Tuesday 22 July 2008

Pictures Day 5 17/7/2008 Cherbourg-Alderney

Day 5, Cherbourg - Alderney:
Leaving Cherbourg

Daniel Hawkes and Adam Dorrell in rib ready to go


Two F18s leaving Cherbourg Harbour bound for Alderney with broken tiller arm repaired


Shroud failure caused the Hobie Tiger mast to fall. About 8 miles from Alderney in the Alderney Race. Tide turning.




Clearing up the mess ready for the tow in to Alderney behind the rib

Pictures day 4 16/7/2008 Brighton - Cherbourg

Day 4, Brighton - Cherbourg:



Nacra Infusion - on the way to Cherbourg


Simon Farren


Hobie Tiger - still on starboard tack


Nacra Infusion - still on starboard tack


Cherbourg Marina

Pictures Day 2 14/7/2008 Rye

Day 2pm - Rye:



Pictures Monday 14/7/2008

Day 2 am: Ramsgate















Day 2, en-route Folkestone:

















Day 2, Folkestone beach (for lunch):

Sunday 20 July 2008

All home safely 19/7/2008

Simon and I (Daniel) made it home about 7pm yesterday (Saturday) and since we travelled via Brightlingea AND Whistable I am sure all other raiders will have been bathed and refuelled some hours ahead of this.

Youngest raider, Hugo declared the trip was not quite enough and as I type is preparing for the 29er Europeans in the Netherlands having turned his sailing kit around in less than 24 hours.

Overall a cracking few days sailing covering nearly 400 miles in, at times, testing conditions. More photos and reports to follow…

Friday 18 July 2008

We are home...almost.....18/7/2008

Saw Portland Bill at 1600 through the mist. Moored up in portland by 1700. Dropped the jibs 16 nm out and still making 15 even 16 knts in a building sea and wind. Estimated F6 at times and 2m waves. Weymouth hotel for the night and all heading home in the morning...nursing a fair few wounds.

Return of the Raiders Friday 18/7/2008

The Raiders are away!! After fixing the rigging, the Raiders had sorted themselves and the boats out and were ready to leave Alderney after dinner with Boyd Kelly the Commodore of the Alderney Sailing Club and his wife the previous evening.

Departure time of 1130 hrs was given and the boys left not far short of it at 1200. With 53 Nm to cover, bearing 355 degrees, the Raiders are expecting an ETA to either Weymouth or Portland at around 1800. Their estimated crossing time is hopefully around 6 hours, especially with the wind blowing an average of Force 5. Homeward bound boys!!

Thursday 17 July 2008

What an epic day!!!

After reparing the broken rudder, the Raiders were on their way to Alderney and flying along upwind at great speed, until disaster struck them again. At 1650, the message came through that one of the cats had been dismasted whilst at sea, 8 Nm from Alderney. The rig came down due to a broken shroud and so the Raiders were put into action stations to recover the boat and all its bits.

Communication was made to home to ensure that the only boat chandler on the island was open. Unfortunately, the Raiders did not make it to the shore in time, but with a phone call made to the chandler, they are prepared with a selection of possible replacements for the shroud.

All crew were fine and they made their way to the harbour by some "elite" towing of the RIB (Dan) through big waves as the tide built in the Alderney race. Once under the lee of the island the speed increased to 15kts plus.

At 1930, a call came through to say that the Raiders had made it to the harbour and all are moored up for the night. An excellent welcome from the Alderney Sailing Club, who insisted on beers before dry clothes, and allowed use of the clubhouse for a good nights sleep. Discussions are now on the table for the repair to the shroud in the morning and the journey back to Weymouth, which is looking likely to be tomorrow.

Still Going to Alderney

ETA Alderney 1800 - 1900. Slightly later than anticipated but a broken rudder caused a slight delay. All fixed now.

1st Decision made 17/7/2008

Plan is to cover the 22 miles to Alderney today.
Tomorrow looks likely to be the leg back to Weymouth.

Decision Time AGAIN 17/7/2008

After several gruelling days of upwind sailing, the decision on whether to continue onto Jersey is being debated at length by all of the Raiders.

They are being faced at Cherbourg with increasing westerly winds rising to 17 knots this afternoon. Jersey seems to hold a very similar forecast at 16 knots. The forecasts are from Windguru which measures average windspeeds, so gusts of nearly double can be expected.

