RenewablesUK Regatta September 2010
RenewablesUK Regatta September 2010
By DropBear
** Please click on any images to enlarge them **
Each year there is a sailing regatta organised by a company called RenewableUK. It is open to companies, mainly in the renewable energy industry, who wish to compete. The companies can book boats at the Sunsail centre, who operate a business in hiring sailing yachts and teaching people to sail. Sunsail are based in Port Solent, close to Portsmouth Harbour, south England. The actual racing is on the Wednesday but, in order for the businesses to justify this as a business expense, there is a networking dinner on Tuesday night. Also, for those that have not sailed, you can have a practice sale on Tuesday.
So, I decided to put my hand up for this, why not, I’ve never sailed, but who cares, the opportunity to try it and all paid for by work, how could I say no? How many other times in my life am I going to get such an opportunity? So on Monday evening a group of us would be sailors headed down to Port Solent in order to get an early start on Practice Tuesday. Now at this point I should also point out that I was wooed into this by the people who went last year and described it as sitting on the yacht getting a tan because there was no wind. Sounds great right? So, like I said, we were on the train on the way down and arrived at the Sunsail offices ready to pick up our boat. We met our skipper, who was very nice man named Kevin, Skipper Kevin he was therefore referred to for the remainder of the event. Skipper Kevin took us to our boat, now Sunsail have 58 boats which are all 37 foot sailing boats. These are all kept in a small marina, therefore they are tied up about 5 abreast and to get to ours (4th from the mooring) we had to climb over the boats which required some skill, stretching and choice words, especially when trying to get all the bags across!
We finally got to our boat and were shown our quarters. On our boat we had 4 people plus the skipper sleeping so it got quite cosy, girls were in the bow (front), boys at the stern (back). Below is a basic diagram to help you with the terms, believe me, there are many many more!!
On Tuesday morning we awake after an interesting night’s sleep (you can hear any time someone moves or walks over the boat!) and prepare for our sailing. Skipper Kevin gave us a safety briefing and showed us around the boat.... so many ropes! It was quite interesting to learn some of the knots and also how to handle the ropes so they don’t give you rope burn. After a couple of hours we were ready to start sailing! Oh, wait, we had to get out of the marina first, which meant going through a lock which helps regulate the water level. I was given the job at the front of the boat to get the ropes sorted to a) untie us, and then b) be ready to tie us up in the lock. So I go to the front, by myself and wait for instruction but none come, I look back and realise that not only can I not really see the skipper, I can’t hear him either. Bugger! Luckily there is a nice man on the boat next door who tells me what to do and away we go into the lock (under engine power). In the lock there is a man waiting and I figure he will take the rope i throw and tie us up, but no, he is only there to watch really and it turns out I was supposed to jump off the boat to tie us up... ah such a small instruction could have gone a long way.... Eventually we get out of the lock and into the harbour.
Now I should point out here that my dreams of sitting on the front of the boat and having a nice relaxing time due to lack of wind were very quickly sunk (no pun intended) as the wind gusted up through the harbour. We motor our way up the harbour towards the opening to the sea. About half way there we open the sails (more yelling and confusion - of the 4 of us, only 1 had sailing experience!) and start to actually sail. Along we go and then suddenly.... HOLY CRAP..... the whole boat goes up on its side, we are travelling along at about 60 degrees. I’m holding on for dear life while the skipper laughs and explains this is normal, and it’s going to get worse! Thanks for the warning!! The skipper does something and we right ourselves and I’m about ready to get off, shame we are in the middle of the harbour, I’m considering how good are my swimming skills after not much practice and in full wet weather gear, I’m quietly confident I could make it!
Anyway, to cut a long and scary story short, we kept going and whilst I can’t say I got used to the tilting, it did get easier. But it was very windy and we didn’t even make it out of Port Solent to the ocean. The other boat our company had in the race did go out and the white faces that came back said it all, but they all were adamant they had a lot of fun.
At the end of the day I was considering pulling out of the races the next day but I didn’t want to let the team down so I thought I’d see what the weather was like as it was supposed to be better with less wind. The networking dinner was good fun and the food was amazing, as well as pig on a spit, they had chicken, beef, five different salads, bread and lots more. Everyone had arrived by this time and the hall was packed with happy people. I think it was the easiest networking event because everyone was relaxed and happy, whereas usually they are in work mode when you met at conferences. I met some very interesting people but I left early as I was very tired and wanted a good night’s sleep for the next day.
