SUSIE GOODALL
RUSTLER 36 MASTHEAD SLOOP, OHPEN MAVERICK
Ispent most of 2018 racing solo in the Golden Globe Race (GGR), so it was a different experience racing double-handed. Mark Slats and I discussed racing together in the Mailasail AZAB 2019 while talking on the radio in the Southern Ocean during the GGR.
Preparing Maverick meant there wasn’t much time for the social activities organised by the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club race committee. Every boat was inspected this year, which previously hadn’t been the case, and the committee was incredibly thorough.
The passage to the Azores saw lots of headwinds, but still several days with the kite up. During the last 24 hours approaching São Miguel, the wind died to almost nothing. It was frustrating, but in beautiful sunshine we worked hard to keep the boat moving at a couple of knots to reach the finish before dark.
On reflection, my £80 provisioning was far too relaxed. With very light winds the passage could have taken twice as long, which would have left us hungry. Food planning took a back seat, with our priority being to make the boat race-ready, including sanding the bottom to maximise our chances.
I was really hoping for a 1,000-mile spinnaker run on the return leg, but it was a very slow start. During the first night, the fleet almost sat still on a glassy Atlantic. Some of the solo boats
in Class 4 dropped their sails for the night, though the two-handed boats didn’t: we gained a mile for 10 hours’ work! It was slow going for two days but finally we got 15 knots from the quarter and took off. It lasted a few days, but the forecast for the approach to the English Channel wasn’t good: headwinds. An easterly was funnelling out of the channel to make the last few hundred miles into a beat. Maverick is relatively slow so we mostly stuck to the rhumb line, not deviating to find better winds, but with the easterly we should have. It was a gamble. We should have run to Brest in the lighter headwinds of 15-20 knots and taken the 30-plus knots on the beam across the channel. Instead, we ended up beating into 30-35 knots true. The shallower water of the English Channel meant the sea state was short and sharp. For every wave we sailed up there would be a moment of being airborne before slamming back down.
Apart from the final stretch into Falmouth, the sailing was fantastic with great spinnaker runs, head winds and everything in between.