CRUISING COMMUNITY
Wayfarer
A Wayfarer dinghy has been sailed some 240 miles across two of the most dangerous stretches of water in the UK, The Pentland Firth and the Fair Isle Channel – and back again, reports Miranda Delmar-morgan.
Skipper Jeremy Warren, 62, a retired biotechnology entrepreneur from Bristol, and crew Jonathan Ferguson, 20, a Southampton University aeronautical engineering student from Ipswich, arrived at Lerwick on 8 June, having travelled from Staxigoe, Wick.
They had stopped overnight at Fair Isle after 80 miles in 30 hours, then pushed on another 24 miles to Grutness Voe.
After a celebratory cup of tea they anchored on Mousa and camped ashore for a night. Their adventures saw them becalmed off the Pentland Skerries for a few hours, then caught in the ‘Roost’ tidal race off Sumburgh Head.
Jeremy, a successful International 14 sailor, survived the Fastnet 1979 Race in
Cosmic Dancer, a UFO 34 skippered by his father, Robert Warren. The Wayfarer,
Hafren, a Plus-s version, built in 2005 is a well-travelled dinghy; Jeremy did a circumnavigation of the UK in her in 2014, raising funds for charity.
Jeremy completed the return journey to Wick, a 45-hour, non-stop passage, with new crew Dr Roger Morton, arriving on 18 June. They were short of wind and encountered 3m Atlantic swells in The Hole in the Fair Isle Channel and a north-easterly cross swell of 0.6m making for very unpleasant conditions.
Having recovered a day later Jeremy then trailered Hafren back to Bristol.