Civil Service Inter Departmental Offshore Regatta
Dover, Wight, Portland, Plymouth – Westerly 5 or 6, occasionally Gale 8
During the week of 14-19 May 2006, sixteen hardy souls represented GCHQ in
the Civil Service Inter Departmental Offshore Regatta (IDOR), a sailing event
based in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight.
After arriving at Port Solent on the Sunday evening, we, along with 13
other crews from various Government Departments, picked up the two boats –
chartered from Sunsail, on which we would be based for the week. The two teams
of eight, drawn from across the Department, were representing GCHQ in this
event for the first time, aboard a matched fleet of Jeanneau Sunfast-37 yachts
– Phil Boden’s crew on boat number 11 and Ivor Keates crew aboard boat number
39.
Our participation in the event had been possible due in part to the
generous sponsorship of CACSSA and the newly formed GCHQ Sports and Leisure
Association (GCSLA), who provided almost half of the cost – the remainder self
funded by the team members. Working ‘kitties’ on each boat, meant that we
wouldn’t starve for the week!
Wednesday 19 April – Training Day
As
a build up to the event, both teams had chartered the same yachts the previous
month in order to master the intricacies of this boats design. Port Solent is
a few miles from the Solent and local rules dictated that we used the engine
to reach our proposed sailing area. The training took place in an area bounded
by Gilkicker Point and Ryde, and it had proved extremely useful for those that
had attended, especially for Ivor’s crew, who gelled together well, despite
the non-availability of several key personnel.
Race Week: Monday 15 May – Practice
The
regatta itself started with a training day on the Monday, culminating in a
practice race just outside the entrance to Cowes Harbour. With the addition of
the couple of crew-members that hadn’t been able to make the practice day, it
meant that our training went relatively smoothly and we both managed to avoid
the Red Funnel ferries that frequent this part of the Solent. After the race,
we retreated to our berth inside Cowes Yacht Haven for the night. The first
crew get-together and skippers briefing followed in the confines of the
clubhouse of our hosts for the event – the Island Sailing Club.
Race Day 1: Tuesday 16 May - Light winds and shortened races
The weeks racing began in earnest on Tuesday, with three short inshore
races scheduled. However, with light winds forecast it would be difficult to
fit them all in during the day.
Race One was a short couple of laps on an predominantly east-west course
around ‘Gales HSB’ and ‘Harbour No.2’ buoys, both of which are close to the
Isle of Wight shoreline. Unfortunately for Ivor’s boat, a problem with the
engine on his yacht – his throttle cable had snapped – meant that for safety
reasons he was unable to start the race and needed a tow back into the yacht
haven for repairs and effectively ending his chances of a respectable finish
in the regatta. Although scheduled for two laps, the race was shortened to a
single lap and Phil’s boat finished a creditable 4th, beaten agonizingly over
the line in the dying seconds.
Race
Two, which started a little over 5 minutes after the last boat had finished
the first race, consisted of a triangular course taking in ‘Gales HSB’,
‘Harbour No.2’ and the ‘Air Canada’ buoy to the North. As repairs continued on
Ivor’s boat, light winds again hampered our progress and after one lap (of the
scheduled two), the race was declared over. Phil’s boat finished 3rd.
The
Third race saw the fleet rejoined by Ivor, the yacht fully repaired and ready
to go. However, they say bad luck comes in threes and so it proved. A racing
start, with the spinnaker raised was curtailed when the boat ran out of room
and hit the start mark. It meant an immediate 360-degree penalty turn. Not as
easy it sounds, and several valuable minutes were lost as the spinnaker was
lowered and repacked before the turn could be made. With the turn complete,
the sail was hoisted again and they were off.
This was to be the longest race of the day, again over a triangular course
but with the ‘MarineTrack.com’ buoy now the furthest mark. With progress still
being affected by light winds and time marching on, it was clear that neither
boat would be able to finish and both reluctantly agreed to retire before
reaching the turn. As it turned out, no boat actually managed to finish within
the 2½-hour time limit and the race was declared void.
Race Day 2: Wednesday 17 May - The Nab Tower and windbreaks
Our Fourth race, the first long-distance off-shore race, took us out of the
Solent toward the famous Nab Tower – a structure constructed during the First
World War originally to protect Dover, but moved and sunk 5 miles off the east
coast of the Isle of Wight to mark the dangerous Nab Rock, where it remains
today as a lighthouse.
It
was during the first leg of this race towards ‘Browndown’ buoy, that Phil’s
progress was hampered as we found ourselves on the leeward side of one of the
worlds largest, at 89,000 Tonnes, container ships, the “OOCL Shenzhen”. Being
over 320 metres long and 40 metres high when loaded with ISO containers, it
proved an effective windbreak and meant that when it had passed, Phil’s boat
was marooned at the back of the fleet.
The
second leg, with Phil’s boat now under the helmsmanship of Rob, from
‘Browndown’ to the ‘Bembridge Ledge’ buoy was uneventful, - taking us between
two of the offshore forts “Horse Sand” and “No Mans Land” that protect the
Eastern approaches to the Solent - save for a fog bank which appeared as we
neared it and the fact that the buoy wasn’t there, as it had been lifted by a
Trinity House vessel for repairs! Still at the back of the fleet, we could
only watch as ahead of us, all the other boats in the fleet, except a couple
we had managed to catch rounded the Nab Tower and headed for home.
As we started the final leg, and with the tide and the wind behind us, the
spinnaker was raised and it made quite a sight to see 15 boats all with bright
blue ‘kites’ filled. This actually required split second timing in team
coordination and communication, achieved equally well on both boats, in what
effect were fairly novice (at this level) crews. Teamwork at its best!
