Race to Rio, the final push

Whales and Dolphins became a regular sight as we approached race finish. It seemed strange to have travelled across the Atlantic and had only had flying fish for company! As the depths became shallow, it forces the nutrient rich water up to the surface, drawing all forms of microscopic life to the surface. This drew the migrating Humpbacks and Wright Whales to feed during their long migration North to South.

Our only fear was that we might have a collision with one of these magnificent creatures. Although we weigh roughly about the same as an adult Humpback, our flimsy hull would be no match against strength of whale blubber and muscle!

The conditions for sailing had been fantastic all the way across. Unfortunately, we now found ourselves in a wind hole! With each 'race sched' we saw our competitors draw closer!

On the morning of the final day, I was the last 'off watch'. My watch had finished some 20 minutes earlier, but I just sat on the lee ward side, searching the horizon for signs of the wind that would take us the last 120 miles into Rio. I descended the ladder down into the Saloon. Everyone was spent! I salvaged a bit of breakfast before turning in. We now had 6 hours to get some kip. We all silently slipped off to our bunks to get some rest and forget the light conditions that had blighted us for the past 4 hours!

I was awoken by a pleasant sensation.... the boat was slightly heeled over, and I could hear the water lapping past our hull! I came on deck and it was beautiful day! Slight breeze, plenty of sun. The shorts and T-shirt weather! Port watch handed over control, and I relieved Steve from the helm so he could go and enjoy 6 hours in his bunk. He warned me not to lose the breeze, and said it had been patchy, but the wind was holding.

We could see over to our starboard side the beautiful golden sands of Brazil. We were mindful not to get too close for fear of falling into another dreaded wind hole close inshore.

We soon became aware that the breeze had begun to freshen. To the level where it felt a bit chilly in the shade. An odd sensation that we had not experienced since leaving the Channel. I became aware that the horizon (on our port side) had begun to cloud over and darken. As the ominous cloud rolled towards us, the breeze began to build further.

It appeared the the mighty Atlantic wasn't about to say goodbye without one last test!

The wind swung through 45 degrees and we were soon having to beat into 20knots of apparent wind. This meant that we were heeled over at 45 degrees!

Crew were disappearing very quickly down the hatch and reappearing in full oillies. We all had a good idea of what this was developing into, and sure enough within 20 minutes the rain started! By this time I had been on the helm for over three hours! To be fair the crew had been kept busy with reefing the main, and changing down from our largest head sail (Yankee 1) down to the Yankee 2. This eased our heel slightly, but the sea state had picked up and we were starting to see some huge rollers trying to take Welcome to Yorkshire head on!

Rupert appeared on deck (also in full oillies). He gave the word to tack and head out to sea. We were in danger of coming very close to a large reef which would be under our lee (meaning we were running the risk of being blown onto it).

As I tacked the bow through the wind, the rest of the crew executed their jobs slickly. We went down to reef 3 in the main, and bagan to change down to our smallest Yankee head sail (Y3).

This manoeuvre took longer as those that were able went forward and began to take down the Yankee 2. This was all compounded by heavy seas, driving rain and some very gusty blows!

From my position on the helm, I did my best to avoid 'falling off' too many waves. Unfortunately I could not avoid them all, and on one occasion I screamed forward for everyone to hold on. The bow sharply rose skyward! The first two thirds of our 68ft went airborne, and all on deck prepared for the landing!

The wave disappeared as it carried on its original course. We had been travelling at over 11 knots, and with our momentum, we held level as Welcome to Yorkshire 'belly flop' into the trough of water in front of us.

The impact was huge, and she shuddered through her mast right down to her keel. As I looked up I was desperately counting all the crew who I could see on the bow! Yes! They are all still there! (all safely clipped on) It certainly was a day to be wearing your 'brave pants' on the bow!

Despite being soaked through (still wearing my shorts, t-shirt and sponsored fleece) I watched with huge pride as the rest of Starboard watch battled through some of the toughest conditions. They were absolute heroes! Including our Skipper, Rupert (who returned with his life jacket inflated - from receiving a good dowsing)!

Everyone returned to the safety of the cockpit / winch area, and I managed to swap with Leonie who took the wheel. I went below and changed out of my wet clothes and into something dry and then into full oillies.

Whilst I was below I noticed a few people sat around Chris (Port Watch-leader). He looked a bit dazed. When I asked what had happened I was told that he'd been in the mid bow - below decks, helping to wrestle the Yankee 3 up on deck. Andy and Keith had been helping him when a huge wave knocked us sideways, and they all went flying across to the other side of the boat. Chris ended up being at the bottom of a pile of people, and one very heavy sail. I felt incredibly guilty. Whilst there is nothing I could have done to avoid the waves that had smashed us, as helmsman at the time I felt it was my responsibility to keep us on a safe course. I apologised to Chris, and he told me not to worry about it. I still felt terrible.

I was soon back on deck, and took up position on the windward side with the rest of the watch. We watched as the shipping increased as we got closer to Rio. A huge tug (bound for one of the oil platforms) steamed by. The crew looked down on us as we battled into the wind. I could make out that one or two of them were enjoying a cup of hot drink. They must have been chatting to each other saying 'look at the crazy English people'!

Soon it was time to go below as Port watch came on. We descended into a world that was pitching around at 45 degrees, hot and humid, but the most welcoming aspect was the smell of hot curry being served up! We fought to escape our saturated oillies and were soon eating heartily! Thank you to the Mothers that day! You saved us with the best bowl of food ever!!

We'd worked out that we would be finishing in only a few hours, so we had requested to be woken up just before the finish, as none of us wanted to miss the big occasion. I was duly woken by Jim, who was going on about how 'Skipper urgently needed me on deck'. I was half asleep as I pulled on my soggy gear back on, and eventually climbed the companion way to the where Rupert stood. I could make out the huge looming shapes of the rocks of Rio, Sugar loaf mountain about a mile ahead of us.

'Everything alright Skip?' I asked. 'Ah Gary, would you do us the honour of taking us across the finish line?'
I was absolutely shocked! Jim had been watching and when I turned to him he gave me a big slap on the back, and smiled! What an honour!

The next half an hour was spent watching the navigation marks going into Rio. As we crept through the darkness, the lights of the city began to illuminate the surrounding hills and mountains. Giant sea birds followed us as if we were a trawler returning from a fishing trip. As we passed the outer markers a ghostly figure seemed to hover high up in the darkness. It was Christ the Redeemer! An amazing sight!

