Double Double
by John Curnow, Sail-World.com AUS Editor 14 Jul 08:00 AEST
More than a quarter of the record Rolex Fastnet Race fleet will be racing in IRC Two-Handed class - Sun Fast 3600 Bellino rounds the Fastnet Rock © Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi
And the rest of the line is not toil and trouble, but quadruple, then another double...
On the eve of the 100th Fastnet that has attracted some 464 entries, an impressive 407 of which are racing under IRC, I heard of one entry in this record fleet that seemed so very apt. Not only because it includes the Commodore of the RORC, Deb Fish, but because it combines two Brits and two Aussies. Yes. If you had doubts, the double-handed community is well tight, so too the Sun Fast gang, and just like the modern business world, it is all oh-so-global.
As for the quadruple aspect, well just like in rowing, the four scullers who combine to make the exciting Quad Sculls division are all very competent with the difficult and delicate manoeuvres required of a single sculler. Then, more often than not, they combine with another of similar talent and desire, to go and race as a double scull. By the time you combine two doubles to get to the quad, the pace is frenetic, and those precise and very dexterous movements of fingers and thumbs need to be done double, double quickly, and tears can be just around the proverbial corner if it goes a tad sideways on you.
This was the overarching thought I had as I spoke with Rohan Wood ahead of his departure to go and join Mark Hipgrave, Deb, and also Rob Craigie on his Jeanneau Sun Fast 3600, Bellino. Double double, indeed.
There is a long connection between them all on the Sun Fast 3600, going back to the 2017 Hobart, as it turns out. There is also the Melbourne to Osaka race with Hipgrave and Wood to place in there, too. Anyway, Division wins in the Hobart, Sun Fast World Cup wins, and a Class 3 Round Britain win for Fish and Craigie. Of it all, Fish said, "Sadly another Double-Handed crew beat us to take the overall win by 7 minutes in 15 days! Still, it was a great race though, and we're looking forward to another Fastnet, this time with our Aussie friends."
Wood said about the connections, "There's a strong double-handed and sort of Sunfast glue that binds all of this together. Let's face it, these communities, especially with WhatsApp and all the rest of it, are very, very tight, and while somebody might be doing something overseas, somebody on the other side of the globe knows what's going on."
As for what makes somebody take on the 695 nautical miles of Fastnet, Wood proffered, "It's always been on my bucket list. It's just one of those iconic races, and I've always wanted to do it, probably since I was 30. The opportunity came up, and grabbed it!"
Yes, the allure of Transpac, Cape2Rio, Middle Sea, Newport Bermuda and all the others lives on...
11 Hobarts on, and Wood is still keen, and that includes one of the not quite as famous Sydney to Eden event. "It was my first ever retirement and an interesting time in processing it. With boat damage, instrument issues and crew safety to be observed, there would be no declaration at Green Cape."
Fish is a well-renowned navigator. "She's brilliant, and a marvellous tactician. She a very good reader of the metrological charts and sea currents and routing. She's just exceptional. It doesn't matter what race I'm navigating in, I'll lean on Deb," said Wood. "The Sun Fast 3600 has proven itself in so many races, and Bellino is beautifully prepared. There should be no excuse for not knowing the boat well, and how it handles in all sea states."
In this case, Two plus Two makes for a GT of the water, me thinks, and very much likely to be more than the sum of four. We'll see. No pressure...
Offshore needs to keep evolving to remain pertinent, and the addition of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin has proven to be a good thing. "It just adds another dimension to an already exciting race, and that includes logistically and everything else. I think it does add a little bit of romance and a few other things. It has been a harbour and a very well-renowned port city for a long, long time. It ignites a bit of a passion. The French are exceptionally good yachties, and to be hosted by them at the end of the Fastnet is something we are looking forward to."
"I've got a saying. 'If you're not evolving, you're dissolving.' I think that the consistently evolving course of the Fastnet adds to excitement. We're talking about a race that sells out within 15 minutes of being posted. That's one strong indication of how mighty I think the offshore racing scene is over there," added Wood.
The term camaraderie gets bandied around a lot, but here we have the definitive proof. They've come and sailed with the guys over here, and now they're going to go and sail there. Remember, nobody goes offshore without knowing who they're dealing with.
Of that, Wood said, "First and foremost, I think your reputation is everything. I'm lucky, and it is what precedes an invite to something like the Fastnet. I often call it the trench test - when the crap hits the fan, you need to be able to stand up for your crew mates. Certainly, with the crew we've got, the local knowledge of both Deb and Rob, well, you just can't buy that experience. We're all bringing a solid CV along with us, as well as a deep knowledge of the arduous nature and high demands on your body and mind."