It was just as frenetic during the gybes and lowering of the sail toward
the end of the leg. The race had covered about 24 miles and thanks to the
strategy employed by our navigator/tactician Mike, meant that after the
disappointing start we eventually finished 10th, three places ahead of Ivor.
As it turned out, all boats finished within 20 minutes of each other after a
six-hour race.
Drama ensued on another boat, as it had to take avoiding action near the
end of the race. The violent change of course saw one man fall overboard –
ironically picked up by the (non regatta) boat he had tried to avoid – and one
crew-woman being hit by the swinging boom. After a quick trip to casualty, she
returned with a couple of stitches and a ‘shiner’, which she later claimed was
as a result of watching that night’s football!
One of the entries in this years event was from the Met Office and with a
deteriorating weather forecast promised for the Thursday, a quick early
evening call for a ‘personal forecast’ brought with it the prospect of force 8
winds on the south side of the Island on Thursday afternoon. A skippers
briefing quickly came to the general consensus that for safety reasons, it
would be appropriate to cancel the ‘Round the Island’ race – although
apparently one skipper was ‘up-for-it’!
Race Day 3: Thursday 18 May – Around the Island (or not) and team shirts
If we had gone on our circumnavigation of the Island, it would have meant a
0500 start in order to ensure that the tides would be with us on the first leg
down to the Needles. As it turned out, a couple of inshore races had been
organised and it allowed for a more sociable 0900 start to the first race.
Race
Five then, took in ‘Gurnard’, ‘MarineTrack.com’, ‘Trinity’, ‘Prince Consort’
and ‘Gales HSB’ buoys, on a course that zigzagged across the Solent. The race
turned out to be fairly uneventful, but the long second leg seemed to take
forever, with the strong tide against us– it was slow progress and we even
tried ‘goose-winging’ (the two sails on opposite sides to give maximum area of
coverage) in an effort to close on the fleet. After being left behind at the
start, it wasn’t until we rounded the second mark and took a different route
to the majority of the fleet, that we appeared to catch them.
Close
racing with a number of yachts that we had closed on towards the end saw them
regain their advantage and we finished 13th overall. Ivor’s boat, meanwhile,
had followed the fleet and beat us at the line to finish 12th. The value of
teamwork was emphasised during the break between races when Barry was forced
to lie face-down on a pitching foredeck trying to unjam the jib roller
mechanism with Ian stopping him from flying off towards Lymington.
Race Six, saw Adam take over the helm of Phil’s boat and started shortly
after. The race took us on a similar course, starting westerly toward
‘Gurnard’ and then easterly toward ‘Williams Shipping’, ‘RYA Yachtmaster’ and
‘Fastnet Insurance’ before turning for home. After mistiming the original
start – we started brilliantly, but five minutes early - we were hampered on
the restart when the boat ‘broached’ just before the start line. Fortunately
for us, another boat missed the start line all together, meaning we weren’t
last going toward the first mark, as they had been recalled to the start line.
With
the state of the tide and wind, it made an interesting sight as several boats
tacked back and forth to get round the first buoy. Several near misses ensued
as shouts of “starboard” (implying right of way) and “water” (meaning get out
of the way) could be heard. Ivor’s boat had reached the turn in fourth place,
but being at the back of several boats all jostling for the same space, he
also lost a couple of places rounding the buoy. Despite broaching again close
to the finish line, with two boats immediately astern of us, Phil eventually
finished in 8th place, pipping Ivor’s boat by a few seconds.
The day finished with the regatta dinner at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club
in Cowes, a last chance for the crews to get together and socialise. The GCHQ
teams were resplendent in their team rugby shirts – fittingly the same colour
as the ‘kites’ flown earlier in the week.
Race Day 4: Friday 19 May: … occasionally force 9
The final race of the week was due to be a self-timed affair taking in the
journey back from Cowes to Port Solent. However, with the occasionally force 8
already in place within the Solent - and immanent force 9’s in the adjacent
Portland sea area, it was decided that a leisurely (sic) journey back was in
order, with boats leaving in pairs during the morning. Our boats left together
with Chris taking the opportunity to helm Phil’s boat. The weather dictated
that we fly only the headsail for the journey, yet we still managed a boat
speed of almost 10 knots over the ground on the choppy journey home.
Although
we never formally requested sponsorship, a bucket collection in which Barry
and Jo donned authentic lifeboat gear and other collections have generated
over £1000, which will be split between the RNLI and SARA, the Severn Area
Rescue Association.
Thanks to all who contributed.
Overall, despite the range of weather we encountered with winds from
nothing to a force 8, glorious sunshine, fog and rain, and from flat calm
seas, to surfing down rolling seas, the event was fun – hard work – but worth
the effort. As team building goes, eight disparate people stuck on a boat for
a week would be hard to beat!
The Competitors:
In addition to the two yachts entered by GCHQ, the following Departments
were represented: Health & Safety Executive, HM Revenue and Customs, HASSRA,
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, DEFRA, the Met Office and Littleton Sailing
Club.
The Final Results:
| |
Phil’s Boat (Sail Number 11) |
Ivor’s Boat (Sail Number 39) |
| |
Inshore Races: 5th |
Inshore Races: 14th |
| |
Offshore Race: 10th |
Offshore Race: 13th |
| |
Finished 9th overall |
Finished 15th overall |
Next Year:
If any of this has whetted your appetite and you’d be interested in having
a go at sailing or taking part in IDOR next year, then please contact Simon
Payne (smpayne) or Ivor Keates (ilkeate) to express your interest.
