It was dark when we came down and rigged our boats on the morning of the 29th October which seems an age ago.. The port was active but hushed, with crackling sails being hanked on, rustling of fowl weather gear and people rushed past up and down the dock and a high nervous energy among the fleet; all of us glad to be going but fully understanding the weather we had ahead was not going to be easy… When we left the dock we went straight out into gust of 25 knots, the boats were powered up, straining and charging down waves, I reefed down to be in control with the thought of 84 of us beating out of the bay and crossing tacks there would be no point in damaging the boat or risking collision within the first few hours of the race; this is the long game.
After the start the wind in our faces, spray coming over the deck every couple of minutes, the boat bucking and me being thrown around trying to get used to the motion and get into some sort of groove again. Once we were out of the bay de douarnenez the sea showed us it´s teeth. We were treated to massive rolling and sometimes breaking waves on the beam of the boat which was tossed from one wave to the next. I decided to play it safe and as it happened slow and to keep the boat and me in one place on the first night and just going. Lots of wind shifts… sometimes 5knots wind and sometimes 20knots… I could keep a good average speed in a good direction and I could also rest! (Late when arriving into Gijon I have learned of the seven boats that retrired or abandoned the race on that first night then I know that I made the best decision to sail safe, but with not maximum speed.) As day two came on I started to find my rythm… I steered a lot, organised myself… By this time there were very few other boats in sight, occasionally i would see the shpae of a sail appear out of the gloom, cross my bows or disappear back into a cloud but contact was limited to the radio chat that streamed out from the cabin.
It was at this point that the race became unusual: On that first morning we were told in the daily SSB broadcast that due to the poor weather we were going to all put in to Sada which is a small port near Finisterre. This did not change the stratergy too much.
After a half day we started receiving messages over the radio from the accompanying boats who escort the fleet telling us that the race director has advised us all not to go to the west as the weather system that was approaching was going to be a lot worse than had been forecast and he wanted the fleet to all head south to try and find some shelter along the coast of Spain. They were forecasting 40 knots.
I thought about this hard. We were still racing and so technically i did not have to do as I was told; however I imagined that if the race director was telling us this then it was for a good reason and if I stayed out to the west and got a pasting or into conditions that i could not handle then how could I explain ignoring these instructions. So I headed South imagining the worst – as did most of the fleet.
The next message over the radio told us to go to Gijon; the race was still on but the expected weather was so bad that we had to seek refuge, wait for it to blow over and then carry on racing to Sada. The next announcement came later on saying that anyone who could not make Sada by 0900 on the morning of the 31st must go to Gijon. The radio buzzed as sailors of different nationalities exchanged ideas and theories in different languages and did not really understand what was going on. Those that did as we were told all continued to head South not decided on where we were going and every mindful of the heck of a storm that must be coming to have warrented such unprecedented action.
Well what can i say? The race committee have acted in the interests of our safety we know that and it would be a foolish person that headed out into 40 knot winds when they knew they were coming and they did not have to go. But the advice and instructions we were given as a fleet during the first few days made it impossible for this leg to be considered as a race. I was not making racing decisions I was making decisions based on safety as were most of the fleet. We were not racing…
Anyway I arrived Gijon Friday evening with the other Minis… We had 33-45knots wind on 31/10 and 01/11, so it was a really heavy weather sailing.
The latest plan is that we will sail in convoy to Sada to join the six boats who made it and then restart the race on the 5th from there.
In the sea I felt really good and there is no where else i would rather have been. I spent hours just steering, watching every wave, reacting to every gust, willing the boat to go faster. I won´t deny I am feeling a little jaded at this latest turn of events but I know it will be worth it in the end.
Mini 650 sailing 2012-15 / MiniTransat project 2013 - more info: www.meder.hu 