The forecast for Friday and Saturday is increasing again from the west to a possible 19 knots.
However with the wind possibly going to Northerlys on Sunday, the wind is anticipated to drop to about 12 knots.

All raiders are extremely tired, but are pleased with their progress so far. And an update will be posted later.

Wednesday 16 July 2008

Made it!!

As of 2000 hrs, the Raiders have safely made it to Cherbourg and have moored up for the night, ahead of the scheduled time set. Well done boys!! More details to follow

On target 1810 hours 16/7/2008

As of 1810 hrs, the Raiders are roughly 10 miles from Cherborg and are making great headway of around 12 kts. However, they have been on starboard tack for a very long time indeed!! Keep going boys!!

Wednesday update

Raiders update. At 1130 hrs, the Raiders are 10 miles offshore on their way to Cherborg, making slow progress due to light winds this morning. At present, the wind is a force 3 and the boys are moving faster. The Raiders desired compass bearing of 222 is not achievable in the South Westerly wind. They can only make 200 degrees, and will be forced to tack within the next 50 plus miles. More info will follow as soon as it gets in.

Depart for Cherbourg 16/7/2008

Raiders have departed at 1000 hrs, fully fuelled with 87 nautical miles to go on a bearing of 222 degrees, GO RAIDERS!!!

Decision Time

After a hard day's sailing, the Raiders slept comfortably in a hotel in Brighton as they prepared for the next days events.

Over dinner, the Raiders have chosen to take on the might of the English Channel and make way from Brighton across to Cherbourg. With roughly 84 miles to cover, it is going to be a grueling sail. The Raiders have decided that, due to wind conditions, it will be starboard tack most of the way, via a direct compass bearing. Their estimated timescale is set to be a possible 12 hours!!!

After feeding their bellies and feeding the fuel tank of £*** of fuel, the Raiders are looking for a departure time of 0930 hrs. Good luck boys!!

Tuesday 15 July 2008

Brighton for the night

Much slower progress than expected did not see us in Brighton until nearly 6 so we are here for the night. Wind varied from a F2 to a 5, but always on the nose...again! everyone did a turn sailing but only si northrop managed all 40 miles non stop. Plans for tomorrow vary from a Channel hop to the Solent, to be discussed over dinner.

Welcomed into Brighton by X-Leisure staff, who had arranged free mooring for us and took photographs for their in house magazine. X-Leisure are the owners of the restaurant and leisure facilities at the marina. The business owns similar properties throughout the UK and has been associated with the Thames Raiders from the beginning through PY Gerbeau and William Sunnucks who work together at Capital & Regional.

Short update 15/7/2008

Thames Raiders anticipate that they will be arriving in Brighton around 1800 hrs.

Raiders blast to Rye

Before arriving in Rye at 2000 hrs, the Raiders had enjoyed a mixed bag of sailing. After a gradual start, the wind had picked up as the Raiders headed towards Folkestone, giving strong winds on the nose all the way. The seas were large especially off Dover, where dodging the ferries added interest.

After fish and chips at Folkestone, they headed off in flatter water in the lee of Dungeness. During the last leg towards for Rye, the Raiders were chased down by an extremely large and fast MOD RIB. The Raiders had thought the MOD firing range extended 1000metres offshore, but they were informed it was 1500metres. They were escorted out of the danger zone with good humour and left on their merry way to Rye.

The Raiders arrived in Rye at 2000 hrs, and after consultation with the harbour master parked the boats up on the grass right in the town centre as the tidal height range was quite high. The Raiders pitched their tents next to the F18's and all went to bed around 2300 hrs after enjoying a good meal.

Monday 14 July 2008

Hello from rye!

Well it has been a hard day with the wind on the nose just about all the way. A slow start from Ramsgate saw us well kitted up and we screamed to Folkestone in a building breeze and big sea for fish and chips on the beach. Any suggestion we should not carry on quickly dismissed. We hit Rye at 7 with only a minor event en-route, more on that later! Its 11pm and all raiders are in tents most are snoring. Tommorow we go where the wind takes us.

