Fastnet Race 2005 - Thundering home

Light breezes and reaching angles made for a near-perfect race on 'Thunder 2', winners of Class 0. Helen Fretter of Yachts and Yachting reports...

Racing over 600 miles in the third lowest- rated boat in class was either going to be a very good, or very slow, idea. As it turned out, the Mills 37 ‘Thunder 2’ proved to be a near-perfect choice. Both boat and crew had proven offshore capabilities — the highly experienced owner Rob Boulter and navigator Donald Wilks, our watch leaders, having sailed her Round Ireland doublehanded.

After picking a route through the spectator boats for a slick front-row start, it was kite up and weight on the rail towards Hurst Narrows. We left the Solent holding onto a northerly breeze, hitting the crucial tidal gate at Portland Bill.

The first few legs saw a flurry of sail changes, trying combinations of our ‘Tesco bag’ spinnaker, No 2 and jib top on reaching angles that perfectly suited the asymmetric ‘Thunder’. Coasting along at sixes and sevens, we only suffered a brief becalming at the Lizard, as the Farr 40s ‘Too Steamy’ and ‘Chacharaza’ slipped through inshore.

With smooth seas and warm temperatures even the gruelling night watches of three hours on, three hours off weren’t too punishing. Kept well fed and watered thanks to Rob, crew morale stayed high. School after school of porpoises joined us, the night-time disco versions — glowing neon in phosphorescence — bringing a few cheers. With four hours off during daylight, the crew congregated on deck, and mastman Jerry kept everybody entertained with his plans for a new magazine launch: Yoghurts and Yoghurting. Perhaps we were a little overtired after all.

Rounding the Rock
The approach to the Rock saw the Irish Sea throw its traditional miserable conditions at the fleet. Not, this time, stormy seas and gales, but a dying breeze that saw us roll tacking towards the lighthouse. I spent a truly unenjoyable three hours hunched low on the leeward side as a cold fog settled over us, listening to the frustrations of the trimmers as they tried to keep the boat moving.

‘What’s the tide doing?’ a voice in the dark called, ‘It’s okay, it’s pushing us down to the Rock’ was the reply from the nav station. Call me old fashioned, but drifting towards one of the most infamous hazards in the Irish Sea in poor visibility isn’t my idea of an ideal approach. But, as the lighthouse loomed out of the darkness, its sweeping beams picking up two Farr 65s ‘Spirit of Diana’ and ‘Spirit of Minerva’ alongside, the wind settled. The off watch joined us just in time to see the volunteers on the Rock count us in at 0259hrs, and we were off: ‘Thunder’ was heading home.

By Wednesday morning the kite was up, and the calculator was out to compare our time to other boats. It was close, down to just 20 minutes in some cases, and the whole crew’s adrenaline was pumping — we were going to push this boat all the way home. With just four people in each watch, it was essential to keep rotating helms and trimmers as concentration faded after hours of squinting at the kite or watching the numbers. A growing swell brought a fresh boost to boat speed, each helmsman striving to hit the magic 12 knots. Binoculars and a handheld compass were deployed to guage progress against nearby 45-footers, with the challenge laid down at each watch change to pick off another boat.

Owner Rob recalls, ‘”Thunder” was so quick on this part of the course that we sailed through the lee of “Creative Play”, a Farr 40 who peeled their masthead kite for the seven-eighths spinnaker in angst — and all to no avail...’

Past the Scilly Isles things were starting to look very promising indeed as other boats called up to compare positions. They were bigger, and they were behind us. The trimming stepped up yet another gear, and we were soon pouring buckets of saltwater over the leeward secondary to stop the overheated spinnaker sheets screaming. The watch system well and truly out the window in a final push for speed, we enjoyed our last meal on the rail and, with the breeze forecast to close down completely, superstitiously avoided discussing our time of arrival.

The reach into the finish saw the crew hiking like badgers, spinnaker winch man Ed burning off nicotine withdrawal symptoms with his own special brand of ‘ADHD’ grinding, to calls of ‘every second counts!’ Squeezing round the headland, a truly rockstar arrival greeted us, as a RIB powered out to escort us home, firing camera flashes and shouting, ‘You’re ahead by two and a half hours!’ Then, a finishing bang and a beam from Plymouth breakwater, and it was all over. Our welcoming committee excitedly passed up bottles of champagne and we headed up to the regatta centre to see ‘Thunder 2’ topping the overall leader board for the race. As we enjoyed a few hours wobbling around the beer tent, waiting for our land legs to return, the forecast breeze shutdown failed to materialise, carrying smaller boats towards the line and the overall title, but we went to bed for a well-earned sleep with IRC
Class 0 in the bag and a brief moment of glory to add to the memories of a hugely enjoyable race.