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Cardiff is a new venue for the offshore race fleet. It is the
first time Cardiff Bay have held an event of this kind. This
event combined all types of watersport ranging from water-ski
racing, jet skis, circuit boats, V24, OCR (Offshore Circuit
racing) and of course the offshore fleet made up of Class III
boats and F1 and F2 RIB’s. So for any powerboat enthusiast,
there was tonnes to see.
The seas in this
area are formed of the Bristol Channel which is one of the most
tidal areas in the world with a tide range of over 40 feet. This
can lead to interesting sea conditions which meant that the
weekend was going to be challenging as you will see…..
For us, the event
comprised of three races held on the Friday, Saturday and
Sunday. The first two counting as races for National points.
Fortunately for us, we did not need the points to win the
championship so were really at the event to race for
‘fun’……..that was to change…read on!
The forecast for
the entire event was always the same, Force 6-7 south or south
westerly and each day we were advised that there maybe no racing
due to the conditions. Fortunately, despite the forecast, things
were not too bad. The first race on the Friday went ahead as
planned although a shorter course was put in place to allow for
the conditions. So on a breezy Friday morning the RIB fleet was
ready to race.
Due to the amount
of activity in the Cardiff Bay area, the RIB fleet were escorted
to the end of the Bay and were then lead into the lock. This is
the first time we had actually entered a lock to get to the
start of a race. These locks are pretty big (see pictures), so
much so that the entire RIB fleet managed to fit into one. As we
all tied up there was an eerie silence as everyone waited in
anticipation to find out what would happen next. It was
certainly a bizarre experience! Slowly the lock filled and the
huge gates opened and off we all headed to the start.
The first
impression of the conditions were that the sea was a dingy,
mucky brown colour from the silt and sand. Whilst there were
plenty of white horses the sea conditions were not too bad. We
were looking forward to a relaxing race. We headed out to the
muster area avoiding the prevalent sandbanks. Due to the quick
drop in the sea level we had exactly one hour to race before we
ran out of water and potentially ran aground.
The race started
as usual with the green flag being dropped and off we went.
The foot was
firmly down on the throttle and we headed straight out into an
easy lead with Martin Lai and the F2 fleet behind. The boat was
going well and travelled for a few miles before turning near
Barry Island to travel back in a following sea. The boat was
going well and whilst we were not hammering along we were
keeping ahead of the fleet and having a really good time.
A few minutes
later however, things had changed and suddenly an engine alarm
had gone off. Mike shouted that an engine appeared to be
overheating, but that the water pressure was still high. If this
had been low then we would have known what the problem was (a
blockage preventing the water from cooling the engine), but with
the high water pressure this couldn’t be it. So on we went for a
few more yards trying to figure out the problem. Our gut feel
was that an engine sensor had failed but the engine was now
going into guardian mode effectively shutting the engine
down! For the first time this year we decided on retire on the
basis that we did not know what was wrong and an engine overheat
is not something to ignore. We didn’t need the points so would
race tomorrow once the problem was fixed.
So sadly we went
back through the lock to the pits when sure enough, it was one
of the sensors that had broken. We weren’t too disappointed as
we had the Saturday race to do, so the boat was repaired and we
waited for the next day.
Race 2 - Saturday
The forecast was
once again diabolical, with force 6-7 predicted possibly
reaching gale force 8! Sea conditions were rough to very
rough…not good! However this was similar to the day before, so
after sending a safety boat to check the course, the Ribs and
the Class 3 fleet headed out once again, through the locks and
off to do Race 2.
Once again, we
didn’t need points so were just going for the ride…….
As we all drove to
the start it was apparent that the conditions were fairly rough,
slightly more than yesterday. On the way to the muster area we
were in a confused but predominantly following sea. In the mixed
conditions you didn’t want to trim out to much to keep the bow
up, knowing that a rogue wave would catch you off guard and send
you skywards.
I looked beside me
and all around were boats launching through the air. At one
point Mick Archer in his 4 litre batboat Powertrucks must have
been at least 6 feet in the air alongside us.
As we reached the
muster area it became apparent that the conditions were
changing. Whilst listening to the VHF they declared that the sea
conditions were worsening and that the start should be underway
as soon as possible.
