Have you thought about the

RORC Cascais Race 2006?

1. What is the Cascais Race?
2. The Yacht
3. The Skipper
4. The programme
5. Costs
6. FAQ's
 

1. What is the Cascais Race?

The high light of the 2006 racing calendar is without doubt the fabulous Cascais Race. On Friday 1st September 2006 the cream of the JOG and RORC race fleets will mass at Cowes in readiness for this 825+ mile epic adventure.

After the gun the fleet will blast down the Solent and then make their way across the Channel to Ushant and then it's full on across the awe inspiring Bay of Biscay. See the colour of the water change from mid blue to a rich inviting turquoise and note how the wave length changes from a Channel chop to long undulations as we slip off the continental shelf into the deep waters of the Atlantic ocean. Be prepared for inquisitive Dolphins and maybe the odd Whale or two because for the offshore racer this is now truly Gods country.

After a reach across Biscay the infamous Cap Finistere looms up which marks the end of the Bay and then hopefully once past we sail into the Portuguese Trades and it's a kite run along the Coast to the finish at Cascais! Sounds simple but then again

Crew selection is exactly that, a selection process whereby we select people not on experience but on funability, attitude and commitment and while you don't have to be capable of running a marathon a reasonable level of fitness is desirable. In other words you need to be able to climb a set of stairs without needing a five minute snooze half way up. A fun and happy happy ship is all important to us and we welcome anyone men, women, beginners to experienced to apply for a place.

It's important to make the point that this is a tough race and like all serious offshore races preparation is the key and by necessity the training programme is very intensive and comprehensive. That isn't to say that we don't have blooming good fun while we do it because we do
 

2 The Yacht

Night Owl is a solid Steven Jones legendary Prima 38 full on racing yacht with 10 berths in four cabins. She has all the go faster kit like a carbon fibre mast, North sails, carbon spinnaker pole, and a whole host of other goodies that go towards making her a positive pleasure to sail.

All the sea berths have full length lee cloths making sure that you can't fall out mid slumber and with a fully gimbaled cooker and twin sinks a meal can be rustled up in all weathers.
 

 
4 The Programme

ISAF Offshore Crew Course (certificated)
This is a really good fun course where you have some tuition in the class room about weather systems, heavy weather strategies, sea survival and the like and then head off down to the swimming pool for a practical session with life rafts. I like everyone to do this course because not only is it a requirement that some of the Round Britain crew have the certificate but also you learn really useful hands on stuff and have great fun while you do so. These certificated courses run throughout the year and if possible I like everybody (self included) to go on the same weekend. However the courses run on different weekends throughout the year so if you like you can pick the weekend that's most suitable for you and I arrange it.

Training Weekends
When approaching a programme of this magnitude I think it is important to recognize that everyone, novice or experienced wants fun, excitement and to maximize their learning opportunities in a safe environment. With that in mind I consider it crucial that whatever job you are doing you have an understanding of what the other roles involve, e.g. cockpit crew understands what the foredeck are doing when hoisting a spinnaker and can then pull on the right ropes at the right time. With this in mind I like people to have a go at everything to see what they most enjoy before naturally settling into their preferred roles.

Throughout the programme I positively encourage questions and dialogue to engender a shared information and experience culture which everyone finds beneficial. Thus you will find that race training is structured, facilitative, relaxed and good fun while establishing a broad base of sailing and racing knowledge or indeed extending knowledge from whatever level you are at to how far you can go.

Race training weekends preferably start on Friday evenings but at times this can be difficult to manage, so if you cannot make the Friday evening then I ask people to try and get there for 10am Saturday.

1st Training Weekend 7th April 2006
This first weekend we will start off with a full introduction to the yacht, safety equipment and procedures. We will discuss crewing positions sail trim and rig tuning/balance. During the days we will put into practice positions, sail hoisting/dropping, tacking/gybing, trimming and helming techniques. If we have the time we will also cover spinnaker hoisting/dropping and trimming.

RORC De Guingand Bowl Race to Cherbourg Friday 12th May 2006
This second training weekend is in at the deep end in the form of a race from Cowes to Cherbourg. This will be an opportunity to practice while undertaking a real race and we can start to take a look at offshore wind/tide strategies, watch systems and collision regs. During the night you will have plenty of opportunity to identify ship characteristics and movements.