We crossed the line in second place, in the early hours of Thursday morning (01 September 2011). The deck was transformed into a huge party as we all embraced and cheered! Welcome to Yorkshire had crossed the Atlantic from Madeira to South America in just under 20 days!  It was an amazing feeling!

clipper experience 1a 0001

Dolphins CV3 0003

"There be whales!"

As race end approaches it is becoming more difficult to sleep in the 'off watch'. All minds are focused on the race and keeping the nautical miles smoothly slipping beneath our keel.

Kat (one of my crew mates on Starboard watch) has generously offered to swap 'mother duties' with me for today. The reason I had asked for this is I didn't want to spend the last day of the race in the 'galley'. It would have been a shame to come all this way, and had been washing up as we entered Rio! I'm sure I would have been on deck with everyone else, but I really wanted to be 'sailing' the boat that day and have the opportunity to take 'Welcome to Yorkshire' across the line. Kat being a generous soul offered me this as she will be going on to Leg 2 and 3, so will be seeing a further two race finishes.

During our daily crew meeting, an 'eagle-eyed' crew member spotted a 'fin' poking out of the water about a mile off our starboard beam. It was the unmistakeable fluke of a whale! Almost waving at the boat! The long white fin waved about as it slapped the water (clear behaviour of the Humpback whale). As time went on we spotted a further three Humpbacks in the 'pod'!

The final sighting of the group was that of a huge tail rising into the air, as the giant mammal slipped beneath the surface to begin a huge dive into the deep blue depths!
Regrettably I could not take any photos as my little Fuji-film could not focus on such a range, and the wobbly film I took does not do the event any justice!

We are now sailing dead downwind, under our huge lightweight Spinnaker sail! The hoist went well, and again Jim (our watch leader) ensured I was in the midst of all the action on the bow. Great fun, and very satisfying to see this 'tennis court' sized sail take off into the air over our bow!

Now the really tiring bit will start as we must concentrate on keeping it flying all the way to our next waypoint (a headland called Cabo Sao Tome), which is currently just over 200 nautical miles away. Sounds far, but that is not a long distance in a 68ft ocean racing yacht travelling at 10-12 knots!

The major perk of being on Mother Watch is that you come off the normal 'watch rota'. So once the crew are fed and watered, you have free time. As well as organising your kit and bunk for the next few days, it is also a great chance to catch up on sleep. So tonight I will have a good solid 8-9 hours of kip! Need to make sure the 'batteries' are fully recharged, ready for the last 48 hours of the race! COME ON ‘WELCOME TO YORKSHIRE’!!!!

A tall ship, and a star to steer her by...

H Melville's words have been resonating in my ears for the past week. I have done a fair amount of 'night sailing' so far on this race, but crossing into the southern hemisphere has made it a bit more special!

I've spent a lot of time trying to get to know some of the constellations and stars here. Any knowledge I have regarding astro-navigation is purely based on the night sky of the Northern hemisphere! Not a great deal of use in the South Atlantic!

The twin stars of 'Centurious' are very clear, and has been my navigational fix for over a week now. As the night moves on I tend to follow 'Scorpius' (I believe is its correct name). It is essentially a giant Scorpion floating in the heavens! The curve of the sting and two sharp pincers can be clearly made out.

The Milky Way can be clearly identified (typically running North to South). With no light pollution from artificial lighting, every star is clearly visible!

We are also treated to a nightly show of shooting stars! It's hard not to miss them as I spend most of my time looking up, trimming the sails!

Over the past few nights our Watch Leader (Jim) has passed responsibility for calling the trim on the head sails to me. This involves standing on the bow, with waves sweeping across the foredeck, attempting to communicate instructions to the rest of the crew who are just behind the mast! It has been a lot of fun, and I have learned so much from this experience. I have now developed 'trim OCD'! Instructions are communicated to the crew on the winches by a mixture of hand signals and shouts. As I walk forward I always 'eye ball' the helm, and ask them not to 'dunk me'! This is frequently ignored, and gives the rest of the watch a good giggle! There is nothing more satisfying than returning from the 'pointy end' of the yacht, having been repeatedly dowsed by the Atlantic for five minutes, and told that the boat speed has increased by 1 knot (that type of increase over a 1,000 nautical mile distance can shorten your race by days)!

Life on board is going well. We are working hard to maintain our position, as well as put pressure on 'Gold Coast Australia' (who currently lead). We receive a race schedule every six hours, so we can clearly identify if we have made any gains or losses on the rest of the fleet. So far we have had lots of good news, as we make steady progress to Rio! The next 'sched' is due soon, so fingers crossed we continue with our 'gains' on the rest of the fleet!

The blessing of King Neptune

It has now been two days since we crossed the equator! Moving from the Northern hemisphere into the warm tropical south! We crossed over at about 18:30 local time, with both starboard and port watch present on deck to witness the occasion!
Crossing the Equator by sea for the first time is a very special occasion. We upheld the traditional custom of honouring King Neptune with a small tipple of ship's grog - which came in the form of some plum liquor (made locally by Rupert's family in Somerset). We were warned to expect a visit from King Neptune himself the next day!

As 'predicted' by our Skipper, King Neptune did arrive on deck precisely on time at 16:30! Donned in gold and blue, and armed with his mighty trident, he called the crew to 'court' so he could decide if we were 'worthy' to continue to sail his seas.

We were called out in turn, and a list of 'charges' were brought against us! These were in the form of faux pas committed since leaving Southampton at the end of July. It was very entertaining as we were all passed forward to the 'dip' (a small paddling pool full of out of date UHT milk, and sweetcorn)! Neptune himself took great pleasure in ladling the concoction on the crew, and gave us each a blessing for our onward journey!
The next day, Neptune's blessing was truly fulfilled as the breeze freshened, and allowed us to push the boat faster! ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ accelerated, and held an average of 9-10 knots!

King Neptune also saw fit to bless us with an escort, in the shape of some bottlenose dolphin! Much larger than the Common Dolphin we had seen in Biscay! They played happily around our bow for over 10 minutes before disappearing off into the distance.