So off we went,
heading into a big head sea. It was one of the strangest
starts. No one seemed to want to get going and it almost seemed
as if the start boat had slowed for everyone at one point.
Boats were
swapping sides, launching into the air and generally all over
the place as the drivers tried to get into a rhythm. In such a
big sea it was very difficult.
I was having a
terrible time. I just couldn't keep the boat running level and
did not seem to have much in the way of power and soon one or
two of the F2 fleet (the diesel inboards mainly) and the 4 litre
batboat were ahead of us which was unheard of! I was getting
increasingly frustrated that I couldn’t keep up and I have to
admit as we pounded the waves there were several times when I
said to Mike we should retire as we didn’t need to break the
boat, but he was having none of it! ….oh how I wish we had!
We pounded on and
the boat was not improving. Each time we passed Barry Island the
seas were getting bigger and bigger and I don’t mind admitting
that I hoped they would curtail the race as this was no fun.
The laps consisted
of a big head on sea heading out to the South West with a small
turn at the bottom and a short distance of beam sea, then a
tight turn to head back North East in a big following sea.
The head seas were
getting bigger and bigger. We hit an enormous rogue wave, I
managed to stuff the nose right into the middle of it and rest
of the water landed on me and Mike. This really was not fun! The
reason I had stuffed it was because the boat was just not
running right and I now was seriously wanting to retire, but
Mike insisted we carry on and finish the race despite our
difficulties.
In addition to
this, for the whole race the boat had been more and more
difficult to steer. To the point that I blamed the wind for the
fact that the boat simply was not responding well.
We then hit
another large wave and went so high up that when we landed it
was like being dropped in a lift. I thought my spine would come
through the top of my head and it literally knocked all the
breath out of me for second. I really was not enjoying this at
all. As we went on, every wave was pounding the boat and us!
We now headed out
again in the easier following sea and I trimmed out
slightly. But something was very wrong now and the boat’s bow
was digging in over every wave and despite trimming nothing was
happening, other than us getting very wet.
I looked at the
trim gauges to see what was happening. According to them, one
engine was trimmed out to maximum but the port engine had not
budged and was trimmed firmly in.
The first reaction
was that the trim pump had broken. We could carry on but we
would have to run trimmed in which meant we would get very wet
and the boat battered as we nose dived in a following sea.
I shouted to Mike
that the boat felt all wrong and he quickly got out of his seat
to have a look. Whilst the waves were crashing over the boat,
soaking us in the process, Mike was standing on the deck trying
to help level the engines with the manual trim switch. After a
quick look (which was pretty amazing as the boat was lurching
all over the place!) he said ‘ah, I see, you’d better stop’.
My heart sank as Mike sounded very concerned.
He asked me to
drive carefully in and for the second time that weekend, we had
retired. A very disappointing finish to the weekend.
It all made sense
as we lifted the sorry boat out of the Bay. The trim tab had hit
something and broken off, hitting the propeller as it left the
back of the boat. The propeller had been smashed bending the
blades over. This was why there was little power and with only
one trim tab and one decent prop, she was going to be difficult
to manage.
In hindsight I
should have stopped when I knew the boat didn’t feel right in
the start run. A combination of it being our last race and the
difficult sea conditions had meant that I had blamed my driving
and not questioned whether there was something wrong with the
boat.
As a consequence,
the boat had run badly which in that sort of sea means it gets
battered as you cannot keep the hull on top of the waves. This
battering and the fact that the boat had been completely
unbalanced meant that we had done a lot of damage to the stern
and ended up with one of the engines completely hanging off.
It could have been
worse I suppose, we could have lost the entire engine. It could
have been better though and we should have had a good time and
finished as we usually do.
Mike and I were
devastated that what was our last race ever in the boat should
end so terribly. Once the repairs are carried out it will be
time to sell the boat. We’ll have a year off and then …well who
knows what we’ll do next!
The race finished
about 5 minutes afterwards as it was curtailed due to the severe
conditions. Some would have said it should have been stopped
much sooner, but at the end of the day it’s offshore racing. All
but three of the Class III powerboats headed back in after a few
minutes, not wishing to smash their smaller boats up.
My thanks go out
to the safety teams who in all that rough sea, watched and were
around to make sure everyone finished safely despite the fact
that they were having a rough time too! |
