Have you thought about the

RORC Round Britain and Ireland Yacht Race 2006?

1. What is the Round Britain and Ireland Yacht Race (an overview)?
2. The Yacht
3. The Skipper
4. The programme
5. Costs
6. FAQ's
 

1. What is the Round Britain and Ireland Yacht Race ?

A none stop 2000 mile epic!

Three Fastnets in one!

Toughest race in the Northern hemisphere!

Awesome, Fantastic, Exhilarating !

However you describe it the Royal Ocean Racing Clubs Non Stop Round Britain and Ireland Yacht Race has to be the Grand Daddy of them all !

The last time we took part in this race we had a fabulous time of it with great fun, thrilling sailing and some the most incredible sights ever seen. To top it all we came 1st in class and won a luverly shinny trophy

Interestingly enough on the Fastnet 2005 we came 20th overall beating the nearest teach boat by thirty places !

This time with Night Owl a newer, faster and sexier Prima 38 we are hoping to slip around the racing circuits a little quicker and have more fun doing it.

A very important ingredient for success is crew selection which 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. 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

At the race start all the fleet will fly off along the eastern Solent saying goodbye to Cowes till the finish. Then all the classes spit out into the English Channel and turn right along the south coast towards Lands End.

At Lands End the crews feel the tension and excitement as the yachts split for advantage before stretching out North West across the notorious Irish Sea to the SW corner of Ireland. Leaving the beautiful Blaskets to starboard the fleet will then blast North to the Hebrides pass St Kilda and then head towards the Shetland Isles. We then round the spooky most northern point of the Northern most Island of Britain Muckle Flugga and leaving this dark place behind we then turn right and head back to Scotland, and down the North Sea past the dragon breathing fire breathing oil rigs onwards towards Dover straight Then it's the home run back along the South Coast to lovely homely and importantly pub populated Cowes.

There you go ! Easy eh

Throw in a few gales, rustle up a bit of terror, add being tired and at times cold, wet and hungry but also witness nature at it's best with spectacular sunsets, life giving sun rises and wild Dolphins and maybe even the odd whale and you get the picture of what this is all about.

One thing is for certain this race isn't for the feint hearted ! .
 

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 1st 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/gibing, trimming and helming techniques. If we have the time we will also cover spinnaker hoisting/dropping and trimming.

RORC Cervantes race to Le Havre Friday 28th April 2005 (B/H)
This second training weekend is in at the deep end in the form of a race from Cowes to Le Havre. 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 Around Britain crew. After a sleep we can have a wonder around the delights of Le Havre and needless to say I know some excellent restaurants.

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 6th May 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 Myth of Malham Race to Dieppe Friday 26th May 2006 (B/H)
This second race is from Cowes to Le Havre a large fishing port not surprisingly famous for its fish restaurants. 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 Morgan Cup Channel Race Friday 16th June 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. To be fair 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!

RORC Cowes - Dinard - St Malo Race Thursday 13th July 2006
This is a hot favourite of everyone. It's a fair trek at 160 miles but well worth the effort when you get there. St Malo itself is nothing short of stunning. The race route is testing and the scenery on route mind blowing. By this time we should be a slick well oiled mean bunch of dudes sailing on the yacht that everyone else wants to be on.

RORC Round Britain and Ireland Yacht Race Monday 7th August 2006
Although the race starts on the Monday without any doubt you need to be at the boat preferably by mid day on Saturday to help prepare the boat. Then we can go for a beer or two and a nice meal at a restaurant or if the weather is right a cracking BBQ.

Well, this is the one that we have all been working up to. It's a 2000 mile race as the crow flies and the atmosphere at the start is electrifying. The first beat to the forts is mayhem and you can pretty well guarantee that by the time we pop out into the Channel you will be grateful for all the training.

Once over the finish line we will blast to Cowes Yacht Haven to claim a berth and then it's a celebration which you rightly deserve. The yacht club is full of excited and babbling people all of which have a story to tell and the atmosphere is nothing short of excellent.

After the race the RORC will send each of you a Round Britain completion certificate delivered to your home address.

The campaign in its entirety gives you some 2700 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 Yachtmaster exam.

Costs

I have costed this campaign out at £3250 which includes all of your on-board expenses including the ISAF 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.