Practical Boat Owner – September 2019

SAILING

T

he barometer points to ‘Fair’,

and the brass clock shows

7pm. Where will we be this

time tomorrow – Sandown,

Bembridge? Or back in East

Cowes Marina?

It’s the night before the Round the Island

Race, and I’m making myself at home in a

stranger’s boat. Joie de Vivre. This pristine

Jeanneau 36 is all mine tonight, thanks to

Flotespace, a company that finds berths

for sailors. Only, I didn’t just get a yacht for

the night. The yacht’s owner, marina

manager Mike Townshend, kindly offered

me a crew place, too, in Britain’s biggest

yacht race!

Marina bathed in gold

I sleep well in the forward cabin and wake

early the next morning to a marina bathed

in gold. On the boats around me crews

are coiling ropes and fixing race numbers

to stays. The kettle whistles and I enjoy

my cuppa on deck, with a curious swan

for company.

It’s a peaceful here on the River Medina.

East Cowes has retained its shipbuilding

heritage: the RNLI has had offices on the

river since the 1930s, overseeing the build

of its inshore lifeboats, and it was here that

the Cornubia yard built the record-breaking

speedboats Bluebird and Miss England II.

In fact, King George V kept his racing

yacht Britannia on the river. He had the

J-Class hauled and repainted every winter,

and raced her throughout the summer.

One by one the yachts depart for the

start-line, and every ten minutes I hear a

race-countdown on the VHF, giving me

butterflies. There are 11 altogether

between 0730 and 0910. Ours is at 9am

• the second-to-last start.
  I head for the shower-block and when I
  return Joie de Vivre is bustling with excited
  crew. There’s Mike, his wife Chrissy, friend
  Dennis, teenage daughter Caitlin and her
  two friends Evelyn and Annabel.

Round the Island:

A crew’s

adventure

Ali Wood finds a last-minute berth in

Cowes and does the Round the Island

Race with a crew she’s never met

They greet me like I’m an old friend, and

before long we’re sailing to the start-line at

Cowes. For the first time in almost ten

years it’ll be a downwind start.

It’s blowing 10 knots from the east-

south-east, and the horizon is an artist’s

palette of clashing bright, bold colours.

There are hundreds spinnakers as far as

the eye can see. Caitlin picks out a red

one with a giant picture of Elvis Presley.

“That’s the boat to beat!” she exclaims.

There are frantic shouts from a yacht to

starboard, whose spinnaker line is caught

on the special mark. Tethered like a goat,

it sails in circles, while the crew try to whip

free the line from the yellow cross.

We get ourselves in position at the

windward end of the mark, trying to find

space away from the masses of other

boats. It’s a great start, and we head

downwind, passing a bewildered seal,

ducking and diving in the melee of yachts.

There’s a crackle on the VHF and the

race officer calls out the boats over the

start-line. Sparkle, Alexa, Mirage.. the list is

endless! All receive a 5% time penalty.

Elvis (whose real name is Now or Never)

sails close to the wind, while Mike’s tactic

is to keep the spinnaker flying and run

downwind.

‘Without warning the wind drops completely

and there are boats floating helplessly’

The crew (from

left): Annabel, Mike,

Dennis, Chrissy,

Caitlin, Evelyn

Ali at the helm

during the race