayed the mark.

'Come again! We are right and the fleet is wrong? Well this is a good race -- I don’t normally sail on that kind of boat!' I said, filled with jubilation and blind hope. I suppose it was a blessing that Mark’s deflating response came quickly.

'Uhh, Sorry guys…. we need to tack.'

Embarrassing mistakes:

Phill – 1
Mark – 1
Meggan - 0

Back on familiar ground, I got straight to work and we put in our tack to make the mark.

Happily, we were still a good way ahead of our main rivals and the other two trimarans in the race. Not long and we had reached the lay line and had to tack back onto port to approach the first rounding mark.

It was at this point we started to battle it out with Windchaser, a boat that we would see a lot of over the next 24 hours.

By our second lap the rain hit heavy and the breeze blew up. We had managed to pull out a 500 m lead on Windchaser, and confident in our position, I went below to warm up and cook dinner.

It was so simple. All I had to do was heat up spaghetti bolognaise.

In all honesty, I don’t know how the stove caught fire. But when I turned around, angry flames were threatening to engulf the saucepans. In an effort to manage the spontaneous combustion of the Try Flying kitchen, I went to turn off the fuel supply. Unfortunately for me, in my haste, I turned it up instead.

The flames were now around 18 inches high and we were developing a real fire. It was time to call in back up.

Despite the fact that I had nearly destroyed his boat, Mark was extraordinariy reasonable about the whole thing, and after the flames had been extinguished, I was not made to walk the plank.

I breathed a sigh of relief and reverted straight back to my positive, can-do attitude. At least the cabin was now beautifully warm!

Embarrassing mistakes
Phill- 2
Mark- 1
Meggan- 0

By the time our dinner debacle had been sorted and our meals consumed, I clambered back on deck to discover the Windchaser had passed us and developed a good lead.

Expletive again! This was all too much for Meggan, who crashed out below before we had chased them down.

To our credit, Mark and I sailed fairly error-free while our skipper slept, and steadily Windchaser came within reach. As we approached Mannering Park we had her measure and regained the advantage.

Around 2 am, Mark’s hectic schedule leading up to the race and the challenge of keeping the boat on the pace took its toll.

Having problems maintaining consciousness, he decided to take a power nap on the tramp. His efforts to stay above deck while exhausted, wet and cold were admirable, but shortlived.

An hour later, hot chocolate in hand, Mark wished me good luck and went below for a real sleep.

Try Flying was now being flown solo.

Sadly, partly due to poor navigation, and partly due to the difficulty in steering and trimming a boat I’m not that familiar with, I let Windchaser slip past and open up a huge lead.

Mark woke at 4am to get the bad news of Windchaser’s position relative to ours. Meggan came on deck about then to help in the effort to chase Windchaser down again.

She was quite miffed that we hadn’t woken her earlier. We were quite in awe of her ability to sleep a full eight hours below decks in less than restful conditions.

Somewhere between Belmont and Toronto I got some sleep which recharged my batteries.

Mark and Meggan had put in a fantastic effort while I was out of action, and when I woke, Windchaser’s lead was diminished and I was full of motivation.

With the full crew awake and alert again we kept at it for the rest of the race. Through sheer effort and concentration, we managed to pull back all but 200m of Windchaser’s lead. But as they say, all good things must come to an end. Just as the enemey was back within our reach, the 24 hour time limit was up.

Our HCW race for 2009 was over.

All I can say it that it was a great race and 24 hours sure goes quick when you are caught up in 'the thrill of the chase'.

My second year and I still think that this is an excellent event and can’t wait for next year. And if I can use the next 12 months to improve my cooking skills, that Windchaser is in trouble.