Top 10 things you do offshore that you would never do at home...

We have thought long and hard about sharing this blog.. but we feel that to get a real insight into short handed offshore sailing, this list should be given to the world..

1. Use a bucket as a toilet - often using gravity and various bits of equipment to secure oneself into a corner to limit movement or the potential of a bucket disaster.

2. Creating ingenious methods to prevent brown things sticking to said bucket...

3. Comparing bladder capacity using the in-bucket measuring scale.

4. Grab two random tins of food... combine and consume

5. Share a toothbrush with someone other than your partner (desperate times call for desperate measures!)

6. Forget to brush teeth/change underwear for an unacceptably long period of time.

7. Dip finger into unknown clear fluids to ascertain whether salt or fresh.

8. Give inanimate objects names, personalities and, in Lingley's case, acts of love!

9. Hot bunk one sleeping bag for two weeks or more.

10. Sleep in ridiculously short periods and helm for impossibly long periods, resulting in random hallucinations.

Top hallucinations include:
Flying pugs
Black cats scampering about in the boat
Bats attacking the helm
Random people sitting by the leeward jib clew

Of course, lots of other things might happen on board, but the old rule of "What happens onboard, stay onboard" is pretty strong here!

The final leg...

And so, it is all over!! HotSocks is alongside the quay in Bergen for a few days before Matt and Whitbread Legend Dirk bring her back to Shotley Marina.

The last leg from Shetland to Bergen was an interesting one to say the least. Having started the race jousting with Fastrack for the inside berth with around 60 other boats, it was a light winded beat out of the narrow channel around Bressay. With Ninja Matt on the helm and Katie on trim before we knew it we were second around the headland behind only the TP52, not bad work! From there it was a slight ease and a drag race to the finish line.

For HotSocks, sailing on a light winds fetch is not her greatest angle, and it was with some disappointment that we watched yachts hoisting their code zero’s and gaining make the distance that we had made in the starting beat. To keep our movements up we hoisted our spinnaker and set her as tight as could be possibly managed, a move we noticed Rafiki had also gone for… The disadvantage was that we could not sail as high as the Code Zeros, but the strategy was that when the wind kicked it we could regain our height and speed mid North Sea.

With the spinnaker dropped and said wind increasing, it was back to the drag race and we held onto Rafiki’s tail for some time. The weather itself was pretty grim, with very poor visibility and some pretty heavy downfalls of rain. When Katie could hear a ships engines but not see it, it was decided to sacrifice some battery power on the SeaMe.

The race was a very quick one, with HotSocks racing across the North Sea and not far from land within 24 hours. Our only fright, was when land appeared particularly quickly out of the gloom and the breaking waves at the bottom of the cliffs suggested to us that we had not appeared where we wanted to. A quick tack up the coast for half a mile and our light house finish line appeared out of the gloom. As we crossed the line, a little more on edge that we had intended, we realised with some sadness that our 1000 mile adventure was over.

Apart from a deceased kettle to add to the list, the minor finishing cock up and a comedy torpedo bunk induced head injury to Katie, we were happy with our final leg performance. As the results filter through it seems we came second in the double handed fast class, and 4^th overall in the 1000 mile race, not too bad given our limited battery power and defunct engine.

For Katie, it is back to work and finding a solution to the engine problem onboard. For Matt, it is a few more days sailing back to the UK before he resumes work mode. With Cowes Week on the horizon, there is something of a jobs list to get through, and then it will be time to start thinking about next years sailing…

Massive congratulations to David and Nigel on their Sunfast 3200 Fastrack VIII who won the event overall and every single leg. Great sailors and great sources of fun shoreside too. Thanks also must go to Huib and the organizing committee of the 1000 mile race, without whom it wouldn’t have happened. It is a great race, and certainly one that should be returned to in the future! 

Shot in the foot by our own optimism... or?

There is nothing like a bit of optimism in a sailing team, you need it – for when the weather doesn’t do as forecast, for when sitting in a dead calm spinning in circles because you have no steerage, for when the handle falls of your kettle.... Your optimism reminds you that the wind will eventually fill in, or you can still boil some water some other way.

Our optimism led us to gratefully decline all offers o a tow to the start line... we had fixed the engine after all with the help of some very kind local Norwegians, and were happy to proceed to the start under our own steam...

Sometimes, you can get shot in the foot by your own optimism.

