Race day dawned sunny (for a change) and at 5.30am (well I can never sleep on race days) the wind had gone and a beautiful morning unfolded…for a while that is.
Within a few hours the wind started to build and by the time we were signing into the drivers briefing it was getting very rough and windy gusting to Force 5 sometimes 6. The nerves were fraying and the bar was filling (orange juice of course!).
After Torquay I had hoped that this race would be fine, less rough and a bit of fun….wrong!
We got our new overalls on (thanks to ‘Mad’ Clothing for providing them), collected the boat and went through the harbour past Sandbanks and towards Bournemouth pier to the start. We then came upon the roughest sea I have been in; even worse that Torquay and that had been the worst in my limited experience. I actually didn’t think they would run a race in worse conditions…. wrong again!
We all drifted slowly around in the ‘muster’ area, a sort of collecting ring for the boats before the start. The start was delayed, as it was proving difficult to clear the course. As we milled around, the waves were getting bigger and bigger to an 8 foot swell breaking on top. At least twice a wave broke over the boat drenching us and that was before we had started!
Once again I questioned my sanity.... I could be at home watching TV in the warm and dry! My only comfort was that all 27 teams were feeling as bad if not worse than me and we all had a lot to lose with the important National race next weekend if something went wrong.
Then at last the start boat was moving and we all lined up. Fortunately, the boat took the rough sea well and skipped across the top of the waves. My nerves faded and I actually found myself enjoying the ‘airborne’ experience! Then we were off and once again had a good start ahead of most of the pack into the first turn mark.
Heading into such rough sea it was all about survival and following us was simply carnage! Within the first lap some of the well-known race guys had retired, either broken down or simply not wanting to handle such serious sea conditions. Someone’s engine even gave up the ghost and fell off! But we pounded on, the sea being so rough we were relying on the compass to navigate as you could only see ahead when on top of a wave or on the rare occasion there was a reprieve.
The boat was handling the rough sea so well and we were storming ahead with one other fellow competitor Vicky Crump with her canopied boat. Unfortunately (well for me!) her canopy protected her from the ferocious waves that hit the boat. The boats were flying constantly airborne leaping from wave to wave (now I know why batboats have wings!)
Alas after a couple of laps our luck ran out for a while and we stuffed right into the middle of a huge wave. Like a ton of bricks on our faces, the visor of my helmet bent into my face and then tore off. This grazed my chin, and provided a beautiful bruised, cut face and jaw line! Daren was suffering in the back and had nearly fallen out of the boat that would have ended our race. Fortunately he held on tight.
The bow bounced back up, we were conscious, nothing broken (which did surprise me!) and we were off again but lost valuable seconds to Vicky. We pounded on and by now we just kept going, it was now about survival. We lapped many other boats some by as much as four laps as they struggled through what was becoming increasingly dangerous sea.
Finally, after an hour, I saw that much loved Chequered flag (what a relief!) and we had finished second in our class ahead of Mike Sphinks in his ‘Dances with Waves’ but alas a little behind Vicky with her canopied boat.
So once again the female drivers proved we could handle it, all finishing the race, Vicky and myself first and second, with Shelley Jory with her smaller 1.3 litre boat also finishing top in her class.
One thing was for sure none of us were prepared to give up..and those that finished (even the competitors further down the field, deserved a lot of credit for finishing…. unlike others (sorry guys you know who you are!). Out of 27 starters only 15 finished.
Again, and totally down to Daren’s preparation, the boat has held together requiring just a few minor repairs and we are now looking forward to a weekend’s racing in Ramsgate. A bit battered and bruised but quite strangely keen to endure the whole thing once again (I really must go and see that psychologist!).
We’ll let you know what happens this time next week!! Pictures to follow very soon.