We were visited again later that afternoon by another pod of Dolphin. This time we were sailing in some very heavy seas, with the boat really rolling in the heavy conditions. What was impressive for me was the way the dolphins had seen / heard us some way off and made a 'beeline' for us! They shot out of the rolling surf in a spectacular aerial display as they approached, and manoeuvred effortlessly through the rapid currents that engulfed our bows. It was a truly magical moment!

Whilst on watch, we have been trimming the sails continually. 'Gold Coast Australia' and 'Singapore' seemed to pull away at one stage, but today we have seen the 'fruits of our labour' and have now overtaken ‘Singapore’, and are closing in on our Aussie friends!

Our attention is not only on the boats in front, but also on the boats behind us. Whilst we have made some exceptional gains on some of the boats in the rear pack, we are very mindful of those who are chasing us directly, particularly our friends on the ‘New York’ Clipper. She is the one to watch out for after having such a great finish to Race 1. We are attempting to 'cover' her approach in an effort to not only protect our position, but build on our gains on 'Gold Coast'.

Today we have just completed our 'speed trial', which is a timed run between 4 and 5 degrees of latitude. The fastest boat will win an additional point. We have 'sailed the wheels off it' and hope to collect an extra point at race finish!

It is exciting to see Brazil so close on our charts, although we are still very much out at sea. With just under 1,000 miles left, the excitement is building on board 'Welcome to Yorkshire'!

The heat is on!

Since writing last a great deal has happened. Sometimes we have a series of very demanding watches and all you want to do is dry off and collapse in your bunk. So apologies for the delay in posting this.

All is going well on ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’. We have led the race for quite a few days heading into the dreaded 'Doldrums'! A windless band of ocean stretching from east to west, which likes to leave boats in 'wind holes' for days on end. This particular area sees high and low pressure systems colliding, giving birth to the hurricanes and storms that rocket through the Caribbean Islands and south east states of North America. Many of our views on what we expected did not transpire (thankfully!) and we only spent less than half a day 'bobbing' around in a windless part of ocean!

We are now through and currently beating into the winds we have, desperately trying to pick up the trade winds that will blow us all the way to Rio!

As for the race itself it has been pretty full on. We have led for much of the way, but it seems that some of the other boats strategies on getting through the ‘Doldrums’ have paid off a bit better than ours! We are currently in third place behind 'Singapore' (2nd place) and ‘Gold Coast Australia’ (1st). We keep reminding ourselves that this is a marathon and not a sprint. Everything is still very much up for grabs over this last stretch of 2,000 miles.

Life on board has taken on a more customary 35 degree tilt as we 'beat' into the wind using our white sails. I for one am pleased to see the end of the downwind sailing under the huge spinnaker sails from our wardrobe. Spinnakers take an awful lot of management to keep flying, not to mention the concentration on keeping that fine balance of the sail stalling and flying to attain the perfect speed.

We have seen some amazing sights over the past few days. On the evening of regaining our wind from the ‘Doldrums’ we witnessed the amazing sight of phosphorescence given off in our bow wave, lighting our way for miles! I can only describe it as a carpet of stars stretching as far as the eye could see! We also saw huge mysterious balls of luminescent light all around the boat. As far as we could determine we believe that these were huge Jelly Fish, migrating across the Atlantic! You can begin to understand why the original mariners came back to land with tales of 'strange' creatures or ghosts flying past their ships!

Flying fish have been a common sight since we left Madeira. The only difference now is that they are getting bigger the more south we go! They jump out of the water and seem to fly for ages! I wonder if a 'school' of flying fish become a 'flock' of flying fish once they take flight?

As a crew we are definitely entering the 'endurance' part of our trip. Life is made difficult below decks with our little fibre-glass world taking on a new angle of 30 degrees. Actually being on deck is the easy part. Manoeuvring from your bunk to the galley is a challenge to say the least! Watch change-over seems to resemble a team game of 'Twister'!

We are also enjoying the daily increase in temperature as we continue to sail south. On deck seems to be fine, it's only when you go below deck and the sweltering heat hits you. We have a few fans, but on this current point of sail, we can’t have any hatches open other than the main companionway located in the cockpit.

Despite all these challenging conditions we are working well together as a crew. I am on Starboard watch, and am very lucky to be working with some people who are very committed to sailing, but do it in great humour! Our recent chat involved describing who would be your all-time top four people you would have dinner with! There were some very interesting parties suggested, but I went for Nelson Mandela, Eric Morcambe, Horatio Nelson and Bill Beaumont!

As a watch we have had a very demanding 72 hours, as we have had to undertake a great number of sail changes (mostly at night). This has often resulted in a good dunking when on the foredeck! The saving grace is that the water is warm and the wind dries you off within 10 minutes! Totally different from our old training ground, the English Channel!

Going to turn in for a few hours now, so I can be fresh on for my next watch (22:00 - 02:00), keen to hunt down our Austrailian / Singaporian quarry!

Day 2 - Race 2 - Madeira to Rio

Madeira is a long way behind us now, as are the Canary Islands. 'Welcome to Yorkshire’ has made excellent progress since our brilliant start from Madeira.

The hard part of crewing a racing yacht is getting used to the Watch System. Fatigue is a common factor, and we combat this in a number of ways; good conversation, littered with very bad jokes! It also helps that our 'champion' victuallers have supplied us with plenty of Haribo and Jelly Babies to ensure a steady series of 'sugar rushes' to get us through the dark hours!

I for one am glad to get back into the Watch System. The land doesn't move in the same way! I'm sure that innocent passers-by in Madeira must have confused some of the Clipper crews as participants in a 'Ministry of Silly Walks' seminar! After a certain amount of time at sea, it is true that you do take on a certain stroll to ensure balance when moving around a boat on a rolling sea!

Food is so important for morale on any boat involved in a long journey. Some of the best dishes have been curry or chilli so far. One thing we have recently had to start doing for ourselves is baking bread. This has proved a challenge for most of us. I do feel that some of the previous baked efforts which have found their way 'over the side' should have been accompanied by a collision warning, radioed to the rest of the fleet about a possible dangerous object floating in their path!

Having said that, optimism is high on today's Mother Watch as Ann had produced some fantastic dough, which is currently baking. Ann has had the foresight to go on a 'French bread baking day' prior to race start with a leading French Baker! I for one cannot wait, and banish the memory of 'cement loaves' to the depths permanently!

