Monday, 22 June 2009

Round the Island Race

This year's Round the Island race was an interesting one.
Once again I was on 'Storm' in the Beneteau 40.7 Class with JP Morgan staff & clients.
It is common for me to sail with novice crews, however it was a pleasant surprise to have an experienced team this time round; some had crossed several of the world's oceans & the youngest at 18 was a couple of weeks into training for the 2009/10 Clipper Race.
Our race was fairly uneventful until we reached the approach to Bembridge, when the wind inshore dropped to nothing creating an enormous log-jam of yachts. We managed to avoid the worst of it & kept what little wind there was further offshore. Rounding Bembridge we must have passed 200 yachts or more, which I reckon put us somewhere near the front of our fleet.
Unfortunately a little further on, whilst short tacking along the edge of Ryde Sands, I managed to park us on the beach for 25 minutes, much to the amusement of other yachts passing by...
Fate dealt us another blow 100 metres from the finish, where we were rolled by 3 others in our class, causing me to tear out large chunks of hair...

Anyway, I think everyone on board had a good day, so thanks to Mark, Annette, Luke, Phil, Keith, Gary, Martin & Samir for their efforts & excellent company. Likewise Harriet, my 1st mate.

Info, images & video can be found on the JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race website here.
One of the videos contains two short clips of 'Storm', & can be seen here. One clip clearly shows half the crew drinking mugs of tea whilst sitting on the weather rail. I don't recall getting one...

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Monday, 8 June 2009

Lutine Lineslip Regatta

Managed by Britannia Events, this annual Regatta for the Insurance Sector took place in the Solent last Wednesday & Thursday. Ordinarily I would have been on board 'Storm' for this one but circumstances dictated otherwise, so on Thursday I spent a pleasant day on a rib & photos of the day can be seen via the gallery page.

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Monday, 25 May 2009

The Shrape Mud..

to the east of the entrance to Cowes Harbour is very shallow at low water. Shallower still, when you arrive at the beach...
I am led to believe that what you see here was entirely expected by both skippers, as they were apparently having a luffing match near the finish during the recent Bank of England Regatta ...


Who won?
Neither - we were in the bar a long, long time before either of them!



(Sorry Jacko, had to go on...)

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Friday, 10 April 2009

Endurance returns

You could be forgiven for thinking that something had gone badly wrong here...However the ship in the middle is HMS Endurance, which was badly damaged in Antartica in December. The one at either end is the Heavy Lifting Vessel Target, slowly flooding down to allow Endurance to float off. She was later towed into Portsmouth, where she will undergo repairs & maintenance.
Target is the second of six single hull tankers to be converted into heavy lift vessels for Dockwise. Designed to transport complex, high-value cargo, she has a deck area of 45 x 130 metres & a carrying capacity in excess of 35,000 tons.
Photo taken on a compact at 0630 on 01/04/09, Eastern Solent

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Wednesday, 11 March 2009

Delivery of 'Wendy Ann II'

This is crewmate Seb Pattenden & Wendy Ann II, a steel Admiralty tug built in 1939. Seb bought her as a rusting wreck in 2006 in a moment of madness (the fact that he agreed the purchase whilst neither drunk nor stoned is testament to his insanity), with the intention of converting her into a live-aboard.
The entire story can be read on his blog "The voyage of Wendy Ann II".



Three years later & after an incredible amount of hard work, a frightening amount of money & a few tears, she floats & is (almost) ready for fitting out.

Here we are at anchor outside Littlehampton waiting for the tide, having just towed her along the coast from Saxon Wharf, Southampton.
The trip was fortunately uneventful & the weather kind; Jan (BP Norse Marine & the owner of tug Storebror) & I amused ourselves during the trip by constantly suggesting to Seb that his pride & joy was slowly sinking. It didn't.



With the obligatory pilot on board we entered the river at Littlehampton with Wendy Ann alongside & eased her into her mud berth at the top of the tide.

Seb seems happy enough...

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