Second to last to leave the beautiful Askoy, we were a mere half a mile into our 25 mile trip when the engine cut out again. Still we had four hours to the start, so up the sails went, and we began a steady downwind cruise amongst the fjords of Bergen.

Then the wind dropped, and veered, and backed. Up and down went the spinnaker and through multiple gybes. A bemused Norwegian crew on a Baveria floated past, then we left in our wake as we sped up again. As they caught up during another spinnaker drop they asked, “Could you give us a tow?” Little did they understand the irony of that situation!

At 5 o clock we were still some 5 miles from the start. Matt and I had taken it in turns to remain buoyant.... when one’s mood dropped the other took it upon themselves to remain cheerful about our potential performance once we hit the breeze.

As we finally cleared the last headland and viewed for the first time the start line (surprisingly the Norwegian Frigate was no longer on station) we could see the entire leet some 5-7 miles to leeward. “At least they haven’t horizoned us” pointed out Matt. Now was the time to start reeling in the yachts.

The winds still very very light, it was concentrated helming from Matt as we kept the boat moving. The forecast had shown winds of 20 knots from the North at this point, yet still we drifted along in some 4 knots of breeze maximum. We wondered why the entire fleet were so far down to the South, presumably the wind had come around somewhat since we had crossed the start.

We were a mixture of somewhat thrilled and disbelieving as we began to creep past the back of the  fleet. A lot of Norwegian junk food later (Smash is amazing people, I am considering importing it to the UK) the wind began to kick build... At this point, with Katie off watch, the wind began to build and Matt realised that we had insufficient battery power to fill the windward ballast tank... Pretty disappointing given the wind forecast! We were due to be fetching across the North Sea and could really have done with the ballast! Inspired, Matthew grabbed the funnel that has been historically used to channel fuel into the fuel tank, stuck it in the windward ballast overflow  tube, and started lifting bucket after bucket of sea water from the leeward side and into the ballast tank.

Forty bucket later, a man possessed was the proud filler of half a ballast tank. Meanwhile, as the wind and seas beagn to build, Katie had been playing the Torpedo game in her bunk. To explain.. on our super slick mesh bunks we have a thermarest mattress to give an element of comfort as we sleep.. however, since replacing the pipcot material, we have found they are super slippy. As such, while pinned into your sleeping bag on the therma rest, as the boat drives into a bigger than usual wave, the speed of the yacht drops rapidly and significantly. Unfortunately, the speed of the person in the bunk doesn’t drop, and as such one is shot forward out of the bunk in a fashion similar to torpedo. This doesn’t aid sleep, to say the least, but it does make the off watch more interestingly. Turns out, the solution is to face plant into the therma rest and hook your feet over the end of the pipe cot.

By now, Hotsocks was roaring a long at 8-10 knots, and the fleet began to disperse. We presumed we were still fighting our way up, and held hopes of a mid fleet finish given our abominable start.

The wind build and we used a variety of our reefing options... main and jib, before the wind eased and our full sail went back up.

Reporting our Meridian position to Shetland Coastguard on the last bit of our battery power, we had no response from the coast guard, but we did receive a flashing response from Rafiki. We were shocked... were we at the front of the fleet with Rafiki, or had these guys had an awful race... we hoped that it was the first obviously!

With 50 miles to go and a large white Rafiki looking yacht to leeward and no other yachts in front it was looking more and more likely that we could be at the front of the fleet! With both of us heading to the South entrance of Bressay or a down wind approach to the finish, it with horror that we watched Rafiki utilise their extra waterline length and squeeze literally metres infront of us. Rock dodging and jib trimming the last 3 miles toward the finish line we bore away down the channel and hoisted the spinnaker, moments behind Rafiki. It was with some bemusement that we looked aft and watched a fully crewed boat sailing in under white sails!!

Sadly, we didn’t have enough distance or wind to catch up and we cruised across the line, third overall and 2^nd in our 1000 mile fleet... unbelievable! There were literal hysterics onboard the Figaro as neither Matt nor I could believe what a race we had had!!

Dropping the spinnaker we sailed into Lerwick harbour alongside Rafiki... who needs an engine?! Our welcome back was greatly received, which included a bottle of soap and a bottle of vodka... these people know what tired sailors need after an epic trip!!

Having had the engine diagnosed as officially dead, and unable to source the replacement parts in Lerwick, it was on to the prize giving. Never have I looked forward to a prize giving more, with the prospect of having actually won something!