Wednesday morning came around at about 6am. The races started at 12.30 and in order to get the 58 boats out of the harbour through the lock, they had to start moving them at 6am and since we had gone out the day before, we were the first in line. So up I get to a beautiful sunny day and I think to myself that this is ok and I could do this (I was still considering pulling out). By the time we got to the harbour entrance the wind had picked up and I wasn’t so sure, but having survived the day before I felt more comfortable with the boat moving at crazy angles... well I did until we got to the sea and I swear the boat was tilting 90 degrees. I was at one point sitting with my foot on the cabin windows and it was dragging in the water! Anyway we started sailing around and today was better as we had acquired another crew member who had done some sailing and this meant that we could get a break as yesterday everyone was required to do a job. As a GIS/map making person today my main job was to plot our course so I got a crash lesson in wind and tides and was told to be ready to take down the course which would be sailing around buoys in the water.
While we waited for the race to start we sailed around the sea between Portsmouth and Isle of Wight. This is a major shipping area and we had to avoid cargo ships, hovercrafts, passenger ferries and other sailing boats. Hard work, and to be honest, it got a bit boring sailing around for a few hours I was very keen for the race to start. Eventually the announcement came over the radio it would start soon and the course was announced. I was busy finding buoys, working out currents and plotting the course, it was great fun though being in the cabin while the boat was rocking from side to side was interesting and the only warning I got that we were turning was a shout from the skipper ‘Prepare to Tack’ (turn right) or ‘Prepare to Jibe’ (turn left). The start of the race came and we had to line up then bang we were off! Woohoo, now I had plotted my course I was free to stand out of the way and watch (I really enjoyed my job, it wasn’t very hard work and I got to just hold on rather then have to hold on and pull ropes at funny angles!). We sailed along and I couldn’t believe how close the boats got, especially when sometimes boat control was completely lost due to wind/wave or something, so sometimes you just had to hope others got out of your way. We finished the race in 26th and got ready for the second race. After the first race I was listening to the radio and two boats had to head back home after separate collisions which caused damage (oh, the other thing I should point out is that all these boats had actually been sold as Sunsail had brought a fleet of bigger boats, shame for the new owner but they would get a newly fixed boat!). One person had also been knocked out because they didn’t duck quick enough when the main sail swung around.
The image below gives you an idea of the race area (sorry for the quality).
The second race was very much like the first, only we placed 16th (big jump!) and by this time I was used to being at weird angles and running out of the way of ropes and sails as they swung around. We ended up coming 21st out of 58 boats, very impressive for a boat of 6 crew, 3 of whom had never sailed! We headed home after the races and got on the train back to London for a well deserved sleep and rest. The next day I realised how sore and bruised I was when I looked at my legs which were covered in large colourful bruises, but it was worth it and good fun, I’m ready now for next year!!
By DropBear
** Please click on any images to enlarge them **
Each year there is a sailing regatta organised by a company called RenewableUK. It is open to companies, mainly in the renewable energy industry, who wish to compete. The companies can book boats at the Sunsail centre, who operate a business in hiring sailing yachts and teaching people to sail. Sunsail are based in Port Solent, close to Portsmouth Harbour, south England. The actual racing is on the Wednesday but, in order for the businesses to justify this as a business expense, there is a networking dinner on Tuesday night. Also, for those that have not sailed, you can have a practice sale on Tuesday.
So, I decided to put my hand up for this, why not, I’ve never sailed, but who cares, the opportunity to try it and all paid for by work, how could I say no? How many other times in my life am I going to get such an opportunity? So on Monday evening a group of us would be sailors headed down to Port Solent in order to get an early start on Practice Tuesday. Now at this point I should also point out that I was wooed into this by the people who went last year and described it as sitting on the yacht getting a tan because there was no wind. Sounds great right? So, like I said, we were on the train on the way down and arrived at the Sunsail offices ready to pick up our boat. We met our skipper, who was very nice man named Kevin, Skipper Kevin he was therefore referred to for the remainder of the event. Skipper Kevin took us to our boat, now Sunsail have 58 boats which are all 37 foot sailing boats. These are all kept in a small marina, therefore they are tied up about 5 abreast and to get to ours (4th from the mooring) we had to climb over the boats which required some skill, stretching and choice words, especially when trying to get all the bags across!
We finally got to our boat and were shown our quarters. On our boat we had 4 people plus the skipper sleeping so it got quite cosy, girls were in the bow (front), boys at the stern (back). Below is a basic diagram to help you with the terms, believe me, there are many many more!!
On Tuesday morning we awake after an interesting night’s sleep (you can hear any time someone moves or walks over the boat!) and prepare for our sailing. Skipper Kevin gave us a safety briefing and showed us around the boat.... so many ropes! It was quite interesting to learn some of the knots and also how to handle the ropes so they don’t give you rope burn. After a couple of hours we were ready to start sailing! Oh, wait, we had to get out of the marina first, which meant going through a lock which helps regulate the water level. I was given the job at the front of the boat to get the ropes sorted to a) untie us, and then b) be ready to tie us up in the lock. So I go to the front, by myself and wait for instruction but none come, I look back and realise that not only can I not really see the skipper, I can’t hear him either. Bugger! Luckily there is a nice man on the boat next door who tells me what to do and away we go into the lock (under engine power). In the lock there is a man waiting and I figure he will take the rope i throw and tie us up, but no, he is only there to watch really and it turns out I was supposed to jump off the boat to tie us up... ah such a small instruction could have gone a long way.... Eventually we get out of the lock and into the harbour.
