Spotlight - Asto Small Ships Race 2015

• Print

Details

Published: Friday, 23 October 2015 11:46

On the 24th to the 26th of October, I took part in the Cowes small ships race which takes place every year around the Isle of Wight. I was on a Ketch Oyster called Rona II which is 68 foot long and holds 21 people.

I raced with a non-profit organisation called the Rona sailing project (http://www.ronasailingproject.com/).  They have been offering their service for over 50 years. They own three yachts which they use to take male and female crews out on 6 day voyages which can include sailing across the English channel and back. They also take children with disabilities out such and blind and deaf children. All the skippers and leaders are volunteers with the correct qualifications. On these voyages they give out two awards to who they feel have earned it. These awards allow the crew to take part in the small ships and tall ships race as well as becoming a watch leader.  I have sailed with the Rona sailing project several times and have gained both awards which is why I was invited to join them for this race.

On the Friday, we left Southampton and did some sail training in the river. This was so we could prepare for the race the next day. This however was quite hard as there was little to no wind. This meant that we had to use our engine to manoeuvre around other boats because we had no control due to the lack of wind.  A rudder will not work to steer a boat if the boat is not moving through the water.

On the Saturday, we woke up at 7 to prepare for the race start which was at 10:30. Again there was very little wind and we were not allowed to use the engine because we would then receive a time penalty. We put up as many sails as we could which counted up to 5 sails.  Most of the race faced against the wind so the sails kept switching from side to side on the boat which kept us working hard.  As the race went on, we noticed that we were moving at a slower speed than most of the other boats. Our navigator had made a mistake and  guided us down the wrong side of the river. This meant that the tide was against our boat which slowed us down. Later on in the day, we suddenly heard a thud and the boat had run aground. This meant we had to turn our engine on so we added a penalty to our time. However, because of our experience in the past with working on boats and teamwork, we managed to catch up with the other boats and only came behind them by a small amount of time.

In the evening, there was a presentation where we found out the results of the race. We came 19th out of 20. On the plus side the other 3 Rona Sailing  Project boats were more successful:- Donald Searle, skippered by Paul Bishop came 3rd in class, and Merrilyn, skipperd by Andy Homer came 2nd. Lady Shona had a fantastic day and skippered by Stuart Mayo she came home with a 6th overall.

Rona II and Lady Shona were crewed by boys and Merrilyn and Donald Searle were raced by all-girl crews. All of the crew members were between 17 and 20.

So overall it was a great success and a lot of fun for the RSP crew. The presentation was followed by a gathering of all the boats and a party.

On the Sunday, we left Cowes at 9:00 to get back to Southampton. It was time to clean up  Rona II inside and out. We then left from Southampton to go home at 15:00.

You can see our race in the video link below on the Rona Sailing Project Facebook page:-

https://www.facebook.com/ronasailingproject/videos