After some excellent hospitality and wine from the Shetland community and Fjordsailing, the sponsors of the Shetland Race, Matt and I were in the position to collect:

                                2^nd IRC 1000 Mile Double Handed Race
                                2^nd Overall Line
                                1^st Shetland Race Double Handed Fast Class
                                Ladies Prize

The story of our late start and engine less situation has spread amongst the fleet and appears to have been something of a talking point...

Recent team acquisitions include Jenna the Generator who will provide power to HotSocks and actually allow us to use our instruments and autopilot for the first time the entire race... luxury!! The forecast promises similar conditions for the return leg... the question is... should we start 2 hours late again?!

Katie and Matt Out. 

Always look on the brightside...

Always look on the bright side of life....  this the tune that was being hummed and sang across the start line by one Matthew Lingley... who was to know that this was to be our motto for the leg from Scheveningen to Bergen.

Having sat at the start line feeling smug and prepared, an unfamiliar feeling it has to be said, our race didn’t begin particularly well with, as much as I hate to admit it, a spinnaker hoist inside the forestay.  This was all in the name of hoisting the spinnaker the correct way around in order to show off our proud new logo on the spinny!! A quick spinnaker shuffle later and we were away and rapidly making our way to the front of the fleet, surfing at 10 knots and trying to make our way as far north as possible before the wind began to drop off.

Cue engine charge to top up our batteries... cue engine fail... cue aforementioned music. After a quick poke around the engine, we ascertained that it was unfixable in our situation. A mere hour into the race, disappointing to say the least. Given our position near the front of the fleet, pulling into port was out of the question. So it was off with the instruments, lights, music, chargers and lap top, and onward with the navigation by compass and chart. Back to basics sailing when nothing can go wrong!

After sacrificing some battery power to fill our ballast tanks, we were further disappointed to find the boat full of water. After bailing about 50 litres of water out of the boat we ascertained that the ballast scoop had developed a fountain of a leak... the solution was to keep the scoop down. Sailing onwards we enjoyed a good session of tight spinnaker reaching, before being hit by our own personal squall that no one else in the fleet appears to have encountered. Surfs of 18-20knots (approx) later, and green water to the mast, it was spinnaker down and white sails reach back to the North. 

Before long, halfway up Denmark (approx!) it was time to re hoist “The Whomper” and trying to claim a few more knots of boat speed...A highlight of the day involved us huddling around Matts ipod with an earphone each in a scene reminiscent of many a teenager-laden bus on the way to school... Probably a lot less Fleetwood Mac on those buses though!

 With Matthew off watch and myself glued to the helm it was with a somewhat fraught yelp for “Lingley Help!” as I watched the head of the kite drop from the head of the mast and sail beautifully into the water... Conundrum... drop help to gather spinnaker and risk boat rounding up and wrapping her around the keel... keep the speed up and hope the spinnaker stays above the surface.... As it happens I went for a hybrid of both options... grabbing the head of the sail as it floated past and keeping the majority stretched down the freeboard of the boat as I waited for Lingley to emerge to finish the spinnaker retrieval. Spinnaker retrieved, secondary hoisted it was onwards with another job added to the ever growing list.

Now with no real clue as to where we were in the fleet, we remained ever hopeful that we were still somewhere near to the front of the fleet... but who knew!? Well, everybody at home it seems! Occasionally we saw other sails on the horizon both in front and behind, but with no real clue as to who there were!!

As  we approached our Waypoint gate and began the final ten miles to the finish line it was with some dismay that the wind dropped off and we ound ourseves driting down the fjord under spinnaker. It was also fairly disappointing to turn on the iphone and find that two competitors were already in.. we were convinced we were further up the fleet than that!

Once over the line we cracked open a celebratory beverage and began the long drift down to Askoy Marina, with the intention of sailing onto the pontoon. We were 95% of the way there, short tacking up a 50m wide channel when we were escorted under tow into the Marina for the final 200metres of the journey... I remain a little disappointed that we didn’t finish the journey undersail but the tow was very much a relief and well received. Thanks!!

Now its onward with the jobs list... Engine doesn’t look ixable in Norway without incurring a bill into the millions (Kroner that is) so we will fix that in Lerwick. The Naviagtion lights that had shorted for some strange reason still refuse to work despite 13V at the end of the wire! Too much resistance in the wire perhaps... Stemming the leak is on todays list along with a spinnaker head repair... then it is into Bergen for the briefing and across the start line tomorrow with a multiplicitude of other boats also competing in the Shetland Bergen race.

