* J/111 Doublehanded- Robin and John report on the Rolex Fastnet Race 2-Handed with the J/111 J-Xcentric
Robin: After Cowes Week went very well for us, we had only one
day (Saturday) to change our boat into a “double-handed” racer to be
ready for our Fastnet Race effort. Luckily, our J/Team Benelux helped
us with that conversion process and by the end of the day Saturday we
were ready!
It was really remarkable to watch how the mood in Cowes Yacht Haven
completely turned into “ serious business” during Saturday. Everywhere
you could feel the tension with skippers and crew members for the coming
race. The hectic, festive mood of Cowes Week was completely gone and
was transformed into a state of high tension, with static electricity
crackling in the air. After our safety check Saturday evening, we were
ready to race with our J/111!
The first night of sleep on board is always hard. In the morning of the
start, John found just one last little detail that needed to be done--
cleaning the bottom of the boat! With large sponge and goggles he
jumped overboard to get the job done! We immediately nick-named him
“Sponge-bob John”!
With a fully clean bottom, we head directly to the start of the race, at
12.10 with 70 boats in the IRC2 -- all skippers and crews were full of
adrenaline and couldn’t wait to get going-- we knew it was going to be
one big mess, so we felt to get out of the Solent in the best way was to
keep ourselves apart. Rules did not seem to exist anymore, every man
(boat) for itself-- fortunately we knew that there were 600+ miles to
sail, so time to forget and just blast away!
The weather forecast was 10 kts S-SW increasing 20 kts and turning SW,
so it was a beat to windward out of the Solent with increasing winds
predicted. Our setting, a #2 MH jib and first reef in the main ready to
go. The reef in the main was soon necessary as we tacked along with the
full ebb tide pushing us upwind out of the Needles Channel in the
direction of St Alban’s Head. At this point, we took the full benefit
of the running tide and we continued our way in the direction of
Portland Bill (we wanted to stay nearshore because of the turning tide
there).
In retrospect, the start was a very spectacular one because of all the
big boats started last, it was a magnificent view to see all those big
boats passing ( VO70’s, RAN, ICAP Leopard, Rambler 100 and so on) go
flying down the course.
Our tactics that we had outlined with currents and wind shifts worked
out very well and the predicted SW-W windshift came as well so we
entered into a long upwind leg to Lands-End. This is where our biggest
setback occurred. After a long day using the NKE autopilot and computer
system, we had to charge the batteries. Starting the engine however
was not the problem, but after 6 min. a temperature alarm was generated
and we had to stop the engine….. what to do? After consideration, the
conclusion was made that either the internal water pump or the engine’s
thermostat may not be OK!
Meanwhile, we immediately switched over into energy saving mode. We
started steering by hand with as few electronics switched on as
possible. With a weather forecast for the Irish Sea WNW – 12 kts
turning NW 25 – 28 kts during the night, things did not look that good
for awhile. I disassembled – and re-assembled the water pump as well as
the engine’s thermostat, but nothing was found defective, the problem
remained. The watch regime for two guys was 3 hrs on deck – and 3 hours
rest and we stuck strictly to this scheme, and so we entered into the
night. With a genoa #3 and a reefed main we screamed and surfed down
towards the Irish coast for hours with speeds reaching over 17 kts-- all
hand-steering all night long!
The predicted northern wind shift came, but just for a short period and
so we ended up westerly of Kinsale in light weather conditions, 22 miles
from the famous Fastnet Rock. Here is where we thought that we had
screwed up our race! We had to tack those miles to the rock, and the
boats that had stuck to the rhumb-line would have had the benefit, or at
least so we thought.
But as we got closer to Fastnet, we saw more and more boats from the
Irish sea tacking towards the Irish coast, and soon we saw on the AIS
system that even our class competitors where behind us! At the Rock we
heard that we were the first for line honours in our Doublehanded
class…. You don’t know what a boost that gave us!
John: The
Rolex Fastnet race is a tactical game with fortunately many
possibilities in terms of current and wind to win or lose. So, in a
situation where you feel that you are hopelessly lost, there is always a
possibility to fight back forward. This happened approaching Fastnet
Rock, after the predicted NW windshift that did not come we felt we ‘d
lost the game. Suddenly, we saw on the AIS system the J/122 Geronimo 2
at a speed of 8 kts SOG! Cracking along the coastline of the Ireland,
while at sea we could not do more than 4.5 kts. We decided to take the
same route, and where you would expect less wind and tidal current, the
opposite occurred! There was a tidal stream catapulting the boat in the
direction of Fastnet and we took the benefit of that current. At
least we caught another 5 boats again!
