Last year,my second year sailing and helping with Sailability, saw me buddying a sailor in a Challenger for the first time in a race. It was the RNLI/Sailability race and we were a bit short staffed with helpers, so I was “thrown in”. It was a bit like “the half blind leading the half blind”, as my sailor had been in only one Challenger race before, with a very experienced buddy, and I had crewed an Enterprise 3 times during the Wednesday evening races.
Sitting on those buddy seats is a weird feeling. There is nothing between you and the water except the bit of plastic you sit on. There is a bit of back to lean on and a bit for your feet to rest on, though it’s not great when your legs are on the short side like mine. You are very exposed and in the open, the wind and water get to you, so warm dry clothing is essential.
We braved the elements on that very cold day for all three races, trying to communicate in the best way, and came 2nd in our category! It wasn’t until the day after that the responsibility of it all hit me: it was up to me to keep the sailor,and me, safe! And keeping the boat safe! And getting us through the course safely ,too! Bearing in mind that Challengers can be dangerous, because they are very pointy and not easy to tack, and I’m a novice. I suppose that was a taster of what was to come this year.
Access open at the beginning of the season. Would I buddy Tony? I felt honoured to be asked, but nervous, too. A very experienced and seasoned sailor, though challenged greatly by his vision and hearing, and a total novice, though ablebodied, in one boat. I felt we were very mismatched. As one fellow competitor later asked: Did you have a domestic out there on the lake?
A great season of sailing followed, crewing an Enterprise on Wednesday evenings in the races, buddying in a Challenger and once or twice even sailing one, amongst other things.
Then came Rutland! I was very much looking forward to going with the Burghfield Boys, helping with and experiencing a Multiclass Regatta, held in mid August. Dave Vickery and Tony Lawton were competing. Shortly before the event Tony asked David Martin and me if we were willing to buddy him. Wow. Our Access experience in April hadn’t put him off and he was willing to risk it again, I thought. It wasn’t until we got there that I found out I was his official buddy for the entire week-end.
If you’ve never been to Rutland: It’s a huge lake! 14 miles long, shaped like a horseshoe. No islands, but you have other objects to avoid, like the water towers, the big day cruise ship, not to mention all those fishing boats and their long casting lines!
Six races were scheduled, 4 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. The weather on Saturday was horrible! Very windy and wet. As one commentator said: anything that the British weather can throw at you was thrown at us! The downpours were horrendous! Worst for me was the course itself. Each class of boat had its own course on the Saturday. Our course was a simple trapezoid, anticlockwise, but it was huge!! And very far away from the launching area. It took us almost half an hour to get to the start line. A strong lee shore made launching and retrieving boats difficult. When you finally got to the start line it was a case of: “Where on earth is the first mark!” The windward mark was so far away that you couldn’t see it with all that wind and rain coming at you. Trust your instincts. And added difficulty in this course was the “gate”, a short line on the starboard side of the committee boat that you had to pass through after each lap. That was the one rule that had puzzled me and I tried my best to understand it. Good thing as it later turned out. I would have struggled getting through this line had I been the sailor, guiding Tony through it was really challenging. My communication skills were being challenged ,too, by it all. Tony explained that 80% of the information a normal person receives from the surrounding are taken in by the eyes. I had to relate all that information verbally. The Saturday races were the hardest thing I have ever done. The waves alone! It was like bucket loads of water being chucked at you the whole time, while coping with the downpours and the winds, and watching for other boats, trying to locate the next mark and communicating. The “boys” had attached a bar, made of rope, to the buddy seat, to give me extra support for the legs and feet. It did help a lot. Tony and I struggled through the third race-so much wind and heavy rain- we were getting very tired. A massive black cloud appeared and I could hear thunder! We’d had enough! Time to retire. We’d already spent 6 hours on the water! 6 hours for me talking him through the race course and around other boats and obstacles. 6 hours for him concentrating on what I was saying and acting on it. And physically 6 hours battling with the elements! Boy! Did I appreciate our little “pond” at Burghfield! I was utterly exhausted!
Sunday saw lots of sunshine and somewhat calmer conditions, though still plenty of waves. All classes took part in the same course, the one we had the day before. Just before the final race, while we were “drifting” and talking to Dave Vickery, the two boys decided to have a time of “male bonding” and managed to intertwine their two boats! I had to leave the bit of safety of my seat and scramble and crawl to the front to untangle the boats and get back to my seat( not easy when there’s nothing much between you and the water).Next on the start line a small 2.4 collided with us and I had to climb out of my seat again and unhook his mainsheet from our sponson. The whole affair pushed us too fat to port and we tangled with a Challenger! Climb over to the other side and untangle us again! I was so glad when we finally got away.
The week-end was very hard and exhausting work, both physically and mentally. I take my hat off to all those other sailors! Was it all worth it? When you look at the two first prizes we got I suppose the answer is yes. I felt honoured and pleased having helped Tony to achieve that. Would I do it again? Not in a hurry!!! Famous last words and little did I know.