To follow, will be a detailed pictured diary of our meal plan as experienced in the Scheveningen Bergen trip, along with a “Top ten things you do offshore that you would never do onshore”. That once we have achieved something on the jobs list though!

On a positive note.... we have qualified for the Twostar!! Always look on the Brightside!

 

This could be Rotterdam... or Anywhere!

The idea of having the boat pre-delivered to Scheveningen, ready to race was a delightful one.... All we needed to do was stroll up to the boat after a carefree plane/train or ferry to the Netherlands. We could then move the boat to the marina and chill out on the beanbag enjoying the sun and the coffee while waiting for the start....

Of course it didn’t work like that... What we actually encountered was a hike to ferry, carrying our kit for the two weeks, plus our new shiny Henri Lloyd gear, in addition to an anchor, a bundle of battens that were 3 metres in length. Each loaded up like a pack horse we stumbled, staggered and strutted uphill to the ferry.. Manoeuvring the battens at a variety of angles to get them into lifts, cars, around bends, avoiding ceilings and peoples’ eyes and children.

After enjoying a few minutes (hours) of “pet cam” on the TV in our cabin, it was a quick night cap and bed. On arrival to Holland, the train seemed like a simple idea.... the tram after that would be potentially more difficult... particularly when you get on the correct one, mistake it as the incorrect one, transfer to the incorrect tram and realise your mistake.... comedy on a usual day, unamusing when carrying 30Kg of kit each in the pouring rain, and trying to not maim particularly bemused Dutchies. Once we had gotten to “ScheveningenStrande” it was with particular delight that we realised the harbour was still a 2km hike along the beach...  A passing horse and carriage was tempting, to increase the range of transport modes one pair of Brits could use in one day.

Finally making the Haven by means of taxi, it was a small matter of breaking into Fort Knox (electric gates, electic fences and barbed wire) and reuniting ourselves with the Figaro... a quick shimmy to Scheveningen Marina (much nicer than the Fishing Haven with a strong Eau de Rotinfish) and it was time to complete the short jobs list, shop, nap, shower and eat.

Right now we are finally chilling out in the cockpit on the beanbag, awaiting the arrival of our tracker... the Race is looking pretty light and variable so the leg is going to be a tactical one... A last minute weather check tomorrow morning will help finalise our strategy... Right now, its the rest of this glass of wine and bed!!

Katie and Matt.....

Last Minute Preps

Both Matt and I are back at work this week and the beginning of next, but that doesn't mean we arent busy doing last minute preps:

Collecting Henri Lloyd kit for the season
Finding spare battens
Acquiring new anchor from Navimo (thanks guys!)
Finding the charts, sat phone sim cards, thermals etc that I forgot to put on the boat before she sailed to Scheveningen.

On Tuesday night Matt and I make the return journey back to Holland, with a few more jobs to do on the boat!!

Always lastminute.com!

Rough Ride in the North Sea

Following our mini launch on Thursday it was back to the “business” side of things and getting involved in some offshore racing! The race in mind was the RORC North Sea Race, a race that promised a wide variety of competition in the form of a gaggle of competitors from the Netherlands, in addition to a plethora of Fastnet race entrants who were using the race as a qualifying passage.

In addition to getting HotSocks back into race mode, the race for us was an opportunity to deliver the boat to Scheveningen for the start of the 1000 mile race which begins on the 16^th June. Surely it couldn't be more perfect?

The answer inevitably is “yes”. It was with horror that I watched the forecast in the build up to the start of the race. Weeks earlier, Matt and I had commented that, “as long as we don't have North Easterlies, we should have an awesome race.”

You guessed it. North Easterlies. Thirty Knots at that. To summarise… a 60 mile beat to the turning mark off Lowestoft, before a slightly faster fetch across the North Sea and (finally) an all too short downwind sprint to the finish line.



Kate Moss, Matthew Lingley and Katie Miller



With new sails to try before the race we headed out early to the start line with a guest crew member – Kate Moss. No, not the super model, nor the author, but one of International Paint’s own. After an uninspiring start, we began the slow steady slog to the first mark. Having overcome a potentially disastrous Port/Starboard collision with another competitor, some rather too enthusiastic advice was issued to the other vessel regarding the use of a lookout while sailing on port. As we readjusted to life at 45 degrees, waves breaking over decks and kept a particularly alert lookout, we began to accept that the next ten hours were not going to be the most comfortable, nor unfortunately the fastest. It was additionally frustrating to watch the bigger boats break ahead a build up a lead ahead of us on the upwind leg… an inevitability. We just had to hope that the slightly freer penultimate legs gave us enough time to catch up.