"There's such a diverse amount of experience on the boat that if anything happened to anyone, another could step up into that role at any time, in any role on that boat."
You know, Europe might be having a bit of heatwave presently, but the Solent and Irish Sea are not known to be part of the tropics. So how does one prepare? "I always start getting a bit antsy four weeks prior to any big race, even prior to that. Mentally, I guess I start preparing maybe six to eight weeks in advance."
"I don't start looking at the weather too early, and I won't until I get over there, but will do in earnest once I arrive. When I'm in the navigation role, prior to running routing and everything else, I'll be studying the route, the currents, the temperature, the sea state, around seven days out prior to the race. For this one, Deb will take the lead and hopefully I will be in some sort of supporting navigation role, so as to learn from someone that is at their top of their game."
"As for gear, well, I've been freezing cold during a Sydney to Hobart where we had icicles on the rigging. That's cold, and I survived with the current gear, so I'm not expecting anything over and above that."
Was a time when a 36-footer would have been considered a larger craft, now it is small, and four bods on board will make it even more so. They'll be plenty busy, as well, which is always a good thing. I'm tipping that they are friends already, and bound to be even more so once completed. Safety and risk will be managed appropriately.
Hilariously, Wood is the kind of person who reads sea storm books ahead of a race, in this case Nick Ward's Left for Dead. It is much like some watch Air Crash Investigation before getting on a commercial jet. I get that. No point hiding from it, and mental preparedness comes in many forms. Whatever works for you, right?! After all, it is never a game, so don't take the mickey out of it.
When you're slugging it out at seven and a half knots uphill, and praying for anything off the breeze, you could be left wondering 'how long will it take', but the modern routing is way cooler than all of that. "It will be done prior. If there's been one advancement in offshore racing it's been our technology and our availability of Met forecasts and those sorts of things, and how accurate they are. Yes, they've always been available, but it's now to another level. You've got redundancy on redundancy a lot of times, and you've got a combination of routing software that we all use, and with which we're very confident.
"We can predict very closely, depending on your factoring and what sort of buffer you want to give yourself, with regard to tack and gybe times, weather forecast and everything else, but you can predict nearly down to the hour, very accurately."
The Fastnet is a race where there can be huge variance due to conditions and wave state too, because let's face it, it's not the flattest part of water in the world, and if we can do anything around four to five days, we're smashing it. Nine days and friendships could be tested. Considering that Mark and I spent 34 days doing the 5500nm Melbourne to Osaka, and I think we had just the one issue, so I'm tipping we'll be fine," added Wood for reference.
If the eyes are narrowed for the Fastnet, there's just enough horizon to mention the 80th Hobart at the end of the year. "My focus now is just to get over and do the best I can, be the best I can be for the crew, and then see what we can achieve. I'll come back, earn some brownie points and then see what transpires. My wife's birthday is Decemeber 25, and she has already reminded me that this will be the 12th time I have missed that occasion. It is getting expensive for me... (but a small price to pay for the opportunity to compete offshore.)"
Wood has lost five kilos since Christmas, so is fit and raring to go. Good luck to them all.
Something else to ponder
Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, the modified Beneteau First 36, Rahan, skippered by Charles-Etienne Devanneaux and Fred Courouble, is leading Division 7 of the 2225nm Transpac. Yes, they were in the first start, but at the time of writing they were in second place for Line Honours (to an 88-footer from the last start no less), and fourth under ORR overall with just 318nm to travel and a mere 12nm behind Lucky. Hello. Round of applause, please!
What a joy it was to then see them complete it, second over the line, having sailed 2397nm, which was 100nm less than Lucky. Best of all, on corrected time under ORR (8d 13h 48m 34s), they lead overall for monohulls (at the time), and will take out the prized Double-Handed Category (no matter what).
C'est magnifique!
Now I would not presume to put words into Charlie's mouth, but I do know something of the immense pride he will be experiencing so deservedly after pouring himself into the creation of Rahan over the last 18 months since his last offshore race. That was a bittersweet moment. This new, exciting outcome means he's back! So look out everyone, for here is a guy with amazing ideas and plans, and the wherewithal to go out and make them happen.
Please enjoy your yachting, stay safe, and thanks for tuning into Sail-World.com
John Curnow
Sail-World.com AUS Editor