Update 14/07/2008

Message as of 1600: The boys arrived in Folkestone and held off for a while as the wind had picked up gusting Force 6 at times along the south coast between North Foreland and Selsy Bill. Their new ETA to Rye is 2000 hrs.

Leaving Ramsgate Harbour Monday 14 July










2nd Leg 14th July 2008

After a night in the Northrop sail loft in Ramsgate Harbour and a hearty breakfast, the Raiders packed their kit into the rib. Both F18's were safely moored in the outer harbour, whilst the rib was kept overnight in the inner harbour to assist with ferrying kit and the Raiders to their cats.

Last minute repairs to kit bags and drysuits meant that all was loaded in the rib but on inspection it was found that a cargo net was needed to keep all the kit stable onboard. No problem - Team Raider Northrop 'ran up' a rather flash cargo net so that all the team knew that their 'clean pants' were safe and not to be lost overboard (unlike Williams!).

Leaving their moorings, there was rather a long wait to exit the harbour due to an incoming ferry, but both F18's and rib left at approximately 11.30am so as to make their way in a marvellous sunny force 3 in the direction of Rye.

Day 1 East Coast Piers Race Sunday 13/7/2008

The start of the Raid had been delayed to allow all Raiders to take part in the East Coast Piers Race organised by the Marconi Sailing Club. The catamarans start at Osea Pier and sail through gates at Bradwell, Colne Point, Clacton Pier and Walton Pier before returning to the Blackwater. The race is handicapped using SCHRS numbers which are calculated objectively from a small number of measurements (length, beam, sail area etc.).

An early 08.30 race start saw Simon Northrop take an early handicap lead. Having hugged the right hand shore all the way out of the estuary he rounded the first gate at Bradwell in 5th position just behind the bigger tornados. Hugo Sunnucks and Adam Dorrell also started well and at one stage they were in front of Hugo's father William sailing with Simon "Fraz" Fareen on the F18.

The long run to Colne Point suited the tiger of Northrop and he held position in the fleet as the wind started going right, as the lead boats approached Colne the Nacra of William/Fraz closed down Northrop a bit but both were a long way ahead of any other F18s at this stage. Clacton Pier was the next gate and Northrop took a small gain on the other F18s but this proved to be his downfall as after Clacton the wind swung further right and he was caught out to sea in no breeze while the other F18s barrelled down close to the shore in more wind.

As Walton Pier approached it was clear both Northrop and Sunnucks would have to drop the spinnakers to get to the gate and this allowed another F18 (Stuart Gummer) to get past. On the return leg Northrop chose to hug the shore in an attempt to regain lost places but by now the wind had dropped to nothing and after a long wait it returned from offshore and gave the advantage to those who had gone that way to find wind.

The long stretch back to Marconi was a fairly light affair but as usual the fleet compressed at Bradwell and gave the slower boats chance to catch up. At this stage we don't have the full results but suffice to say William/Fraz made up for saturdays race by beating fellow raider Northrop who was none too impressed with his luck !!!!

After a quick derig of the Northrop F18 the Raiders loaded the rib and tied the 2 F18s behind and set off for ramsgate, the cats were towed along at a fair rate of knots as the wind had totally gone leaving behind a nice flat sea. The tow took 3 hours and leaves the raiders in a good position to head for Rye or Folkestone but we will update the blog later with our positi0n.

ECPR RAcing Report Saturday

As some of the raiders were arriving from Brighlingsea the first practise race for the ECPR took place in the Estuary consisting of a 2 mile windward / Leeward course in a punchy force 4-5. Simon Northrop sailing with Crew Robyn Ford on the Winchester F18 (who was waiting for news to see if he could come and play Sunday!) started well and found some excellent downwind to speed to contend for the lead.
After two laps of the course Gummer (F18) won with Northrop/Ford a closesecond and Henry White (Spitfire) third.
Northrop was especially happy as this was Robyns first ever competitive race on an F18.
The scond race saw the arrival of fellow Raiders Sunnucks / Farren and with wind slightly easing this again suited the Northrop / Ford team who place another second with Gummer again taking the Bullett both boats a long way ahead from Sunnucks/Farren placing 4th.

Sunday 13 July 2008

Ramsgate

Raiders safely in Ramsgate after 13 1/2 hours on the water firstly racing in the ECPR and then a three hour tow behind the Rib.
More news in the morning after Pizzas and beers that are calling for tonight.