Madeira

First of all I have to say a massive ‘thank you’ to all friends and family of ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’. Your support throughout Race 1 was fantastic! Also a huge apology is needed! A number of us are writing blogs, but due to technical difficulties with our Sat Comms it has been impossible to regularly send emails. Thankfully these problems have (hopefully) been solved at our stopover in Madeira.

As you have all seen ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ finished in 6th place at the end of Race 1. It was a quiet mood for a while as we made our way into the Quinta De Lorda Marina. It had truly been a race of ‘cat and mouse’, and the fleet was hampered slightly by the light conditions. None of us envisaged the need to ‘anchor’ during a race…for which most of the fleet ended up doing at Aldaney.

We arrived at 5am and were welcomed by some of the familiar faces of Clipper. Justin Taylor congratulated us on a ‘close run’ race and passed over a case of beer, which was duly enjoyed by the crew, and helped us to forget how tired we were all feeling. Some of us opted for a few hours’ sleep prior to starting the ‘deep clean’. It felt like I’d only blinked my eyes and it was time to get up again to start the long list of jobs! Thankfully we all worked hard and got ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ looking very shiny. The next job was to clean ourselves! Off to the showers, where a number of us found only cold water! Despite this it was great to be clean, and have a shave! Most of the guys
were in the running for the David Bellamy/Brian Blessed award so a shave was definitely needed. When the crew returned to the boat it was hard to recognise we were the same group of people that had set off from Southampton 10 days earlier!

The crew dinner was fantastic, and thanks to Andy’s wife (Debs) we had booked up a very nice restaurant that catered for all our culinary desires! For me it was a peppercorn steak. Awesome! Needless to say this was accompanied by a few beers, and it was a good time for the crew to blow off a bit of steam. The warm climate was a far cry from the storms in Biscay!

After a very ‘fuzzy’ start to Thursday, we all went to the main Marina complex for the crew briefing. Apart from confirming details of our passage to Rio, we also viewed some of the media photos that had been taken of the fleet leaving Southampton. They were amazing, and seeing HMS Illustrious steaming along behind the fleet in perfect formation was incredible.

We were one of the more fortunate boats out of the fleet in that we had sustained very little damage or equipment failure (other than our comms) compared to some of the others. One crew had spent every hour of the two day stopover sewing back together one of their Spinnaker sails!

With our free time some opted for a stint at the local beach, but myself and a few others opted for a guided tour of Funchal, which included some ‘wine tasting’! It was a great afternoon and felt like we’d had a good opportunity to see some of the Island. We also visited one of the many high peaks overlooking the island and tried some of the local ‘poncha’ (which was a mix of fruit and Andy ‘firewater’! It certainly assured a very quiet coach on the way back to the marina!

That evening was the prize giving. ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ crew turned up in full pink uniform, and sporting the local head gear we indulged in the free bar and snacks that had been laid on by the kind people of Madeira. The President of Madeira himself arrived to give the prizes. The crew clapped and cheered for our friends as they collected their winner’s pennants. For me I made a promise that we would do everything possible to ensure we are on the podium in Rio! This was a thought shared by all on ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’. So at race start on Friday, we felt very excited at the prospect of redressing the results of Race 1.

A brass band played as we slipped our mooring lines once again. We were the 5th boat out of the marina and received a great send off from everyone. The adrenaline really kicked in and I could see everyone on CV3 had their game faces on ready for action!

Out on the water it was a very different sight to the one we had been greeted with in Southampton. You could count the amount of spectator craft on one hand, but that did not detract from the electric atmosphere! As sails went up we looked around at the sail plan everyone else had up. Some had gone very conservative with a ‘reefed’ main sail. ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ braved the strong blow with full main and Yankee 2 headsail.

As we counted down to race start, we found ourselves in close proximity to ‘Derry-Londonderry’, and ‘New York’. We were close enough to see the ‘whites of their eyes’! We crossed the line in 4th position, and worked hard to secure a great angle on the wind.

As the race continued to the next marker, we were greeted by a huge tug that shot water cannons high into the clear blue skies, and its deep fog horn sounded in salute for each yacht that passed. We were then off! A number of boats opted for an inshore route, which eventually saw them ‘parked up’ in the wind hole formed by the Islands shadow. Luckily CV3 opted for a broader angle and we launched our heavy weight ‘kite’ (Spinnaker sail) and trucked on out into the Atlantic hot on the heels of ‘Gold Coast Australia’.

We have now been racing for over 24 hours and find ourselves in 2nd place! We are hunting ‘Gold Coast’ like a boat possessed. As I write this we have just been told that we have eaten away 1.5 miles from ‘Gold Coast’s’ lead and gaining. We are trimming and helming well. As long as we can hold this we should be in a good position for the ‘scoring gate’, which is just off of Cape Verde Islands!

Deepest Blue

Just off the Portuguese coast, near Lisbon

I noticed during the heavy weather in Biscay that the wind felt warmer, the water was not as chilled as that of the Channel. As we left the Bay of Biscay the water colour changed from a grey-green to light aqua blue. Absolutely beautiful!

Now we are sailing down the Portuguese coast, and entered true deep water sailing. The water colour is the most amazing deep blue. After being ‘knocked about’ for 48 hours in the Bay of Biscay, it was a welcome respite to have some nice cruising weather. We are of course racing, but under these conditions ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ almost sails herself!

It was a great opportunity for the crew to take off our soaking heavy weather ‘oilies’ and put on some shorts and t-shirts and enjoy the warm rays of the sun! We all still did our duties (cooking / engineering checks / bilge emptying).

The field of yachts has now formed into three elements. ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ is currently in a battle with ‘Derry-Londonderry’ and ‘Singapore’ in the middle element. The leaders are now about 100 miles ahead, and we ourselves are ahead of the 9th / 10th place by 116 miles! We are very much remaining competitive, and hunting down the pack leaders.

Madeira is only a day or so away, and we are hot on the heels of ‘Derry-Londonderry’. It’s hard to focus on our own game plan when we have such a prominent ‘target’ taunting us, just in front! It’s amazing to think that after just over a thousand sea miles, we are all still very close. At this point the race will be won by whoever concedes the least errors! A delayed sail change or incorrect course can cost a boat the lead, or the ability to overtake those in front.

