FIVE Guernsey yachtsmen are celebrating in St Lucia after 17 days in gale force winds racing across the Atlantic. Skipper Peter Howe and crew Peter Norey, Mik Underdown, Ron Wilkes-Green and Peter Lanoe completed their 2,700-mile passage from Gran Canaria on Wednesday morning.
Aboard 40ft Majic 2 they finished seventh out of 10 in their class in the IRC racing division of the 2006 Atlantic Rally.
The crossing had realised lifelong ambitions for all the crew, but was far from plain sailing.
From the outset they were out to race and continually pushed the boat to the limits, sailing under spinnaker when ever possible, day and night.
With only two on deck much of the time and with wind speeds often exceeding 30 knots, they experienced some frightening spills, including middle-of-the-night broaches and involuntary gibes.
Before the race Howe said he could not have hoped for a more experienced crew claiming it would be like sailing with five skippers.
But nothing could have prepared them for more than 400 gruelling hours of non-stop racing as the boat crashed through raging seas at an average speed in excess of eight knots.
Norey said none of them had ever sailed for so long in such strong winds.
Howe said the seas had been horrendous almost every day since the start.
‘Life aboard is very difficult, akin to riding a bucking bronco 24-7. Almost the smallest task is difficult to complete without some chaos ensuing.’
As they crossed the line at 8am on Wednesday, the crew had every reason to celebrate.
‘So we have done it. Four 50-somethings and the multiple grandad realising one of their most cherished pipedreams. Three thousand-odd miles in a boat not much bigger than two VW campers,’ said Howe, who celebrated his 59th birthday the following day.
‘Handshakes all round, grins from ear to ear, all aches and pains instantly forgotten, sails down and good old Majic 2 motored through the marina entrance as though it had been out for no more than a trip around the bay,’ Howe added.
The local sailing fraternity is in admiration of what they did.
Majic 2 was at a disadvantage to the majority of the fleet by not being able to sail optimally on the direct course which, with the prevailing trades was consistently dead downwind.
The J120 sails fastest flying its asymmetric spinnaker which performs best at 30 degrees off a downwind run.
As such they predominantly sailed a zigzag course with a few gybes to make the most headway.
Very occasionally they were lucky enough to be able to make the direct course under white sails but at others times resorted to proceeding just under the mainsail to make the best heading.
But as much as possible it was full speed ahead under spinnaker.
The boat carried three of different size and weight to cope with varying wind speeds.
Unfortunately the largest all- purpose one was irreparably ripped just four hours into the race.
But despite this early setback the boat performed very well and had it been able to make a beeline for the finish, would have definitely placed a lot higher.
Majic 2 was consistently one of the fastest in its class.
On Friday 1 December it achieved the longest noon-to-noon run in the fleet and the following day was just one mile short of the longest run.
Flying a kite continuously in such fresh winds is a real strain on the rigging and the crew got well rehearsed in replacing the sheets without losing any speed. Occasionally they momentarily dropped the sail to check the condition of the halyard.
But in true racing spirit, all such manoeuvres were executed as slickly as possible.
Six days in, they experienced what Howe later described as the most exhilarating, yet safe night sail of their lives.
They carried the full main and larger kite throughout in a consistent 25-knot wind reaching a top speed of 15.8 knots.
At dawn they examined the sails and rigging for damage and spied a small hole in the kite. It was dropped in favour of the smaller one.
But by midmorning the wind had increased to 30 knots with 20ft waves.
‘We had broached twice and wrapped twice: helmsman shall remain nameless. We decided we were pushing our luck and woke the foredeck crew from their well earned slumbers and executed a drop,’ said Howe.
But on other occasions those below deck were given less warning of impending chaos.
Three nights later in 30-knot winds the boat suffered a frightening involuntary gybe throwing the sails and rigging out of control and catapulting the three down below from their bunks. It took all men on deck 20 minutes to recover the yacht.
The following day the boat was overpowered under full white sails by 35-knot winds.
Ironically, the closing stages of the race were under light airs.
Most of the last day at sea was spent coaxing Majic 2 to maintain a direct heading to St Lucia at a speed greater than five knots.
‘After two weeks of wind on tap it seemed so strange to be idling along as if we were on a cruise,’ said Howe.
Majic 2 finally made the gybe point to the north of St Lucia at 6.30am and set a course to clear the outer rocks of Rodney Bay.
As the yacht made the turn towards the finish line, it hardened up onto a beat for the first time in the race.
Article posted on 16th December, 2006 - 12.00am
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