Friday 11 July 2008

ECPR Raiders

The following Thames Raiders are confirmed as sailing this years ECPR on Sunday we will try to get their results up on site as soon as they are in -


Will Sunnucks / Simon Farren - Nacra F18

Simon Northrop / Toby Winchester - Hobie Tiger F18

Hugo Sunnucks / Adam - Hobie Tiger F18

Nick Barnes / Stuart Smith - Tornado

Dan Hawkes /Robyn Ford - Support Rib

Key -

Thames Raider

Non Raider

Wednesday 9 July 2008

Channel Islands Raid Proposed Route.





The Name ??

The Name ??

Simple Really - All the current / Previous Raiders sail in or around the River Thames Estuary.

Raiders Clubs range from Brightlingsea in Essex right round the coast to Minnis Bay in Kent.

Raid To Channel Islands 2008- Plan

4th Raid to the Channel Islands

The 4th Raid promises to be our most exciting yet, in usual raid style we have no definitive plans only rough options as predicitng what the weather and sea conditions will do is not an exact science so the team will set off and see where the wind takes them.

This year we are sailing 2 Formula 18 Catamarans and will have support from our 6.5M Rib. To start with we will be meeting up at the East Coast Piers Race this coming saturday and then Sunday 13th will be competing (against each other !!) in the main race before heading onwards to the channel islands.

This race is run every year and is held to raise money for the local charity the Cirdan Trust, this year the raiders have decided to support the Trust and will endeavour to raise money for the charity along the way so if you see us feel free to donate in person or donate by paypal on this blog.

It is especially nice to start the raid here as 3 of our current raiders have won this prestigious long distance cat race, in 2006 Simon Nothrop and Simon Farren won on a Tornado and William Sunnucks has previously won the race on more than one occasion !!

We aim to complete the raid in approximately 1 week and you can keep track of the progresss by checking this blog.

Please feel free to donate whatever you can by clicking the following link -all money will go to the Cirdan Trust.










Raid Oostende 2007

3rd Raid to Oostende

Plan – To sail from Brightlingsea to Oostend and Back.

Team – Dan Hawkes (Rib Skipper) Simon Northrop (Helm) William Sunnucks (Helm) Fraz (Crew) Stu Smith (Crew) Charlie Sunnucks (Crew) Hugo Sunnucks (Crew)

Equipment
2 x 6M Tornado Catamarans GBR 417 and GBR 419
1 x 6.5 M Rib with Huge Mercury Outboard
Flares, Compasses, Tow Lines, 5 x GPS, 5 x Handheld VHF, Waterproof Drybags to take all the onshore kit (Sleeping Bags etc), Waterproof Video Camera, Drysuits and Full compliment of sailing gear, Charts, Almanac, Chart plotter, Food, Water and Energy Bars, Boat covers to be used as Tents.
I’m sure we had more than this but you get the idea!

Distances in a straight line
BSC to Ostend 92 Miles
Ostend to Blankenburg 11 miles

Thursday 12th July

Myself and Dan set off from Minnis at 5.30 am by car to Brightlingsea to meet up with the other raiders, after a quick stop at a trucker’s cafe on the A 12 for Brekkie we arrived at Brightlingsea on time and proceeded to rig the boats and double check all the safety kit we needed for this adventurous trip. The weather forecast was good and we quickly decided that the main crossing was on, with a wind on the beam and a force 4-5 possibly 6 later meant we needed to get going ASAP. After a brief stop in the Estuary to put the rudders and the kite on the right way round (Bloody Crews!!) we set a course of 110 true and fired the tornados up to speed following Dan in the Rib as it was easier for him to show the course than to keep looking at the handheld Gps reading. We started with the kites up and were hacking along at 20 knots but after half an hour we dropped them as were 10 degrees down, this turned the leg into what’s known as Blast Reaching with the spray from the waves hitting you direct in the face and at 20 knots this is not a particularly nice experience and some of the team had brought along ski goggles and these were invaluable. After a couple of hours we approached the main channel shipping lanes and as there are strict rules you have to cross them at 90 degrees which was our course anyway we carried on and by now the waves were getting quite big (You could hardly see the Rib 20 meters in front and you could only just see the top of the other tornados mast when you are in the troughs !) causing a few hairy nosedives, 1 of which involved my crew Charlie having an excursion round the front and returning minus his wet boots !!!
We negotiated the Northbound lane relatively easily and with a mile gap between the 2 lanes we stopped and had a crew shuffle to give everyone a chance to sail the boats, then off we set again with Fraz Helming the other boat and me still helming 419 and a bit of racing rivalry meaning we were pushing the boats quite hard when in the middle of the southbound lane Fraz pitch poled 417!!!! Well I won’t divulge the full incident here but buy me a beer in the club on a Friday night and I may be persuaded to but suffice to say our rescue and recovery plans kicked in and both boat and crew were recovered fine and well but Fraz was banned from helming for the rest of the day!!!
The rest of the crossing went smoothly as it can with what felt like a fireman’s hose being sprayed in your face for 5 hours and we made Ostend in a very quick time of 6 hours dead, for comparison the Ramsgate to Ostend ferry takes 4 hours and is 25 miles shorter!!!