Only one month later and we were back at Rutland, for the Challenger National Championships, to be held over 3 days, and both Dave and Tony competing again. We arrived Friday mid morning, to the most horrendous wind I have experienced in a very very long time. You were lifted out of your boots just standing on the shore, and a lee shore at that! To everyone’s relief the two races that afternoon were cancelled. But the rescue team, and that meant our boys this time, did have a training session. Thankfully the weather conditions were a lot calmer the next day, and sunny, though still a strong force 4-5 wind. The course was much shorter this time and not so far away, but we still had a lee shore. I realized with dismay that it was up to me now to get our two boats ready, since the boys were out on the water getting the course ready. I just hoped nothing would go wrong, cause all our spare gear was locked away in the cars, and with the boys out on the water, I had no access to it. We managed to get on the water, but unfortunately I hadn’t done a final check. Our sail was hooked up wrong and therefore twisted. We kept going in circles and discovered that one side of the rudder hadn’t been attached to the tiller. Luckily we were still within reach of the launching crew and they helped us rectify at least that problem. I had no extra bar on my seat. Big lesson here: take your time, think and prepare properly!
Sailing with a twisted sail wasn’t great. A shorter course meant that the faster fleet got past us quicker, so more boats to watch out for. The wind was stronger, colder and the waves bigger than what we had in August. Quick lunchbreak, then off again, this time with a properly set sail. But we were hardly off when Tony yelled something about not being able to control the sail. The main sheet was jammed between the rudder and the hull. There was nothing for it but climb into the boat behind Tony and unjam us, with no shore crew to help. I’m getting to old for all this climbing like a monkey! The afternoon races were a lot more enjoyable, despite the waves and the wind. Dave’s boom collided with his head as he tried to come ashore after the last race. He ended up in hospital, needing glueing and stitching. We think his sail must have dropped with the strong winds, therefore the boom was a bit too low. 2 more races on Sunday. Dave didn’t compete, so only Tony’s boat to get ready. There was water in all three hulls that needed draining. The wind was a lot stronger, still lee shore. At one stage the wind lifted the boat off the trolley. We had to unthread the mainsheet to keep the sail facing downwind so we could launch stern first. That meant threading the main sheet all the way in again while on the water. Due to other races happening on the lake our course was moved further away and was more exposed. OMG!!! The waves were huge! How we managed that one race we did and how I managed to stay on the boat I do not know! Twice I nearly fell off the seat, while we were beating. There was nothing to hold on to. How I missed that rope bar! What was I doing the night before? Too busy enjoying our 30 year Challenger celebration dinner and worrying about Dave and his head injury instead of thinking about a piece of extra rope for my seat! Balancing when the boat is tipping so much you can see the centreboard above the water( according to the boys in the powerboats) is really challenging. A few times I ended up sitting on the edge of the main hull, holding on to the back of Tony’s seat. The rule about not leaving the buddyseat during the race, unless it’s an emergency, had to go. This was my emergency! Also twice we were hit by the waves so hard the seat I sat on and me came up off the boat and bumped back down again. That was soo scary!!!Why am I doing this!? The whole race was one survival exercise! ( I later overheard the race officer telling someone that he died many a deaths just watching all of us sailors from the committee boat). It was extremely difficult to tack the boat in those conditions. When you stall the boat you only get in the way of other sailors. Even rounding the windward mark and sailing away from the wind didn’t make things easier. The waves still hit us and everything got drenched. The strength of the wind and waves forced the water through every crack and stitching in my sofar trusted and warm motorbike overall. Up to then I only ever got damp lower arms and legs, and wet feet, now I was very wet all over. Added to all that was the sheer noise from the wind! Even when my voice wasn’t drowned by all that water being thrown over me Tony still couldn’t hear me clearly enough anymore. We had reached our limits! Time to retire. But we still had a bit to go. Avoid all the other races and boats. And where did that big cruise boat come from? That difficult lee shore, having to let go of your main sheet completely, without the stopper knot, just at the right time so no one gets hit by a flying sail. I was so full of tension and anxiety that the minute I got my feet on the ground, but being up to my waist in water, I burst into tears. I felt so relieved! It was over! Our wonderful beachmaster took one look at me, sent everyone off with Tony, and gave me a big hug with these words: “ On behalf of the entire Challenger fleet a big Thank You! You’re doing a great job. You’re giving Tony a chance to sail, and to compete,and you’re keeping him and everyone else in the fleet safe!” How I needed those words. I was back on solid ground in more ways than one. And that’s precisely why I’m doing it! I learnt a lot, including recognizing our limits. A race in those coditions again? NO , Thank You!
A final big Thank You to Tony and all the Burghfield Boys( including Jackie!) for all your support and help and for giving me great sailing experience, though the last race was a bit too scary.
Heike