Now I should point out here that my dreams of sitting on the front of the boat and having a nice relaxing time due to lack of wind were very quickly sunk (no pun intended) as the wind gusted up through the harbour. We motor our way up the harbour towards the opening to the sea. About half way there we open the sails (more yelling and confusion - of the 4 of us, only 1 had sailing experience!) and start to actually sail. Along we go and then suddenly.... HOLY CRAP..... the whole boat goes up on its side, we are travelling along at about 60 degrees. I’m holding on for dear life while the skipper laughs and explains this is normal, and it’s going to get worse! Thanks for the warning!! The skipper does something and we right ourselves and I’m about ready to get off, shame we are in the middle of the harbour, I’m considering how good are my swimming skills after not much practice and in full wet weather gear, I’m quietly confident I could make it!
Anyway, to cut a long and scary story short, we kept going and whilst I can’t say I got used to the tilting, it did get easier. But it was very windy and we didn’t even make it out of Port Solent to the ocean. The other boat our company had in the race did go out and the white faces that came back said it all, but they all were adamant they had a lot of fun.
At the end of the day I was considering pulling out of the races the next day but I didn’t want to let the team down so I thought I’d see what the weather was like as it was supposed to be better with less wind. The networking dinner was good fun and the food was amazing, as well as pig on a spit, they had chicken, beef, five different salads, bread and lots more. Everyone had arrived by this time and the hall was packed with happy people. I think it was the easiest networking event because everyone was relaxed and happy, whereas usually they are in work mode when you met at conferences. I met some very interesting people but I left early as I was very tired and wanted a good night’s sleep for the next day.
Wednesday morning came around at about 6am. The races started at 12.30 and in order to get the 58 boats out of the harbour through the lock, they had to start moving them at 6am and since we had gone out the day before, we were the first in line. So up I get to a beautiful sunny day and I think to myself that this is ok and I could do this (I was still considering pulling out). By the time we got to the harbour entrance the wind had picked up and I wasn’t so sure, but having survived the day before I felt more comfortable with the boat moving at crazy angles... well I did until we got to the sea and I swear the boat was tilting 90 degrees. I was at one point sitting with my foot on the cabin windows and it was dragging in the water! Anyway we started sailing around and today was better as we had acquired another crew member who had done some sailing and this meant that we could get a break as yesterday everyone was required to do a job. As a GIS/map making person today my main job was to plot our course so I got a crash lesson in wind and tides and was told to be ready to take down the course which would be sailing around buoys in the water.
While we waited for the race to start we sailed around the sea between Portsmouth and Isle of Wight. This is a major shipping area and we had to avoid cargo ships, hovercrafts, passenger ferries and other sailing boats. Hard work, and to be honest, it got a bit boring sailing around for a few hours I was very keen for the race to start. Eventually the announcement came over the radio it would start soon and the course was announced. I was busy finding buoys, working out currents and plotting the course, it was great fun though being in the cabin while the boat was rocking from side to side was interesting and the only warning I got that we were turning was a shout from the skipper ‘Prepare to Tack’ (turn right) or ‘Prepare to Jibe’ (turn left). The start of the race came and we had to line up then bang we were off! Woohoo, now I had plotted my course I was free to stand out of the way and watch (I really enjoyed my job, it wasn’t very hard work and I got to just hold on rather then have to hold on and pull ropes at funny angles!). We sailed along and I couldn’t believe how close the boats got, especially when sometimes boat control was completely lost due to wind/wave or something, so sometimes you just had to hope others got out of your way. We finished the race in 26th and got ready for the second race. After the first race I was listening to the radio and two boats had to head back home after separate collisions which caused damage (oh, the other thing I should point out is that all these boats had actually been sold as Sunsail had brought a fleet of bigger boats, shame for the new owner but they would get a newly fixed boat!). One person had also been knocked out because they didn’t duck quick enough when the main sail swung around.
The image below gives you an idea of the race area (sorry for the quality).
The second race was very much like the first, only we placed 16th (big jump!) and by this time I was used to being at weird angles and running out of the way of ropes and sails as they swung around. We ended up coming 21st out of 58 boats, very impressive for a boat of 6 crew, 3 of whom had never sailed! We headed home after the races and got on the train back to London for a well deserved sleep and rest. The next day I realised how sore and bruised I was when I looked at my legs which were covered in large colourful bruises, but it was worth it and good fun, I’m ready now for next year!!