Sailing in spirit

I've just been reading some of the blogs written by Pete Goss from his Spirit of Mystery Voyage.

The boat is a picture and the interior looks really comfortable but it seems they had some rough weather at the start. Pete makes some interesting remarks about the ease of working with wood. I agree with his general sentiments that the world has become too complex, too over-engineered. It must have been great to get started.

Baranson record attempt fails

Hats off to Richard Branson and his son and daughter for having the guts to kick off their record breaking attempt on the Atlantic ahead of one hell of a storm that wrecked the bid.

Yes, they were in the hands of an extremely experienced crew, headed by Mike Sanderson, director of Team Origin, and it was the weight of that experience that probably led to them taking a risk with the weather that, had they pulled it off, would have ensured a fast crossing.

But on a boat built for speed, like Virgin Money, there is nowhere to hide and nowhere to find any comfort; so, if they didn't know what they were in for before hand, they certainly do now.

"We have had an eventful trip with waves up to 40 feet, gale force winds between force 7 and 9. We got taken by one massive monster wave, which approached us from behind and took one of our life rafts. Fortunately all the crew were harnessed in, so everybody was safe," said Branson.

The storm blew out a spinnaker and ripped the mainsail beyond an easy repair so the team had no option but to abandon the attempt. The boat is heading for Bermuda.

The team hasn't ruled out another attempt this year if the conditions allow. "The boat will be ready to sail again in the next few weeks, and it’s possible that there might be one week left this season, " says Branson "otherwise it will be spring before it can go again. But everybody on board the boat is committed to get the record. The boat did well but the conditions were too bad for the boat to bear."

I heard the other day that Alex Johnson, the 42-year-old hedge fund manager who owns the 99ft Virgin Money, formerly called Speedboat, ordered the £7.4m yacht without mentioning anything to his wife until he had taken delivery. I can believe it. If you're reading this Mrs Johnson, he's in Bermuda!

All at sea, nearly

So much is happening in sailing just now it's difficult to know where to start. The Volvo Ocean race has started and Ericsson 4 has taken an early lead from Puma. Follow their progress here.

Meanwhile Pete Goss is counting down to the start of his voyage to Australia in his Cornish lugger, The Spirit of Mystery. His web site tells the whole story. I featured him a while back here.

The Vendee Globe boats are making their final preparations. Boats are beginning to gather at Les Sables d'Olonne for the race start on November 9. More about the race here.

While all this is happening, members of Team Origin, the America's Cup challenger, are in New York with the yacht, Virgin Money, waiting for favourable weather systems to sail with Sir Richard Branson in a new attempt to break the transatlantic mono-hull record, which stands at 6 days, 17 hrs, 52 minutes and 39 seconds. It's going to be a busy few weeks.

The Needles up close.

Anyone who has sailed regularly in the Solent out of Portsmouth, Southampton or Cowes will be familiar with the chain of rocks called the Needles - probably the most famous landmark for sailors in the south of England.

I have passed them many times in yachts but it was only this last weekend that I managed to get up close and personal - too personal as it happens.

A few of us visited the Isle of Wight to spend a day kayaking and learning some of the rescue and recovery routines. We decided to go for a paddle in the morning and do the routines in the afternoon. The weather was good and the tide was receding with the prospect of a bit of breeze getting up later in the day.

We headed west towards the Needles from the Cowes direction within the Solent where it was pretty calm, but as we approached we could see that between the rocks the sea was much less benign.

The Needles get their name from a spindly pillar called "Lot's Wife" that collapsed in a storm in 1764. Today they resemble more a set of molars.

Four of us paddled out and rounded the lighthouse under the supervision of Owen Burson, an experienced instructor who runs Isle of Wight Sea Kayaking. On the channel side of the Needles there was a bit of chop but nothing too worrying.

There was quite a bit more chop, however, between the lighthouse rock and the second of the "white teeth" jutting out from the island. The idea was to paddle through this gate towards the calmer water beyond.

I volunteered to go first, with the others following, spaced a good four boat-lengths between each kayak, so we didn't get in the way of each other. Just as I had reached the roughest part between the rocks I heard a shout from Charles Godden (who crops up with BJ - Mark Brownjohn - another of our group, in this story) behind to watch out as his canoe ploughed in to mine. I had no means of steadying myself and there was a slow inevitability about the capsize.

There was time enough for me to rip the spray deck away as I went over (no I haven't had the self-righting and rolling lesson yet) but it didn't feel too comfortable to be a canoe's length from the rocks in the waves. This is not the place you would choose to fall out of a kayak.

Charles held on to the upturned kayak as Owen arrived and paddled me clear while I held on to my paddle and the rear of my kayak. Once away from the cliffs we were able to go through the recovery routine - emptying the canoe and clambering back in while it was rafted to Owen's kayak. Then it was back with the spray deck and once more through the gate - this time successfully.

Everything went well during the recovery but I can tell you it was a relief to be back inside those cliffs. It taught me just how easy it is to fall out of one of these sea kayaks and just why it's important for comparative novices to be with an instructor. I don't blame Charles (well of course I did, continually, for the rest of the day, just as he insisted he had saved me), it was just one of those things.

In the afternoon at a calmer spot near the shore we rehearsed the routine that had happened for real in the morning. Owen says that it's good to practice your balance at home on a big exercise ball. Safer too. I must remember that.