Spirits on board are very positive. Each day we have a crew meeting where our Skipper Rupert gives us the latest update on the race and the weather for the next 24 hours. It’s also an opportunity for us as a crew to raise any issues that have upset anyone. It’s easy in this tight environment to upset people! The tiredness and watch routine can cause the simplest little issue to become a serious one. So we conduct our ‘group therapy’ on a daily basis to ensure that we enter port with the same amount that we left Southampton with!

Fat bottomed girl

5th in the fleet / South Biscay, just off Cape Finisterre

Since the high emotions of the race start, the ‘Weather Gods’ have given us a very gentle introduction into the race. This all changed when we entered the Bay of Biscay. Unusually calm to begin with, the weather came up and before we knew it we were beating into a Force 8 gale, and rolling in heavy seas. Not expected really as this was the image on the Clipper Ventures poster that drew us all to being involved!

The last time I had been in Biscay I was a very ‘green’ rookie at sailing, and had even questioned my involvement with the race. Since completing my training I’m happy to report that I survived the rough conditions and thoroughly enjoyed witnessing the most powerful force of nature I have experienced so far!

It was an incredible experience to see our boat ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ (and her crew), weather the storm so well. It wasn’t until the next day that we learned that one of the other boats in the fleet had had to redirect to a French port due to a serious injury to one of their crew. Most of us have sailed with the injured crew member and it brought home the reality of Ocean racing. Our friend had been injured during a sail change and had been on the foredeck. Not the most stable place on a yacht in a pitching sea, with wind and water coming across the deck! A number of us had undertaken similar sail changes at the same time and fully appreciate the dangers involved. It certainly isn’t a place for the faint hearted!

On the same evening I had been asked to adjust the leach line in the mainsail. This involved climbing the first 18 feet of the mast, and tugging a cord into a tighter position. The only way to move around the deck is on hands and knees, so one of my team mates (Richard) accompanied me and he acted as my back up by positioning my feet on the climbing steps. As I made my ascent, I looked down into the ocean that was racing by at about 12 knots and thought about how quickly I would disappear into the distance should I fall in. I was of course ‘clipped on‘ via my life line, and a very trusty Richard had a ‘vice like grip’ on my line as I worked away.  Soon the job was completed and we made our way back to the cockpit. As we came off watch I made a special point of thanking Rich for backing me up. As the race continues, we are coming together tighter as a crew. I trust everyone implicitly, and the same trust is being shown in me. I’ve hauled a crew member up from the lee ward side after they were nearly washed away down the companionway! We’re here for each other and the Team gets closer.

The fleet of 68’s are designed for weather conditions such as these. They have a very narrow entry into the water, which grows into a very broad beam, and then into a very ‘shapely stern’. This gives ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ (and the rest of the fleet) a nice curvy appearance! This means that they seem to love big sea and surf beautifully! Equally, when confronted with a wave over the bows, they seem to just punch through with very little loss of speed.

After a very challenging 48 hours, I’m very thankful that ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ has these qualities! She truly is a beautiful ‘fat bottomed northern lass’!!!

Race Start 31 July 2011

WOW! What a start to the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race! After many days of hard work, ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ was ready to slip her moorings and head out for the start line. Not before we received a huge emotional goodbye from friends and family, and the populous of Southampton! Thousands of People lined the quayside and surrounding banks of Ocean Village to wave us off.

I was told on the morning of the race start that BBC national news had broadcast images of the boats getting ready and that they had filmed me up the mast with Leonie carrying out maintenance on our rig! We were now stars of telly!

As we left Ocean Village we made our way out into Southampton Water where we were escorted out into the Solent by HMS Illustrious, my Dad’s old ship! So for me this really was the icing on the cake! I scattered a few flowers in his memory and hoped he wouldn’t be too offended that his Lancastrian son was serving on a Yorkshire boat! I’m sure he’d be happy, as we are the only English entry!!

The Solent was churned white with the hundreds of small craft that had come to wave us off. It was the sort of thing you only see at the start of the Volvo Ocean Race (raced by the highly paid professionals) or a Royal Navy fleet review! As a crew we were so emotionally moved by the sheer volume of well-wishers who had braved the chop of the Solent to come and wave us off! The scale of what we were involved in really hit home. I would be home in a few weeks’ time (after leg one) but for others, this would be the last view of home for the next 11 months.

As we left the Solent and headed around the south of the Isle of Wight, the supports dropped back. The only company we had was from the media helicopters that were videoing or photographing the yachts from the air! We felt like ‘rock and roll’ stars!

Within the first 24 hours we had almost changed through every sail we had. The conditions were very light, which almost makes it a bit more challenging than the stronger conditions!

The first few days were very tiring, as many of us were getting used to the watch system. We have had a number of technical difficulties with the boat (mainly due to electrical problems). Nothing that has prevented us from racing, but with our‘water maker’ on the blink, it has made for some very anxious moments where we have had to plan and ration our water to last us until Madeira. I’m happy to report that we have now repaired the ‘water maker’ which is churning out 30 litres of fresh water an hour! Not enough to go crazy over, but at least we can go back to having ‘unlimited’ drinks!

We are currently on Day 4, and we have entered Biscay. This notorious stretch of water gave us a nice Force 5 Welcome, and chucked a good ‘rolling swell’ in for good measure! This triggered a number of crew to ‘start feeding the fish’…but I’m happy to report that so far I have felt okay. I was on Mother watch yesterday, which meant I spent all of yesterday climbing around the galley at 45 degrees attempting to prepare the meals for the crew! The positive side of ‘Mothering’ is you get a good long sleep afterwards and I have enjoyed a nice 9 hours in my bunk!

The only drawback is I feel that I’ve missed out on some of the fun that has been happening on deck. Yesterday we began to receive frequent visits from pods of Common Dolphin! I saw the first pod, but apparently they have been with us throughout the night!

I’m looking forward to going on watch in a few hours’ time and surfing ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ down some waves, racing our very own pod of dolphins!

'How to look good 'voming' off a '68' - La Rochelle to Gosport Oct '10!

In September 2010 I received an email from Clipper HQ asking for crew to deliver 2 of the Clipper 68's to La Rochelle (and back again). This was to celebrate the beginning of the Velux 5 Oceans race. A prestigious single-handed event which would see Chris Stanmore-Major (CSM) take on a number of other skippers for this amazing single-handed title.

CSM had just returned from skippering one of the entries in the 09-10 race. It must have been non-stop for him to come off of one boat and literally jump on to the next to undertake another circumnavigation!

