When I think of the America’s Cup, my thoughts are totally divided. On one hand I immediately think of its heritage; the J-class, the 12m – it is after all one of the oldest sporting trophies in history. The other half of me thinks of my contemporaries who compete in the AC, I think of money, court cases and more latterly, of course, of multihulls.
There is no doubt that this most prestigious of trophies (which dates back to 1851) has had a chequered history. One could argue that in recent years the court cases and controversy between men of unfathomable wealth has somewhat taken the magic out of it, and that is of course all before we mention the controversial move to mulithulls.
However, I am glad to say that I am not going to regurgitate through the AC’s past, and waste precious words on what could have been. Instead I am going to tell you why, after a day out in Plymouth, 2011 for me will be a high point in the Cup’s history.
I have attended many events in Plymouth – most of which I have competed in from OSTAR’s and Transat’s to Fastnet’s, all to do with sailing – all to do with offshore sailing, where Plymouth has been a start or finish venue rather than just a venue. I was worried, I must admit. The UK is traditionally hopeless at embracing large sailing opportunities when they arise, and hence we miss out.
As part of the America’s Cup World Series, Plymouth played host to a week of AC45 action in between Cascais, Portugal, and San Diego, USA. 9 teams spent a week battling out in mixed conditions, in Plymouth sound and I was lucky enough to experience a day with Emirates Team New Zealand, the overall winners of the week, thanks to their sponsors Nespresso.
The day’s excitement started prior to Nespresso’s hospitality, as on arriving in Plymouth I was given an exceptional tour of the TV setup, including their 120-strong team. This in itself was worth the journey, as I realised the true scale of the operation. The finance and technology behind the production, with the help of YouTube was exceptional. With 3-4 helicopters, and a few boats each with image stabilising lens’ on filming at all times, not to mention the 4 live cameras on each boat… keeping up with the streams from off the water, is no mean feat for the live directors. Every second of footage, is logged and stored, and that is without even mentioning, the technology involved with tracking, closing speeds, laylines, zones, and of course the new umpiring system!
With so much to take in, this tour reminded me of an F1 setup, and I suppose so it should, afterall the AC should be in the same league as F1. From there it was over the Hoe, past the facilities for the 110,000 spectators that Plymouth council reckoned came to watch racing and take in the many attractions that were laid on. The sailing base was situated in Milbay Dock – and equally impressive. With a container ship anchored outside Plymouth Sound, having dropped the boats, containers, crane, and TV studios off, it seems like a silly question asking Grant Dalton of ETNZ – how the logistics of the whole thing worked! But that is the whole thing about the ACWS – it has to work, and thanks to a huge injection of cash from it’s Godfather Larry Ellison – it does.

We are then given a ‘no fluff’ briefing from Grant Dalton in the ETNZ base – and we expect nothing less. He is coarse, blunt, and quite frankly doesn’t give a toss about people – let alone ‘bloody journos.’ Somehow this attitude is what we have come to expect from the master of ETNZ – and in a funny way I find it quite endearing. His success, of course, of ETNZ had largely been his ability to divert the attention away from his ‘stars’ leaving them to do what they do best! His attitude and persona – are all part of that strategy.
Within moments I am in trouble as my last minute dash to the loo almost impacts our departure time, but all is forgiven as he discovers I am the ‘extremely annoying chick that does the Extreme 40 coverage’ - I am flattered, and immediately upgraded from spectator boat to coach boat!
As racing starts, and 9 AC45’s streak in front of our ridiculously large rib, I am soon in need of a couple of moments to collect my thoughts. ‘Here I am, standing next to Grant Dalton, in ETNZ’s coach boat, watching the ACWS in Plymouth Sound…. Good Work!’
After that little moment, it was time to refocus on ultimately the bull’s-eye of this rather large dartboard - the boats and racing format. Extreme 40’s on heat is an understatement. These boats are as technically advanced as they come. As Matt Sheahan said in his own words after his 4th day as 6th man, ‘it’s taken me all week to get past the excitement of being on-board and actually focus on the technical intricacies of these boats,’ there is simply so much to take in. No wonder the guys are still learning how to sail them.
The race format for the day included one long race of about 40 minutes and 2, shorter races. This week we have seen plenty of other formats, and courses, from speed trials to match racing. And this is one of the areas I feel really works. Could you get bored – maybe, but think how many boring football matches there are.
My day out in the sunshine in Plymouth, was one of the best experiences at a sailing event I have ever had, as either a spectator, broadcaster or a competitor. I was so impressed on every level. Having not experienced it before, I was all too quick to judge the money being ploughed in, the new – ‘not so good’ format, the change to multihulls, and the bizarre choice of venues. Hand’s up – I was wrong. And I think Nespresso have been very smart using ETNZ to springboard their brand into New Zealand – especially after this week’s victory. I also take my hat off to Plymouth – why aren’t all your events that good – the reason, money.
Of course the current format and infrastructure is not sustainable – with numbers like €350 million being batted around it’s no surprise. But someone with a vision needs to springboard this sport, internationally, to create the following it deserves. Bernie Eccleston turned F1 around, and with every bit of luck Larry Ellison will do the same for sailing – he certainly has my seal of approval and as Grant Dalton said, ‘Nice one, Larry – keep spending!’