We found berths in the yacht club marina and some hardened souls set up camp on the Tornados but some softies (myself included) sloped off and found a B and B for the night then sampled the delights of Ostend town with some good food and some well deserved beers!!

Friday 13th July

We awoke and returned to the boats in the morning to find Fraz and the boys had befriended a couple of English yachties and were busy drinking tea on their yacht getting some good information on Blankenburg (our next stop) and getting directions to the chandlery, we had lots of jobs on the boats and Rib to do and poor Charlie needed some new boots so the Rib went off to the chandlery full of the team and our new friends and Stu and I stayed back and fixed one of the spinnakers that had a rip in it and generally gave the boats the once over. We also managed to fit a couple of beers in at a bar by the quayside and waited for the team to come back. Then when all was ready we rigged both boats and set off for Blankenburg a small town 10 miles north off Ostend, the wind was on the nose about a force 2 and the sun was out so shorties was the dress code for the day although William was still in full dry suit. The sail took a couple of hours and nothing major to note although the funniest thing was the Rib went ashore to find some cold beers half way there and returned with the mission completed except no bottle opener, though this was solved as they flagged down a passing Open 60 (Ellen MacArthur sailed one of these to make her famous) who opened the beers for us!!!
We found some good berths and set up camp this time there were no softies and everyone rigged up camp to stay on the boats with 3 each kipping on the tornados and Captain Will on his own on the rib, it was a bit friendly to say the least but after a night on the town (Fraz found us a teeny bopper night club Surprise, Surprise!!) and more than a few beers everyone had a good nights kip.





Accomodation in Blankenburg for the night !!



Saturday 14th July

After struggling to get up in the morning we all had a good Brekkie at a café and got ready to sail back to Ostend with the option of carrying on down to Dunkirk, the wind was bang on the nose and absolutely howling and with the Tide on the nose also this proved a hard passage (Dan Had enough after 20 minutes on the mainsheet, Wimp!!) and after an hour and half we decided to stop at Ostend and prepare for the return trip on the Sunday. Again we all stayed on the boats and this time after Fraz had managed to find a fantastic street party then a cool Reggae Bar (how does he do it?) we drifted off to sleep to the sounds of the Belgian town rocking.

Dan in Ostend

Sunday 15th July

With a tight schedule we skipped Brekkie and munched on the pastries supplied by Will who had been up early and gone into town and then started getting the gear on for the return crossing to Brightlingsea. At this time there was an almighty thunderstorm going on and as we set off to leave the marina the heavens opened and the lighting flashed all around. This was not the weather we wanted although we pressed on and by the time we got to sea the storm had passed and left clear skies with the wind on the beam again so the kites went up and off we went. With the sea fairly flat and the wind at a good angle progress was swift and we were averaging 15 knots in the right direction and in no time we were back in the shipping lanes and keeping a careful eye out for ships, we did have to stop and sail round the back of one that was on our course but apart from that we carried on and had a fairly uneventful sail although we were buzzed by the coastguard plane who was obviously very interested to see 2 beach cats and a small rib so far from land. After crossing the lanes about an hour from home the wind swung and got up a bit giving us a fantastic 3 sail reach in to Brightlingsea and a perfect end to the Raid, we got back in 6 ½ hours and as we got to the sailing club they were just finishing their racing and when someone asked where we had been I don’t think they believed us, funny that eh!!
We packed all the gear and boats up and had a last meal as a team (Fish and Chips) we had some quick photos for our sponsors then Dan and I departed for Minnis and 2 hours later were home.