The rounding of Fastnet Rock was quite spectacular with he helicopter
above us, the spectator boat following us, in a beautiful sunset
atmosphere… a very special moment! At the rounding, we hoisted the kite (
1st time in the race ) and we reached away to the Pantenius Buoy.
The engine problem was finally solved in the end by taking the coolant
reservoir apart and temporary mounted it above of the engine, we could
use our NKE autopilot again!
After Fastnet with the kite up our J/111 was finally able to show her
strongest side, but sadly enough the wind shifted NE and after 30 miles
we had to take the kite down and ended up with a long close reach
towards the Isles of Scillies where we had to round the Bishop Rock.
Here we could take advantage of some tidal current and again we were
able to gain a few boats out of our IRC class 2.
From Scillies to Lizard point we sailed on shifts and current and our
tactics for the last part of the race were determined primarily by
tides.
The tidal current changed exactly at the moment that we approached the
Lizard and it provided the highest benefit immediately straight along
the rocky shoreline. With a light NE wind and a 55 mile upwind beat to
Plymouth--- this was going to be a tough journey forward!
Navigating with B&G Expedition on my computer at the chart table, I
instruct Robin to tack and tack and I specify how far he may proceed,
bravely going up to the 5 meter depth line near shore. I hear Robin
mumbling, “are you sure we can go that far inshore? I can feel the
spray of the back-bouncing waves from the shore already. Can you
please have a look outside to see how close we are to these @#$%
rocks?!” All in all, it was a huge gain for us to use these tactics--
we gained a lot of boats and suddenly I see the other fully crewed J/111
Arabella on my AIS system, a new target was born!
As we followed the coastline to Plymouth we faced numerous rain showers
with many wind shifts that we were able to take advantage of-- we got to
within 100 meters of Arabella! Subsequently, on our AIS screen we can
see boats struggle against the tide in Plymouth Sound with a very low
speeds to get to the finish line. We decide to stick close to the coast
in shallow water to minimise reverse current and slide into Plymouth
Bay. This works out perfectly down to the bay of Plymouth, where the
wind simply kept dying out very slowly and deliberately! At this point
just short of the finish line (only a “stones throw” away), Arabella
slides only 50 meters in front of us to cross the finish line as we go
slower and slower and-- then start to go backwards!! We can almost
touch the line, but are just not able to finish!! The pain, the
agony!! No $%&*#% words could describe our feelings!! So, so, so
close we could taste the champagne! But, the wind
totally dropped and we had to anchor! Here we lost over 1.5 hour before we found a little puff of wind to finish!
Sick of this 1.5 hour lost of time and realising that perhaps our first
place on handicap is lost because of this, we sail into the harbour also
aware that we have gained a whole bunch of boats last night that have
still not finished. We also realise we have won line honours in one of
the world’s toughest races- the Fastnet Race, in the toughest class--
the Doublehanded Class. OK, well, this is just totally cool – and there
is still a chance for a top 3 ranking-- maybe even a podium finish! Our
fate lies in the hands of the weather Gods and we simply have to wait.
We feel we have given just everything!
This year’s Rolex Fastnet Race was a super race with everything in it--
a super fast and reliable boat ( thanks J-Boats!); super teamwork; 0 –
28 kts of wind, unfortunately for us only 30 miles on gennaker; cool
tactical sailing, sometimes many boats catching up; solving (technical)
problems; but also a very enjoyable good times with many porpoises
around the boat etc. Many ups and downs, but coming out better than we
could’ve expected, with finally a 1st place on line honours, 3rd place
in our 2H class, as well as a 22nd place IRC2 over-all!
In our opinion, we could not have done better given the circumstances we
have had given the weather systems. On the one hand a pity, on the
other hand a third place in this field is just a fantastic performance.
Very satisfied and in two years time we will be back!
Thanks to our J/Team Benelux that supported us with the boat and equipment and the perfect teamwork!
See you soon,
Robin Verhoef & John van der Stare
The J/111s sailed fast, but the real issue for them has been whether or not they went fast in the wrong direction too quickly. For the IRC Doublehanded class, the J/111 team on J-XCENTRIC, the Dutch team of John van der Starre & Robin Verhoef finishing first boat-for-boat on elapsed and finished 3rd in class. At the time they anchored just 200 meters from the finish line in an adverse current and no wind, the J/111 J-XCENTRIC had been winning its class for 99% of the race!! This was their first Rolex Fastnet Race and Van de Starre said he was impressed: "This is a great challenge of tactics, handling and everything. There is so much in it - I had a really good experience. Racing double-handed is about management - everything has to work well, you need a good autopilot, all the preparation in advance should be perfect, and we had it very well organised." 