I eagerly responded to Clippers' email, and was duly told that I would be crewing on the return delivery back to Gosport. I booked a flight out of Eastleigh airport and I was all set! After the awesome week I'd had on level 1, I couldn't wait to get on one of the actual 'racing yachts'!

I was now beginning to buy up all the sailing gear I'd need, sleeping bag being one of them. Now these things can get very expensive, but I was lucky to get a good price from my Guass sleeping bag. Basically a huge 'water-proof' quilt that wraps itself around you nicely.

I flew out to La Rochelle, having met one or two of the crew at the airport. Once we'd landed we collected our baggage and took on the first challenge...ordering a taxi in french! Luckily one of the crew could speak the lingo and managed to get us a lift to the harbour.

I had never been to La Rochelle before but I was amazed by it's beauty! Old battlements and fortifications protect the main harbour, and dozens of street cafes adorn the quay side!

The boats were out on  a corporate sail (Clipper regularly have to 'schmooze' some of their sponsors with a jaunt in one of the 68's). As they were not due to return until the evening, we thought we'd indulge in some of the inviting cafes/bars/restaurants to kill the time. It was a great time to get to know the guys I'd flown over with. Again they were a mixed bag of personalities/professions and backgrounds! The guys were pleasant enough, but I couldn't help but feel a bit excluded. It's hard to write that as before and since that particular experience I have always got on so well with everyone I have met/sailed with. Maybe it was the fact that I was only one who had only completed level 1 training (everyone else was vastly more experienced). Maybe the guys were preoccupied with the challenge that lay ahead, I'm not sure.

The evening came to an end and it was time to find our boats. I finally arrived on board CV8, where I found everyone already sat in the saloon receiving their safety briefing from the Skipper: Piers Dudin. Great first impression Gary..Late!

Once the briefing had finished I apologised again to Piers and he kindly took me over the parts I'd missed. I was pleased to see a friendly face amongst the group: Al, who was our first mate on the the level 1 from June!

After an all too brief nights sleep we slipped our mooring lines at 5:30am. This would be my first experience the watch system. This would involve a rotating system of 4 hours on / 4 hours off watch.

We motored for the duration of my first watch. Not a breath of wind to be had as we made our way out into the Bay of Biscay (a place notorious for it's changeable weather patterns). We went to our bunks at the end of our watch and slept very well.

I was awoken by the most horrendous sound of grinding metal, and complaining fibre-glass! After coming too a little I realised that the mainsail was being winched up on the 'coffee grinder' -a super winch operated by two people - something new to me as this was a very different boat from the '60 I'd sailed with Al in June '10! I was having to learn a lot of new things about this boat as we went along.

The wind had finally arrived, and the world took on a new 45 degree angle! We had picked up a bit of a swell also! This meant that not only did we roll side to side, but we were pitching wildly (bow and stern taking on a 'see-sawing' like action)!

This was my first experience of 'ocean sailing'! And I had forgotten to bring any form of sea-sickness prevention/treatment! Low and behold, the queasy feeling set in by the end of my first watch under sail. I attempted to eat some spag-bol, but it totally triggered me off! That was it, there I was on the lee-ward rail, chucking my guts up!

The conditions worsened, and so did my sea-sickness! I managed to function as crew member (putting reefs in and helping with a sail change). At the end of my watch I would race to my bunk, peeling my life-jacket and wet weather gear off as quickly as I could  before I began 'dry wretching'. Sometimes I'd just collapse in the Saloon and keep my gear on. The only luxury that made a difference was my Guass sleeping bag. At times I'd climb into it shivering and cold, and I'd be warm and dry in no time! Heaven!! When on deck I found that Helming the boat actually helped quite a lot. I was struggling to eat anything though. I was drinking plenty of water, but couldn't stomach any food. Luckily I had brought a bag or two of Haribo

It is said that with sea-sickness takes the sufferer through two phases: Phase 1: You think you are going to die. Phase 2: You wish you could die! It has to be said that for 3 days I went through a very low place. I'd signed up to take part in this epic adventure, and I wasn't enjoying it in the slightest! I truly was suffering for the challenge!

The only moments that distracted me from my illness and nausea were when pods of dolphins came up and swam with the boat! Amazing! My first 'wild' dolphins! It was nothing short of magical! Especially at night, in the pitch blackness, and all you could hear was this sharp/short blow of air, and a splash. Occasionally you'd see a shape, but you could hear them more than anything (no moon or star light to see by).

The other amazing thing I witnessed was 'phospherance' in our wake. I had read about it in books, but never expected to see it so close to Europe (thinking it was something only common in the tropics)! It was mesmerizing! like watching a million fireworks going off! As if the boat was being carried along on a bed of electrical charges!

Despite these amazing experiences, it really made me question if I wanted to do this. Part of me was thinking that Sir Robin could take his challenge and...... well you know the rest!

We rounded the Cherbourg Peninsula at the end of the third day. I myself turned a corner too! I began to eat again! Good job as well as I was on 'mother watch'. If this responsibility had happened earlier in the trip I would not have been able to do it! All I can say is that the food was incredible! Living off of haribo for three days gave me a new appreciation of 'stew'!

I did meet some great people whilst on this journey. Piers, Al, Byrony, Steve, Wendy, Jim and Martin. All were very supportive and understanding. Some suffered along with me, which made me feel a bit better as I realised I wasn't alone! It was a great opportunity to speak at length to Piers. He had skipped Hull & Humber around the world in the 09-10 race. He had had his trip cut short when he broke his leg crossing the Pacific. Having sailed with him I understood why he is such a respected Skipper in the Clipper world. I picked up so much good advice from him that has held me in good stead ever since. He reassured those of us who were sea-sick that on the race we would not be beating into the wind the whole way (as we were doing at present).

As we sailed up the English Channel, and past St Katherine's Point (Isle Wight) our watch turned in. The oncoming watch took us in to Gosport and moored up. We awoke at 7am...having slept straight for 8 hours, I found the boat a very quiet and tranquil place again.

I stretched and made my way to the galley where someone was busy brewing up the tea and getting breakfast underway. The smell of toast filled the saloon (it was fantastic!). I took a turn on the deck, and all was quiet in Clarence Marina. The fleet was all together for the first time in a long while. It was a very inspirational sight.