Slipping into watches around dusk, we anticipated rounding Smith Knoll at around 0200 hours and did so, having dodged a ferry and tanker heading into shore. Having slept through the sunset, I found myself on the graveyard shift at sunrise, having enjoyed some of the clearest night’s skies I have seen for a long time. As we rounded boat speeds increased from the 6 knot average we had seen all night to a slightly more positive 7.5. Now was the time to begin reeling in the yachts ahead that had enjoyed a windward advantage, and it wasn't long before we were passing yachts left and right. At MCP buoy it was a 90 degree ease and time to pop the spinnaker for a tight reach down to the finish. The last 26 miles sailed at 10 knots were certainly the best 3 hours of sailing, and it was at this point we would have wished the race to be a bit longer, particularly as oilies were beginning to dry out in the 26 degree heat that has been unnoticeable in thirty knots of north easterly breeze.

Surfing over the finish line at twelve knots was certainly a little more inspiring than the beginning of the race, plus the feeling that we had arrived with some fairly large boats. Finishing mid fleet was not too bad a result given the conditions, although needless to say we were rather disappointed!  Still, we had arrived in Scheveningen in one piece (just!) without breaking anything and still friends!



Novel sleeping position at 11 knots, as demonstrated by Kate Moss.





Now it is back to work for ten days before heading back out to Holland for the start of the 1000 mile race. Needless to say, North Easterlies would not be welcome here either, as we head north to Bergen (the wettest city in Europe we learnt) and West to Lerwick. I have begun the wind dance in preparation. South westerly 30 knots would be perfect, but anything with a North in would be unwelcome! Wind dances can be found online using any good generic search engine. Any help would be gratefully received!  





Sponsorship Announcement!!

The time has finally come to reveal who has come onboard as title sponsor of our sailing endeavours for the next few years... This is the press release that was released moments ago...

Sponsorship of Katie Miller’s Figaro II in the‘1000 Mile Double Handed Race’


International Paint has made a splash back into the world of yacht sponsorship with the announcement of their title sponsorship of Katie Miller’s Figaro II.

Miller will once again join forces with Matthew Lingley, co skipper of their successful Round Britain and Ireland Race in 2010, and the duo will compete in the 1000 Mile Double Handed Race. The race, starting in Scheveningen, Holland and racing to Lerwick, Shetland Isles and Bergen, Norway, is an official qualifier to the recently re-launched RWYC TwoStar TransAtlantic Race.

On the sponsorship Katie said, “I am thrilled that International Paint have decided to re join the racing frame. We are sure that the programme we have devised will provide an exciting opportunity to promote International Paint as the premium Yacht paint brand that they are.”

After the 1000 Mile Doublehanded Race, a programme of corporate racing will be undertaken, including East Coast Sailing Week and the Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week.

“It is a great pleasure to be working with Katie Miller and her Figaro II racing campaign from 2011. Katie’s dedication and enthusiasm to sailing reflects International Paint’s commitment to the sport. We are keen to see as many young people as possible take up the sport of sailing and with Katie being a fantastic ambassador for sailing we are proud to support her. It is our hope that her successes will inspire many others to follow in her footsteps. The whole International Paint team wish her the best of luck and look forward to seeing many podium finishes.” Chris Jones – UK Marketing
<ends>

Obviously, the good people with eyes in the vicinity of Shotley Marina would have known this from about Thursday last week... given the unsubtle branding and the copious amounts of International Paint being applied...

Our first race is tomorrow!! The jobs list as detailed below has been more than halved and I am just finishing it off while Matt is busy running Demon Yachts! We will be joined on our race by non other than Kate Moss.

This week has included a day return trip to Newlyn to pick up our nice new sails from SoloSails.... very exciting... Looking forward to the first hoist!! For now... its the minor details like arranging the logistics of my passport from Southampton to Shotley....

You can follow our antics on a variety of places...
Here! (www.katiemillerracing.blogspot.com)
Twitter: @figaro_katie
Facebook Page: Team International Paint
Website (soon - hopefully!) www.katiemillerracing.com

More to follow!

Katie