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!!!!!!!!!!
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