After the deep clean had been completed I made my way back to the ferry terminal to catch the boat to Pompey, and homeward bound on the train.

It was a journey home spent deep in thought. I had certainly had a very mixed experience! I had had my first taste of 'ocean' sailing, under a watch system. I had also experienced the dreaded sea-sickness (and learnt that there is indeed life after sea-sickness!!). I'd managed to keep working when all I wanted to do was languish in my bunk. It had certainly been tough, possible one of the toughest things I'd ever done to date. There had been times when I possibly might have quit (if there had been the opportunity to step off the boat), and doubts on whether I could 'cut it'.

In my mind I knew I only had a month until my Level II training. Armed with the 'hard earned' 510 nautical miles worth of experience I had gained from this voyage, I was determined to apply what I had learned and try again.

GARY HEWITT is fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support

GARY HEWITT is fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support

Level 1 Training - June 2010

Travelling down to Gosport in June 2010 was a journey filled with mixed emotions. I had grown up in Fareham, and spent a lot of time in Gosport. Coming from a navy family, Portsmouth is also a place I'd spent a lot of time in my childhood. It also represented the first time returning to Clarence Marina since scattering Dad's ashes. All this rolled in the excitement and anticipation of beginning my training for the Race!

I had tried to take in as much as possible from the 'training manual' we had received, so I understood the difference between a 'halyard' and a 'sheet'. I had been busy learning my knots as well as various 'nautical terminology'! I had seen the entire 'Hornblower' Series so felt I knew enough about 'belaying' and 'scratching stays'!

Walking into Clipper HQ at the Granary & Bakery was an exciting moment! Huge pictures of the racing yachts 'heeled' over, racing on through storm and swell! Our first day was to be spent learning First Aid (at Sea). We had a very straight-talking lady (ex-Royal Navy) who suitably scared us all with stories and photos! Still it's good to be aware of these things I suppose!

We joined our boat in the late afternoon, and were introduced to our Skipper - Adam Tuffnell, and First Mate - Alastair Duns. Our boat was the 60ft 'Ariel' Clipper yacht (one of the previous fleet that had circumnavigated the globe on a number of previous races). I met the crew I would be sailing with also, and it was a very mixed group from all backgrounds! To 'break the ice' Adam said about giving each other nicknames for the week. Rather than giving each other 'fluffy' names, he opted that we would be named after notorious/evil figures from history! So it turned out I was to spend a week in the company of 'Pinochet' (Mark), 'Hitler' (Dave), and various other mass murderers! I myself was christened 'Genghis'! (Most names would change as the week went on due to funny situations that came about, but my name stuck, and has done through some of my subsequent training)!

As we were given our tour of the boat, it finally dawned on me that it was all finally beginning! It had been nearly 6 months since signing my crew contract, and now finally it was seeming very real!

After a quick pint, we headed off to bed. We had agreed with Adam that we would be up early to go through our sail wardrobe and repack each sail, and inspect all our lines (re-coiling them as we went!).

5:30am, and we were on the dockside, in bright sunlight! Once we had gone through all our preparation, and had our crew briefing we slipped away from Clarence Marina and out into the Solent! We hoisted our sails and started to go through what it takes to 'tack' and 'gybe' this beautiful boat! Needless to say we were worked extremely hard! -And I loved every minute of it! We moored back again in Gosport, and finally got to bed at just after midnight, absolutely exhausted..but very thrilled!

Over the next few days we sailed around the Solent and pushed ourselves and the boat as best we could. Unfortunately, we had a small accident during a tacking exercise. Paul was furiously winching in on a sheet as we passed through the eye of the wind. 'Diggle' (Richard - one of our fellow crew members) found himself a bit too close behind Paul and caught an elbow to the temple! It stunned him instantly and took him off of his feet. As time went on it quickly became apparent that he had a minor head injury and was suffering with obvious signs of concussion. We moored in East Cowes marina and Al took him off to hospital for a check up. He ended up spending two days in having tests! As a crew we were bitterly disappointed to have lost him! He had worked so hard, and was my opposite number on 'Mother watch'! I was now cooking on my own! -Some people will do anything to get out of being in the galley!.

Diggle reappeared and we transported him to Ocean Village where a family friend awaited to take him home. He would be back in a month's time to re-do his training but for now his time on 'Ariel' was over. It was horrible to see him go early. As a crew we had been forged together through hard work and sweat. And now we were loosing one of our new 'family'!

Whilst in port on the Isle of Wight, we all took it in turns to 'climb the mast'. Now for someone who has a very real fear of heights this was something I had dreaded! Equally I had really wanted to do it! I volunteered to go first, and explained my fears to my Skipper and fellow Crew-mates. It took a bit of convincing, but once I started my ascent, I realised it wasn't that bad, and ended up loving it! The sense of pride I felt with 'conquering' this fear was amazing!

The last two days were spent out in the Solent

Then suddenly I heard those infamous words shouted -"MAN OVERBOARD!". This was my signal to 'spike' the Spinnaker. It instantly peeled upward (still fully powered). The crew on deck feverishly gathered in the sail as it returned to deck level! My next job was to point and indicated where our casualty was. Thankfully it was 'Bob' (our mooring fender tied to a coiled line)! We had done this exercise some many times this week we all knew what to do. 'Bob' was duly recovered and then it was time to head back to Gosport for 'tea & medals'!!

As we slowly motored in past HMS Ark Royal, and  HMS Victory I sat on the toe-rail with my 'mooring fender' in hand, filled with emotion. I had had one of the most physically demanding weeks I had ever known, I had got to know a group of people who I now trusted with my life, and now it was all coming to an end. Our Skipper Adam came up to me and quietly said a few words about how proud 'My Old Man would have been'. That was it, I was in pieces! I think a lot of 'repressed' emotion came out that I'd been holding onto for a long time. It is what I'd needed, and by the time we'd moored up I felt like a new person.

Once back in port we had a few hours to undertake the 'deep clean'. Every surface that can be removed it taken out and cleaned! 'Ariel' looked like a new boat by the time we'd finished! All that was left was to get our 'glad-rags' on and head out for a well earned night out!

Our crew dinner was quite a party! We headed to G's (a very nice Italian restaurant next door to Clipper HQ), and had a great night! After a fantastic meal, and a generous amount of Vin rouge & Peroni we 'crawled' back to 'Ariel'.

