Three skippers: what it means
58 CLASSIC BOAT FEBRUARY 2018TALL SHIPS REGATTA
of underwear to the loo with me and sort the rest out
later. We washed at every stop-off on the way to
Torbay and then we had one shower each in the middle
of the six-day, fairly gruelling trip from Torbay to Sines
in Portugal. At a few of the ports, the showers were
communal and I was extremely thankful that I was the
only girl, as I had six showers and a big wet-room to
myself. I felt a little sorry for the guys though!
Passing through the Bay of Biscay, I was first on the
helm that night and it was pretty difficult. It’s so scary
knowing that any errors you make will impact everyone
on the boat. With 14ft (4m) swells tossing our 72ft
(23m) long ship around, it was difficult to steer to the
compass, especially with the weight of the tiller.
After conquering the Bay of Biscay, we were followed
by a bird that we thought was a swallow (obviously,
being 80 miles from land and without internet, there are
things you cannot check!) Its wings were black with a
bluey sheen, so we named him Marmite and he followed
us for three days, landing on our hands and heads and
even inviting himself into the cabin. We left him bread
crumbs and fresh water but we didn’t realise swallows
only eat in flight and unfortunately, a few days later, we
found our little friend dead at the boat’s stern.
We saw lots of dolphins – they would swim and
jump underneath the bowsprit, us sitting in the
bowsprit net watching them.
On nearing the coast in Portugal, we realised that we
were almost certainly going to win first in class and first
overall on corrected time. But crossing the finish line was
rather anticlimactic as it was merely a line on a GPS! All
nine of us were up on deck and we were escorted
through the finish line by five huge Portuguese dolphins.In Sines, the boats were a big deal. There were three
days of a Tall Ships Festival, before the crew parade on
the Saturday evening, where all nine of us got under
the mainsail cover like a pantomime horse and snaked
up the Portuguese streets shouting: “Jolie Brise, Jolie
Brise, Jolie, Jolie, Jolie Brise!” Next was the awards
ceremony and the crew party. We won youngest
average age of the crew, first in class and first overall
on corrected time and we were pretty ecstatic. I was
sent up on stage with the first mate to collect the huge
silver cup (the skipper had obviously done this enough
times, as the Jolie Brise wins things quite regularly.)
Saying goodbye to the boat, I was honoured to have
called her my home for the past two weeks and sad to be
leaving her. Saying last goodbyes to my fellow crewBelow: Oyster 68
Rona II, the
flagship of the
Rona Sailing
Project, was one
of two boats
from the Hamble
River that did the
whole trip, along
with Jolie BriseChris Rose, Blue Clipper
“We had people aged from 15 up to their
seventies. It’s life-changing no matter the
age. Twenty-eight of us living shoulder to
shoulder, with no escape, but they survive
and thrive on it. One raised money to do
the whole trip and she’s working as
volunteer crew with us now. Big seas are a
challenge but Blue Clipper is 147ft (45m)
long and 200 tons and we need wind to
get going! Superb ship, great crews!”Toby Marris, Jolie Brise
“As north Atlantic eastward crossings go,
this was as good as it gets (unlike 2009
when the weather was atrocious and we
lost the topmast!). A lot of it is down to
the crew, who were fantastic. Jolie Brise
can’t race without them and they know it.
The experience turns young people into
exceptional sailors.”Gareth Parker, Rona II
“We had to winch one of the crew up our
88ft (26m) mast in very heavy weather, to
free the head of the spinnaker from its
jammed halyard. The boat was leaping
around, he lost his grip a number of times
and actually spun around the forestay
once. The look on the trainees’ faces... you
could see them tighten together into a
team, right there.”