Summing Up

We had a great trip, even better than out trip last year (To Dunkirk) the boats do the job brilliantly and the team works well with everyone adding their own input. All things being well there are plans to do one to the Channel Islands either later this year or next summer, we must be mad I hear you say, well you are probably right!!!!!!!!!!

Raid to St Katherines Dock 06


Second Raid to St Katherines Dock


Unlike other Olympic sailing boats, the Tornado is not just for racing round cans but also the ideal craft for long distance cruising thanks to its exceptional combination of speed and stability. That was proved by Will Sunnucks and his team in a Thames Raide at the end of September. The objective was to set a new record for the fastest Whitstable oyster run to the City of London; then sail the boats back home to Brightlingsea the next day.

A century ago the oyster trade was Whitstable’s chief sustenance with a fleet of 100 or more dredgers and hoys moored on its flats. In those days Londoners ate more oysters than eggs. The demand was such that several times a week a hoy set off for Billingsgate, each one carrying 100 tons of Native oysters.

Even with up to four knots of tide underneath them and carrying acres of canvas, these great sailing barges would need at least two tides to make the journey. Bill Coleman, owner of Gamecock, the last oyster dredger, says that typically they would sail up the estuary on one flood tide in a good breeze; moor up at Gravesend at high tide; then sit out the following ebb tide. Finally they would complete the often-windless second part up the narrowing river on the next flood tide. That made a total of 18 hours. Should calm conditions prevail, it could take up to a week.

This record attempt comprised two standard Tornados, a powerful RIB and a six-man team. As Britain’s leading long distance racer, Will had seen that it was becoming difficult for sailing clubs to organise achievable adventures, due to the country’s increasingly safety-obsessed culture. His idea therefore was a DIY project for grown men in full command of their faculties supporting each other, without any formal organising authority.

To qualify for the record each cat carried a cargo of a dozen oysters, supplied by West Welks. As Derek West explained, these were the finest Natives, still found in free grounds, not owned by The Oyster Company. Hence the Free Fishers and Dredgers of Whitstable, of which he was one of the remaining few.

With Will’s inspiration to guide him, the baby of the team, 35 year-old Simon Farren, an international Tornado crew, sorted the logistics, while grand-daddy 57 year-old Nick Dewhirst, promoter of the Forts Race, arranged the Whitstable end. Novice Tornado owner, Paul Mines joined in, taking the scenic route on his way to Chicago via Heathrow. Matt Brown temporarily deserted his RS monomaran to try his hand at helming a Tornado, while game-for-a-laugh Richard Hadleigh, was prepared to have a go on the flying trapeze after only one previous catamaran experience. In addition to buying the big RIB, Will provided his own Tornado, while sail-maker Simon Northrop lent the other one.

Plan A was that two identical cats could keep well together, with the RIB in close company, either ahead checking the shallows with its depth counter or trailing behind on watch. Should Plan A prove inoperable, Plans B through Z provided for alternative arrangements i.e. we would work it out as we went along and hopefully it would be all right on the night. As it happened, many of our anticipated concerns proved unfounded, but other unanticipated concerns arose instead.

Initially conditions were ideal – the prevailing South Westerly blowing at force four. This gave us the chance to start with a fast two sail reach north-west in flat water under the lee of Sheppey. Two different techniques for dumping and loading back power in the gusts produced the same result – speeds up to 25MPH according to Paul’s GPS. On one Tornado Will helmed inboard while sheeting, leaving Nick out on the wire to enjoy the ride. On the other, Paul helmed inboard while Simon played the mainsheet from the wire.

That provided our only close encounter with ocean going shipping – a freighter putting to sea out of the Medway. With them travelling at 15-20 MPH, you think you can cross in front, but the truth is you can only just do it, even if travelling at the average 17 MPH we clocked in the three-quarters of an hour it took us to blow past Sheerness.