The hangover did nothing to help us through 'sea survival' training the next day. Half of which was spend in the classroom, and the last half in the pool. It was absolutely brilliant! We all enjoyed it, but all hoped that we would not have to abandon ship and 'step up into the life raft'!

Thank you to the Crew of Ariel for an amazing experience!
Adam, Al, Dangerous, Pinochet, Tax Boy, Diggle and Punchy! 

Clipper Interview - January 2010

On the lead up to my interview I had become an avid fan of the Clipper website. On this site there was a'Race Viewer' showing the progress of the current race (09-10). In January 2010 the fleet had just left Western Australia and were making their way up to Singapore. On the morning of my interview, I checked the website to see that the 'Race Viewer' had been 'suspended'! A brief press release confirmed that one of the boats - 'Cork' had run aground and the crew had taken to the lifeboats! Apart from deep concern for the crew of cork, all the 'romanticism' of sailing the oceans had been swept away in an instant! All this on the morning of my interview to take part in the next race!

Upon reaching the Clipper stand at the London Boat Show, Catherine and I begain talking to current and past crew who confirmed that all 'Cork' crew were safe. It turned out that 3 of the nearest boats (other Clipper yachts) were on the scene in a matter of hours and had evacuated the crew from a small island not far from where 'Cork' had run aground.

For some reason this did not change my mind at all on wanting to take part. In my mind it had been an excellent example of the level of training the crew had gone through. Catherine's opinion had somewhat changed though, and I could see she was deeply concerned! I think she took a lot of reassurance from talking to some of the crew whilst I was in my interview.

My interview was with David Cusworth, who is the Recruitment Manager for Clipper Ventures. I talked about my reasons for wanting to do the race, and we talked about some of the challenges I'd be facing. David was fantastic, and had a wealth of knowledge (having completed the whole circumnavigation in one of the previous races). One particular concern was my food allergies. I had a fear since having a 'close shave' in Malta in 2005 about cross-contamination in the galley area. David reassured me that this should not pose too much of a problem as menus would be worked out prior to departure and allergies/dietary requirements would be duly considered/planned for.

I have often wondered if David had been around in the 18th/19th Century, would he have put the 'press gangs' out of business? I'm sure he would have single handedly talked all the required crew into signing up without need of force.

By the time I'd finished the interview I was so excited! I was ready to set sail immediately! Catherine could see that Christmas had come again, and listened to me patiently 'babbling' on about this great adventure!

The only thing now was to await 'confirmation' that I had been accepted. Would they turn me down on medical reasons? Would I have the right personality to take part?

On the 18th January 2010, I came home to find a large envelope on the door mat from Clipper! The first paragraph made me jump with joy!

"Dear Gary, We are delighted to confirm that your application to take part in The Clipper 11-12 Round The World Yacht Race has been successful and therefore have much pleasure in offering you a berth on the race".

My first challenge...complete a huge 'Race Crew Agreement'...in duplicate!

In the Pursuit of a Dream…

I chartered a yacht in October 2009 out of Gosport so my Sister (Sarah) and I could scatter the ashes of our Father: Alan Hewitt. A storm raged in the Solent that day, and our family huddled closely in the cockpit as we motored out of Portsmouth Harbour into the rolling swell of the Solent. As we laid our Father to rest, and scattered roses amongst the waves the sun appeared from behind the dark clouds. A promise made long ago had been fulfilled.

On returning to Clarence Marina I had noticed a number of boats moored up, emblazoned with ‘CLIPPER TRAINING’ along their sides. I asked our Skipper about them and he told me that they were the boats used to train the crews who race ‘around the world’. In the mixed emotions of the day, this totally captured me! I had dreamt about sailing and had only ever experienced ‘holiday’ day sails, or a week or two on the Broads with Sarah and Dad.

Upon returning home I ‘googled’ CLIPPER VENTURES, and before I knew it I had sent off for a prospectus!

For a month and half I mulled over the idea, discussing the opportunity with Catherine. I also thought it might be good to read up on the subject a bit, and luckily enough I discovered the perfect book: Sea Change – by Ian Dickens (The Great – Great Grandson of Charles Dickens no less!).

The Author had taken part in the 2000-2001 race, and had brilliantly recorded his experiences in this book! I’m not the quickest reader in the World, but finished it within a week!  For me it addressed two concerns: 1) How do I broach the subject with family & friends..and work! 2) What happens when you get home after the Race.

Of course, one of the key issues was the cost of the Race. I could just about afford to one leg (People have sold up/re-mortgaged to fund a full circumnavigation!). The other key factor was time. Could I get the time off work? Would they understand? –Would I have a job to come back to? All these questions filled my mind for the remainder of 2009.

I made my final decision based on one overriding rationale. I have had some very stark experiences over recent years (Losing some people very close to me), and it all underlined one fact: Life is far too short. I believe that we cannot wait for things to come to us. We have to have a ‘dream’. Sometimes that dream comes close, but is always off in the distance, so we have to run after it! Chase it as hard as possible until we catch it! Then all we have to do is wrestle with it and make it your own! I sent off my application, asking to take part in Leg 1: Atlantic Ocean. A race from a UK port to Rio De Janeiro.

Christmas 2009: Application had been accepted, and now I had to await my official Interview at the London Boat Show in January 2010! Amongst the celebrations of Christmas, I would slip away into day dreaming about this adventure!

Background: The Race

40,000 miles of ocean racing and around 500 people facing the challenge of a lifetime. When the starting gun goes off for the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race on 31 July2011 the fleet of ten sleek, stripped down 68-foot yachts will embark on a full circumnavigation of the globe.

The race is now in it's eighth edition which is ‘raced by people like you’! More than 500 people from all walks of life and representing more than 40 nationalities will take part. Around 40 per cent of them had never set foot on a boat before beginning the compulsory pre-race training to prepare them for the gruelling challenge of racing across the world’s fiercest oceans.

The race was created by British sailing legend, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to sail solo and non-stop around the world. Sir Robin says, “Fewer people have raced around the world than have climbed Mount Everest; it remains one of life’s great challenges and experiences.

Each of the ten 'stripped down' racing yachts is sponsored by a city, state, country or company who leverage their participation with trade, tourism and cultural programmes. As yet, my boat 'CV3' has not been designated a sponsor, but it is due to be announced in the next few weeks!

Race Start: 31 July 2011 - Southampton