Wednesday 25th June 14:20 Hrs

Pos 5042.26N 0001.43E

Crew:
Ben Rogerson
Charlotte Lawrence
Duncan Truswell
Ben Gladwell
Martin Kirketeep
Ben Watts
Hannah White
Nigel King
Josh Wilson
Chris Tibbs
John Shepherd

At 2pm on Monday only 2 hours after stepping foot on the boat for the first time, Fair Do’s the Ker 46 sailed across the start line. Aboard was owner John Shepherd and 10 crew - myself included.

The previous Wednesday I had received a phone call asking whether I would like to join Fair Do’s and her crew on their race around the British Isles - one of the crew due to take part had suffered a back injury. After going to see the boat and crew list I hesitated very little before saying ‘yes’. I never like stepping onboard a boat so late in the day, not only from a safety standpoint but also from a ‘chippping in’ angle. However I didnt have the luxury of time and having seen the work the team had put in to get Fair Do’s race ready I signed up for this exciting adventure.

A few hours before the start we all sat down in the cockpit and had a chat through different objectives and safety elements of the race with race skipper, Nigel King and crew boss Duncan Truswell and of course discussed the change of course with meteoroligist and Navigator Chris Tibbs. In view of the series of low pressure systems sweeping their way across the atlantic to the British Isles, and the reletive strength in which they were developing the race committee decided to send us anti clockwise around Britain and Ireland instead of clockwise. We all agreed with this decision and by 1pm on Monday the wind had built significantly to 25-30knots. We were all very releaved that we would be flying down the south coast towards Dover with the wind behind us instead of slamming into it.

By the time the gun went we were all soaking, but excited. I was especially deligthed to see that the boat was going to relish these fast reaching conditions and with Nigel at the helm we soon passed the forts and beyond! At times I felt like I was on more of a Volvo 70 rather than a Ker 46 with water cascasding over the deck like reaching the bottom of a water slide. Flying the full main and a jib top reacher there was no stopping us and we were matching the class 40’s mile for mile.

I soon settled into the boat and established where everything was. We did have a few boat handleing issues early on when we rounded the forts and put the A5 spinnaker up. By this time we were seeing steady 25-30 knots and for a time 30-35! A couple of times we lost sheets of sails during gybes and had to drop and rehoist a couple of times. But by the evening we were back to a white sail plan and with the light fading rapidly we though we would stick to fast reaching combination of a jib top and full main. We had had a full on day and quite a baptism of fire for the crew, lots of sail changes in wet windy conditions but morale was high having clocked our top boat speed at just under 22 knots.

Those of us who were driving had noticed a small problem with the steering which was investigated immediately. Before the race the crew had noticed the steering locking out on the starboard wheel and as a result had vigilantly ultrasounded the rudder, checked the bearings and changed the steering strops. When the boat was sailing in fairly soft conditions before the race, there seemed to be no problem, but now in these heavy conditions the problem had come to light. Thankfully boat captain Josh Wilson was on the case, first of all find the problem and if possible find a solution. In the meantime we were into our watches and were sailing well, lying in 4th overall and 2nd in class. Chris was doing a grand job of navigating us through the deep water anchorages and shipping lanes of the east coast where a few other boats had been caught out.

On Tuesday afternoon, at about 2pm I was on watch on deck and could see a squall coming towards us from the mainland. Chris popped his head up and commented on the wind that it might have underneath it. Within minutes the wind had picked up and we were frantically changing sails and reefing down to 2 reefs as the wind continued to build. Before long we were seeing 38-40knots.

This was a perfect scenario to show the steering problems and when the wind reached strengths of 30 knots plus the problem was excentuated At times like this that you need to be in control. Sadly having checked all the steering related gear above the hull we could only think it was an issue below the waterline. As we sailed along struggling to steer, the conversation soon turned to the long term plan. Realistically we had only completed 10% of the course and this was the ‘easy’ bit. We knew we had plenty more weather to come and we were sailing past the area of the UK with the most safe havens. What was is going to be like down the west coast with no bolt holes? Was the problem with the steering going to get worse?

After some honest and sensible discussions the decision was made to turn back. It was a hard decision but in the interest of the boat and crew’s saftey it was right decision. We turned the boat around hoisted the storm jib and started heading south.

We are all pretty disappointed to not be in a position to carry on and prove what the boat and crew are capable of, but as ever there is a time and place for race success and this wasn’t to be our race, However as I write this we are approximately 5 hours from Cowes, having got the boat back ship shape and in one piece, with everyone safe, and that in itself is success. I am delighted I decided to race on Fair Do’s and the crew and would jump at the chance of sailing with this great bunch of people again.

Hannah White
Regards,
Fair Do’s VII

Well life has been as frantic as it gets over the last few weeks and has really reminded me of getting ready for a big race. However I haven’t been getting ready for a big race, we just had Cowes Week!! This year at Cowes Week was always going to be a busy year, not only was I racing everyday as skipper on a 40.7 but I was also the RNLI Cowes Week ambassador along with Shirley Robertson.