Testing night time navigation, sail trimming/changes and land light identification before the early morning landfall are all essential skills necessary for a good racing crew. After a sleep we can have a wonder around the delights of Cherbourg and have a munch at an excellent watering hole.

After dinner we will cruise back and consolidate our collective learning and again you will have plenty of opportunity to practice what you have so far learnt.

I must emphasize that this is a training weekend and the race result is largely incidental.

2nd Race Training Weekend 19th May 2006
This second training weekend picks up where the last one left off with a more in depth analysis of what's happening on the boat, why is it happening and what can we do to improve/fix it. You really need to know what makes the boat go fast and this is the weekend where things click into place and the boat starts to really sail in the groove.

JOG Alderney Race to well err ! Alderney Friday 23rd June 2006
This second overnight race is from Cowes to Alderney about 120 miles again across the Channel. Always a very tactical race this one and will definitely need a lot of thought. A good test of where we are at!

3rd Training Weekend 30th June 2006
I have deliberately scheduled this last training weekend as a mop up to try out new techniques and cover those shady areas that people some times have. If we haven't already got there I would want to cover spinnaker peels, power management, diesel management and re visit man overboard. We can pretty well go where we like but this weekend but past experience suggests that it will be a busy session so my expectation would be to keep local.

RORC Channel Race Friday 21st July 2006
This race is a pretty testing muck and bullets type of race whereby you set off from Cowes and race around marks dotted around the channel and then finish the race back at Cowes. This is a great opportunity to consolidate on the watch systems and operate as two individual watches. Trust me when I say that although this race is in the Channel around marks purely because of the duration at sea in whatever weather prevails you will be tested. In truth this is a pretty arduous race around the cans in the English Channel. Typically about 160 miles and very full on for all of it. You will know that you have been through the wringer on this one!

Again as in all these races different circumstances and weather systems will provide a testing environment for the crew especially as by now we should be getting on the pace.

RORC Cascais Race Friday 1st September 2006 Well this is the big one and I would like you to be at the boat preferably by mid day on Thursday to help prepare the boat and then we can go for a pre race beer or two and a nice meal at a restaurant or if the weather is right a cracking BBQ. It's an 800+ mile race as the crow flies and the atmosphere at the start will be electrifying. The first beat to the Needles is mayhem and by the time we pop out into the Channel you will be grateful for all of the training. My expectation would be to beat South West across the channel to Ushant and then it's a weather lottery across Biscay to Finistere. Once along the Spanish Atlantic coast I would expect to pick up the Portuguese trades and blast down the coast to the finish where it's highly probable the nearest bar will be the best bar! After a couple of days R and R we will start to gently cruise back stopping as and when we want for some nice wines and lovely cheeses before the Channel hop and Gosport. Including the cruise back the campaign in its entirety gives you some 2000 miles offshore experience and most people who race with me for a campaign reach a level whereby they are desirable by cutting edge race teams and many go on to crew on cat 1 race yachts. This programme also affords you the requisite mileage to take your Coastal exam.

Costs

I have costed this campaign out at £2500 which includes all of your on-board expenses including the Offshore Racing Crew weekend.
 

FAQ's

What if I can't manage all the training and qualifying races?
In a nutshell it doesn't matter. RORC specify that the skipper and at least half of the crew have raced the equivalent of 500 miles and so if you miss a race because of a wedding or something it doesn't really matter. You won't lose your weekend because providing you give us reasonable notice your place can be filled you will be slotted you into something else that we will be doing to make sure you receive your full allocation of weekends.

What About Personal Equipment?
This is top level sailing and the Round Britain and Ireland Yacht Race can be a tough race. You will need the right equipment to keep you warm and dry, and while you can hire oilies etc the quality isn't really sufficient for a race of this calibre. You will be advised you on this issue at an early stage.

Can I make Staged Payments?
Yes, you simply need to talk to me and we can come to an amicable arrangement.

What mix of people normally makes up a crew?
Well, in every campaign that I have so far undertaken we have had a mixed sex crew of differing ages the average being 25-50 years old.

I don't know you how do I know this will be a good campaign?
We are one of the few if not the only race charter business that actively encourages people to come and look at the boat, meet me or our race manager Richard for a chat and directly contact last years crew to see if it's really as good as it sounds.