Raid Yaverland August 2011

Raid toward Yaverland - August 2011

Monday

At 9.30am on Monday 9^th August the Thames Raiders set out from Brightlingsea. The target – Yaverland on the Isle of Wight where the F18 National Championship was starting on the Friday. 167 miles across the Thames Estuary, past Dover, Dungeness, Beachy Head and Selsey Bill.

By 12.00 noon we were outside Ramsgate Harbour, after 37 miles of exhiliarating downwind sailing in a Force 5-6 Westerly. Average speed 16 knots, allowing for some doglegs needed to avoid sandbanks in the Thames estuary.

The forecast showed that the wind was due to increase, and we knew how rough the sea gets off Dover in those conditions. So the decision was made to spend the afternoon at the Broadstairs folk festival

Tuesday

All was well as we passed Dover and Dungeness, but the wind died when we got to Hastings, and it became clear that in a headwind the remaining 20 mile trip to Brighton was unrealistic. So we headed for Eastbourne where we met up with ex Hurricane sailor Keith Simmons as we went into the marina lock. Envious eyes fell on his large cruiser, which gave us all a comfortable night.

Eastbourne Marina - a comfortable night aboard Keith Simmons' cruiser

Wednesday

Now we were under pressure, with 60 miles still to go and bad weather forecast for Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. The Westerly direction made it a headwind all the way, and we were one man down after Mike Hare left to attend to family duties. We left at 7am and were around Beachy Head by 8am.

Our first serious problem struck at Brighton when a shroud plate failed on one of the F18s. Luckily Kyle’s sharp eyes spotted this before the mast came down, and he managed to support the mast with trapeze wires while we sailed to Brighton Sailing Club. A two hour repair, aided by Brightlingsea SC member Jack Wills who appeared on the beach saw us off again. But by now the wind was rising fast, the waves were large, the team was tired and the decision was made to pull in to Shoreham and ring Hugo Sunnucks for help with a trailer for the last 30 miles.

Rounding Beachy Head

What did we learn?

We learnt that its better not to try to sail long distances against the prevailing wind. We’ve learnt this twice now, as we had equally hard work heading west down the channel to Alderney in 2009.

But we also demonstrated again that raiding is great fun, and that huge distances can be safely covered in small catamarans with experienced sailors supported by a rib. The format works well, and racing two matched boats against each other is enjoyable even after hours of sailing.

Most importantly we rediscovered the pleasure of the hospitality and assistance afforded to us by those we met along the way. Many thanks to Simon Northrop who acted as shore co-ordinator and looked after us in Ramsgate: to Keith Simmons who allowed us to stay on his yacht in Eastbourne: to Jack Wills who helped us on the stony Beach in front of the Brighton Hilton, and joined the raid as far as Shoreham. And to Chris Lintern who made us feel welcome at Shoreham Sailing club.

William Sunnucks..

August 2011

Jack Wills, Dan Hawkes, Kyle Stoneham, Cherri Farren and Jack's girlfriend at Shoreham packing up the boats.