Then we had to detour out to sea so as to avoid shallows off the Isle of Grain. This proved a suitable opportunity for the first crew change. Paul and Nick swapped places with Matt and Richard on the RIB, leaving Simon to take over the helm of one Tornado, while Will continued helming the other. The value of a second person on the RIB soon emerged as it was constantly necessary to check the depth counter. This could go from up to 20 feet to under 10 feet within seconds, even when powering along several hundred yards off shore.

This leg was also fast – a ten mile close fetch in flat water, till the river turned due south. There the cats had to tack through a modest chop, but twin-wiring, speed was still good. It was only after another few miles when the river turned back due west that these thrilling conditions faded. Approaching Gravesend we discovered why the traditional hoys moored up there. There was no wind as it was blanketed by the town and hills nearby. Sniffing each zypher the cats glided forward, sometimes tacking with the wind on the nose and at other times flying kites as it suddenly veered aft, with every bend in the river.

The river was empty. The expected commercial traffic was in port. Tilbury dockers were home for the weekend, so our concerns about the wakes of super-tanker were misplaced. Upstream of those docks, the river became too small for them so we had it to ourselves, tacking and gybing at will across the deep-water fairway that we had been advised to avoid. Will now took his rest from helming and swapped places with Paul in the RIB.

From a scenic point of view, our main observation was the stench of Britain’s rotting industrial heritage as we sailed past a succession of empty industrial wharves, now too small to cope with the economies of scale of modern shipping.

The next attraction was the new M25 Bridge at Dartford, which towered above us as we continued our slow advance up the Thames, accompanied now by our first passenger craft – a small river ferry. We continued at this snail’s pace up to the Thames Barrier, where we anticipated our first encounter with the river authorities. The PLA manual here advises that sailing craft should pass under power, if at all possible, but what if that is not possible?

It could have been chaos had we tried to go against the tide as windless holes were created between the buttresses. Had we tried to pass the Barrier during a weekday rush hour we might have been bobbing helplessly in the wakes of high-speed commercial traffic, either to be mowed down or cause a traffic jam in full view of the control tower. Plan A was to sail through, but Plan B provided for us to be towed by the RIB. Fortunately we still had the river to ourselves.

Slowly the scenery changed. The dying industrial heritage was replaced by new housing as we sailed into the Thames Gateway development zone. By now Nick and Simon were sailing one cat while Will and Richard were sailing the other. The further we went, the taller the blocks of flats became, until it seemed we were drifting down a canyon of ever more luxurious yuppie pads, each one on a bigger ego trip over the height of its penthouse suite.

Every so often sudden gusts would rush through the gaps, forcing Richard and Simon to leap in and out off the trapezes like monkeys. Every so often the wind would repeat its game of switching from dead ahead to dead behind, so up and down the crews would also pull the kites.

Increasingly we met more and more tourist boats, which obliged us to tack or gybe clear. Particularly annoying for us, and entertaining for its tourists was a Mississippi paddle streamer, whose slow chugging upstream almost perfectly matched our gybing downwind with kites, until first one of us and then the other managed to sail clear ahead.

Had the wind been lighter earlier, we might have had to call it a day here as wind often fades with daylight. Plan B was to head into one of the docks on the Isle of Dogs. With hindsight that would not have been such a good idea as their locks looked like they seldom opened. Fortunately Plan C would have worked. That involved pulling the cats up one of the several public slipways we spotted there, so taking our launching trollies on the RIB was a wise precaution.

Fortunately the remaining wind was enough for us to glide towards Tower Bridge and the end of our journey with almost perfect timing – just at the first lock opening at St. Katherine’s, where we had booked berths for the night. Moored temporarily on a buoy, we only had to wait out the first filling because of the evening rush hour.

Changed already into his glad rags for a night on the town, Simon was duly snapped formally swallowing the first Native on board while we waited to dock. The rest were officially landed and donated to the Harbour Master.

It had taken us just 4 hours 35 minutes to sail the 55 miles from weighting anchor at Whitstable to picking up a buoy at Tower Bridge. That represented an average speed of 12 MPH. We had achieved our record, smashing the traditional best time of the hoys by more than a day.

