Island Double podium finish

Jangada Too finishes 3rd in class in the 2010 Island Double race, earning a place on the podium and one of the prizes.

The day started with very light northerly winds off the Squadron start line. We drifted around close to the beach, amongst a number of other boats that also raced around Britain & Ireland recently. Each of the earlier starts had their share of individual recalls, so I was rather line shy when our time came. Much to Jeremy's annoyance we eventually started some four minutes after the gun - sorry Jerry!

As boats headed East and out into the channel to pick up the tide, we took a line closer to the shore and round into Osborne Bay, in close company with Elixir. Compression of the wind along the shore worked to our advantage and allowed us to quickly work our way up the fleet despite being out of the tide.

Whilst many had chosen to head towards the mainland shore our line allowed us to avoid the worst of the turning tide off Ryde Sands and around the forts. Sailing in towards the beach and weaving an intricate course amongst the moorings off Seaview was a novel experience.

It was by this time that we realised we had another J109 to keep us on our toes - Jägerbomb. We had also traded places several times with No Retreat, the eventual winner.

As we approached Bembridge Fort we were gratefull to Lickety Spit, ignominiously marking the location of the nearby rocks.

Those closest to the shore pulled away as a SW seabreeze started to fill in. By the time we rounded Bembridge Ledge the wind was up to 12kts and building, so time to change to the heavy No 3 jib.

As we rounded St Catherines, the tide helping us to reach 10kts over the ground, Jägerbomb was still hot on our tail. But by the time we reached the Needles they had drawn level and rounded just inside us (a previous argument with the Varvassi still fresh in my mind, hence a wide berth).

At this point the two J109s adopted different tactics - we kept south on the Island side to pick up the calmer water and the turn of the tide off Yarmouth. At first it looked to be the better line, but as we progressed up the Western Solent it became clear that Jägerbomb had pulled ahead again, and went on to cross the finish just ahead of us.

An exciting end to a great race. But there was even more excitement to come. As we crossed the channel to Calshot the new spinnaker tackline slipped through the clutch resulting in a spectacular broach. Pinned over with gunnels under and water in the cockpit, the Hamble lifeboat watched in horror at a loss as to what action to take with the Oriana looming large over us. With halyard & sheets blown we managed to drop the kite and trawled it in over the side just in time to clear the channel. The force of the broach and the wiplash at the mast tip had been enough to bend the SeaMe radar antenna mount through 90 degrees.

An agonising wait until Monday for the results to come through - 3rd in IRC Class 1 and only four minutes behind the leader. The same four minutes that we gave away at the start - if only!

Richard

The team behind the scenes

A special mention for those working behind the scenes, who have responded to our ever increasing list of tasks to do on the boat.

To Louise, Matt and the rest of the team at Island Charters for their professional management of Jangada. Really appreciate your efforts over the past nine months.

To Derek and his team at Yachting Sports for keeping the electrics and electronics working. And for the loan of a fishermans anchor for Barra.

To James & Bob at North Sails, for their advice on our sail wardrobe.

To Nick & Graham for the supply and set up of Expedition routing and race navigation software - which has logged 120,000 data points to keep me busy analysing the race over the winter.

To Colm of Dunmast Ltd, Cork for sorting out the comms between B&G and Raymarine instruments - not a single "crash" since.

To Chris of Malakoff, Lerwick for re-engineering the autohelm mounting.

To all the Race Officials and volunteers at the Royal Western Yacht Club, and each port of call, without whom we would not even be on the race track.

And last, but by no means least, to our families for keeping the home fires burning and to our friends for all their encouragement.


Regards

Richard & Trevor

Champagne!

The morning after the night before!

Well done boys

Huge Congratulations from all of us who have been watching you from home in the UK and around the world: Australia, New Zealand, America, Germany ..........

Grace

The Finish

Jangada Too has crossed the finish line at Plymouth to the sound of
cheers from the balcony of the RWYC. 4th in Class 3 and 5th in IRC
overall - a result that has far exceeded our expectations.

The final leg from Lowestoft proved to be one of the most mentally
challenging as a "slack pressure" system left much of the English
Channel without wind. With its many headlands and strong tides there
was plenty of opportunity to make significant gains or losses.

To complete the race is an achievement in itself. Jangada proved more
than capable with the only damage a broken shackle and some chafed
lines. And more importantly no injuries to Trevor & I, apart from a
few bruises. There were times when we deliberately backed off the
pace, surrendering a few places. But this race turned out to be a
marathon with a sprint finish in which the tortoise very nearly beat
the Hare!

Richard

Start Point evades us again

As so often happens racing along the South Coast, the wind has died 15nm
from Start Point with foul tide building. Once again we are testing our
deep water kedging - this time in 62m depth. So far with 0.8kt of tide
flowing past along with the Jellyfish, we seem to be holding station.

Watch this space......

Richard & trevor
www.jangada.co.uk

Kedged

In case you are wondering why we are stationary on the tracker, we have
stopped for a pot noodle.

At anchor in 53m of water. 10m chain + 30m warp + 100m dyneema line. Speed
throught the water 2.7kt, speed over the ground zero. But at least we are
not going East any more, unlike some of our rivals. Not looking forward to
winching it back in, but could be worse - we could be trying to row.

Richard

Thundering along

As we approach St Catherines, our friends on Thunder bear down on us
menacingly. Although it is lovely to be in the fortunate position to take
this photo, I suspect our Class 1 rivals are cursing the weather and
wondering just where did Jangada Too find their breeze.

Of our nearest rivals, Chris & Kim on their J105 Taika passed the lighthouse
just ahead of us, having tucked in closer to the island to take advantage of
a tidal eddy. Meanwhile Tony & Sam on Comedy of Errors are snapping at our
heels followed by Nigel & David on Fastrak VII.

Given the rating system we need to finish in Plymouth within 20 mins of
Comedy of Errors, 2 hrs 40 mins ahead of Taika and 4 hrs ahead of Fastrak
VII in order to beat each of them on handicap. Pip & Phil on the Shed
remain outside our reach, although their lead has been whittled down to
12nm. To make it into the trophies is going to be almost impossible given
the standard of the competition, but we are determined to battle it out to
the end - after all we still have a foul spring tide off Portland to contend
with.

So off to check the weather files and prepare for the final 24 hours -
Plymouth Ho!

Richard & Trevor