Draig O'r Mor - Fastnet Qualifier to Le Havre
Draig O’r Mor - Fastnet Qualifier to Le Havre
Last Saturday, after months of preparation, Draig O’r Mor finally crossed the start line at the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes in the first of her RORC Fastnet qualifying races. With light airs forecast the Race Officer opted for the shorter of three possible courses leaving the Needles Fairway buoy to Port and A5 Western cardinal mark ( 20 miles north of Le Havre ) to starboard and finishing just outside the harbour entrance (111 miles). Kay & Kevin Stibbs led a shortened team of Andy Young, Kevin Francis & Dave Sadler as Ed Sadler had broken his arm snowboarding just a few days before the race ( I ask you!). 
Delivery boy Mickey Carter helped sail to the Solent and drove the crew bus back from Hamble Point. After a good, but safe start, (to avoid being swept over the line in the light airs and strong tide) we beat down the Solent happily sparring with boats in our class. In the approaches to Hurst we were pleased that the wind increased but not that the class behind had started to catch us up. We managed to hold our own against most save the big boys & we were treated to a spectacular view of TP52’s and the like short tacking down through the needles passage. Not too far behind them at the Needles Fairway buoy we unleashed our new, never been out the bag, silver & purple spinnaker and reached off into the Channel. After a few minutes of uninspiring sailing in light airs in a bit of a procession we formulated ‘a plan so cunning you could pin a tail on it and call it a fox’.
By sailing impossibly high we squeezed the apparent breeze and created enough lift for Draigy to pick up her skirts. We were off! Thrilling stuff as we left boat after boat to leeward. Pressure on the navigator indeed diverging from the fleet but the doubting Thomases had to admit we were bang on target at A5 in front and to windward of a Corby 45. We were undertaken by it, then we overtook it again as they had to drop their spinnaker & white sail it to the finish. We carried our spinnaker all the way, albeit with a peel to the assymetric & then back again to full spinnaker. We finished at 0127 hrs alongside a British Steel Challenger boat. Sitting in the marina we watch countless boats arrive after us & were treated to a spectacle of the Army Sigma 38 sailing perfectly into a finger berth in the middle of the marina in what can only be described as a suicidal manoeuvre at 6 knots plus and managing to stop dead after they had dropped their sails – hats off to them – how did they do it? The next day we were delighted to see we were 10th out of 29 in our class and 33rd out of 109 overall. Not bad for a first race. Can’t wait to take delivery of our new main & jib to see what the boat can really do – watch this space, next qualifier the Myth of Malham 23rd May http://www.rorc.org/raceresults/2009/ms03os.html