Shirley and I were asked to be the official ambassadors for Cowes Week as the RNLI were the official charity for the event. By having Shirley and I as ambassadors we were able to fly the flag for the RNLI with the aim of getting the charity the maximum exposure possible!

I kick started the week with a nice piece for Cowes TV which you can see below this piece, talking about the importance of the RNLI, and how the benefit of increased awareness will help run this charity. Then it was onto Saturday with a piece for the BBC’s quarterly weather show, then on Monday morning, I co-hosted the BBC Radio Solent’s breakfast show with Julian Clegg, and what a fun show that was. 3 hours, on air live from Cowes.

The rest of the week continued with more madness with drinks party for the RNLI at the sight of their new proposed lifeboat station, Custom House, next to the Island Sailing Club. These drinks parties saw high level donors coming to see the new sight and find out more about the proposals. Wednesday was an ITV day, doing a live piece with a reporter on what people can expect at Cowes Week, before the finale of the week.

Friday evening saw me for the first time co-presenting a special edition of the BBC’s H2O show. This water-activity based radio show is normally only an hour long but in conjunction with Cowes Radio we put on a 3 hour long show with Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Shelly Jury at the Royal Yacht Squadron and I was with Producer Neil at the Island Sailing Club. You can now download the podcast at http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/h2oshow

Saturday was the last day of racing at Cowes and as a gift to the RNLI, along with EMG I donated a days racing with me at Cowes week. On Saturday we had the 3 competition winners and a guest out for the day. It was a windy day and we had a lot to content with not to mention the 12 people onboard, but what a terrific day it was. I hope that the competition winners enjoyed themselves and it was beneficial for the RNLI.

I went home on Saturday evening and had a day off before heading down to Sail for Gold in Weymouth. Big thanks to Simon, Becky, Giles, Jose, Jeff and Tish who all at some point acted as my crew for the week, and a massive thanks to the RNLI for a great fun week.

Hannah xx

Friday 18th June, 2010
Southampton Airport seems an appropriate place to write this blog. As most of the country finish work and prepare to go to the pub and watch the football, I am sitting here, about to jump on a plane bound for Dublin. The last few weeks have been manic, but finally Friday the 18th has arrived and I am about to start one of the major races going on around the world at the moment. Sadly there are 4 races happening at the moment, all of which I would like to do, but they all clash and I cant do them all! The leaders of Round Britain and Ireland have just left Lerwick in a F9 gale – so I am quite glad I am not doing that! It also would have meant missing my bf’s wedding – not even an option! The second race is the Newport Bermuda, which I would be doing on Gracie the 70 ft Mcurdy and Rhodes Amercian boat that I did the Fastnet on last year. And the last is of course Round the Island Race, most people actually think that this is the race that I am doing, and then I have to repeat the race name of Round Ireland with a poor Irish accent!
On Sunday at midday Barry Hurley and I will start the 708 mile Round Ireland race aboard his 35ft JOD 35, Dinah. This is the boat that Barry did the OSTAR in last year against me. He did extremely well winning his class and I am delighted to be doing this race with him it what could be the beginning of a very successful partnership. It could also be the one and only race we do together!
Barry and I have spent a little bit of time training for this race, and along with boat captain Bob, Barry has done a superb job of getting Dinah ready for this race. The forecast so far isn’t looking terribly kind with very little wind forecast for the first few days, and then north easterly cold headwinds! Nice!
Anyway, whatever the weather I am really looking forward to getting back out to sea and this time with someone else! Woohoo!! I shall try and update my blogs regularly throughout the race and as always my twitter and facebook will be update. You can follow our progress at www.roundirelandrace.ie

Hannah

This weekend I flew to a rather wet Dublin for a weekend of short-handed offshore training with Barry Hurley on his JOD 35, Dinah.

In just under 3 weeks Barry and I will set sail from Wicklow, Ireland on the 700 mile race round Ireland. Barry and I have known each other for many years but became good friends during last years OSTAR race in which Barry won his class. We have talked about doing some double handed racing together and being Irish we thought that this IRC race, on home waters would be the perfect.

Dinah, the JOD 35 has sailed many miles offshore and Barry has now owner here since early 2008. He has done extensive work to her over the years and I am pleased to say that she is in immaculate condition. For more info on the boat you can visit Barry’s website www.dinah.sail.ie

The purpose of the weekend was to sail for the first time on Dinah and get to know her and spend some time with Barry figuring out who would be doing what in the race. The weekend went extremely well, and I flew back feeling very confident that not only will we have a good chance in the up and coming race but also that we will have a lot of fun.

Despite the weather we did a lot of sailing and practiced our double-handed manoeuvres. With both of us so used to sailing on our own it was quite strange having someone else to help with the tacks or gybes! And what a difference it made! We also stole a small amount of time of Saturday evening to watch both of our respective nationalities do exceeding badly in this years Eurovision Song contest…. It did wonders for UK –Irish relations!

The weekend was great and I cant wait to get out to Ireland in a few weeks time to start the race. I would also like to say what a wonderful yacht club the royal irish is, and I hope to spend some more time there in the future.

Bring on the 20^th June!!!

Hannah