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.