As our most experienced bon-viveur, Paul booked dinner for the team at a celebrity pizzeria nearby. Afterwards the youngsters went clubbing to check out the native talent, returning late to grab a couple of hours sleep under the boat covers. Meanwhile the older men cheated by booking into the nearby Tower Hotel, knowing that they would need all their energy for the run back to Brightlingsea. The wind was forecast to be stronger and it was much, much stronger. However the Tornados coped with that too, thanks to Plans B through Z, but that is another story.

Nick Dewhirst
October 1st, 2006

Raid to Gravelines 2006

In 2006 The Thames Raiders Embarked on their first raid - From Brightlingsea to Gravelines in France and back. The trip was a success and below are some photos from that expedition.


Thames Raider Profiles


The Thames Raiders Profiles
"A unique group of sailors who have pushed the limits of beach cat sailing"




Will Sunnucks - Our Unofficial Leader ! Position- Helmsman





Well known in long distance cat sailing, William has competed in famous long distance endurance races including The Worrell 1000 the Tybee 500 and the Archipelago Raid which he won in 2004. William is also no stranger to success in shorter course racing and includes two Olympic campaigns and several national championship wins in Tornados and Hurricanes. He has also finished first in the world famous Round Texel Race and held the course record for 7 years.



Simon Farren (Fraz) - Our Driving Force ! Position Crew/Reserve Helmsman

Fraz is an extreme dinghy sailing expert (18’ skiffs, 49er, Formula 18) with a large experience of long distance catamaran sailing including Round Isle of Wight, North Sea crossings in a Tornado and Channel crossings in an F18. Fraz has sailed with William for the past 2 seasons and completed this years Archipelago raid as crew on the F18. Fraz works in Carbon composites so is well suited to effect the repairs neccessary in case of damge to the boats whilst raiding.



Simon (Nobby) Northrop - Position Helmsman





Simon is a specialist cat sailor who has competed in all levels of national, european and world championships in the Tornado, F18, and A Class. After a full on European Tornado Campaign in 2004/5 with diversions for long distance racing, Texel 3rd, Round The Isle of Wight 1st and The ECPR 1st, Simon loves the excitement of long distance "Raiding" and this raid will be his 3rd of the 4 raids taken on by the team. As Simon is a sailmaker by trade the sails on the raid are looked after well !




Daniel Hawkes - Position - Rib Coxswain


Dan is an RYA Powerboat instructor an has an extensive c.v in offshore rib driving, he has completed several channel crossings including trips to Alderney and the Scilly isles from southampton in his own 6.0m rib. Dan is also a keen cat sailor having sailed hurricanes, he is also an expert on marine engineering so is well suited to keep the rib running well.



Charlie Sunnucks (23) - Position - Crew

Charlie is Williams eldest son and has sailed with William in a number of high profile championships including a second in the Hurricane Europeans in Greece. Despite living in China where he is studying Mandarin and Trade at the Beijing Language and Culture University Charlie has completed the two previous cross channel raids.


Hugo Sunnucks (18) - Position - Crew


Hugo is Williams Youngest son and in 2007 at the age of 16 became one of the youngest people to complete a Channel Crossing from Ramsgate to Graveline with his 29er helm Guy Harrison. Later he crossed the North Sea in a record time of 6 hours 30 minutes from Oostende to Brightlingsea. Hugo is a veteran of several raids and can sometimes be found steering an F18 at National Events.


Adam "Jonesey" Dorrell - Position - Crew

Adam was new to the team in 2008 and sails a Dart 18 at Brightlingsea. The Channel Islands raid was Adams first long distance event, and despite the gruelling 250 mile upwind thrash he endured on the raid, his enthusiasm for the sea has now carried him to a three month full time Yachtmaster course.






Sandy Jordan - position shore co-ordination and support

Sandy has a good deal of sailing experience herself, but doesn't fancy the rigours of the raid. She provides valuable shore support, keeping in regular touch with the raiders, monitoring weather forecasts, and updating the blog. She is the founder of Sandybags, and runs Northrop Sails with Simon in Ramsgate.



Coast Guard contact: Tim Gunn is a teacher and part time coast guard who helps the Raiders register their plans remain in good standing with the authorities.



Past Raiders Include - Guy Harrison, Paul Harrison, Stuart Smith, Vince Talfourd , Nick Dewhirst, Paul Mines, Richard Hadleigh, Matt Brown, Colin Nudds