The Gentoo youth team have a WhatsApp, and an opportunity was shared to jump onboard an S&S 34 as a bowman for the lonely tower and great escape race. I dithered for a few days, the post asked for an experienced bowman, and I was not. In the end, I sent a message to Stuart Greenfield to say I was really interested but not very experienced. I figured if I was honest about my experience then it was up to him whether or not to have me, there was no harm in trying. A few days later he said yes, we had a good chat and I arranged to stay on board the night before.

I travelled down on Friday, my first ever time driving on the motorway, it all went fine and I found somewhere to park. Then got on the ferry as a foot passenger where I was asked for ID, she looked at me and said you know you have to be 16 to travel alone. I know I look young but still! I made it to Cowes and found Stuart who showed me to the boat. He was super friendly, and I couldn’t wait to get sailing. In the morning Lou was the first to arrive, she normally sailed double-handed with Stuart but having just recovered from Covid, they were looking for extra hands. Stuart and Rick arrived soon after. Lou showed me around the boat, what sails we would be using, how to rig the spinnaker and how to pack it again. We then got going, out the Marina and to the start. The start went well and we began beating to windward, we stuck close to shore to avoid the worst of the tide. We used the book Winning Tides, it broke down what the tide was doing every half an hour. We were a slower boat so had an earlier start but managed to hold our position well. As we passed the forts there was an increase in chop and for about an hour it became quite uncomfortable. Once we rounded the lonely tower we had one mark to go around before heading for the finish. We decided not to fly a spinnaker, though we probably could have done. Once we rounded the mark the spinnaker went up and she flew along. As we passed the forts again there was a big tactical decision to make, should we stay left and go the shortest distance or go right for the better tide. Due to the wind direction most of the asymmetric boats when right but we decided to stay left. It turned out to be the correct decision and we gained several places because of it. We crossed the line and came in 5th in class 3.

We were pretty happy with how the race went and after packing up the boat we went to the island sailing club for a few drinks. I loved Cowes as the whole place seemed to revolve around sailing, and everyone seemed to know each other. Me and Lou then when for food in a lovely little restaurant. Lou was super lovely and really looked after me, she mentored me and introduced me to different people. We then went back to the boat for an early night.

The next day, we were ready to go with 10 minutes till the start line, but the engine would not start. Stuart tried to find the problem and discovered it was electrical, but with no time to fix it, we decided to go for the start and left the Marina under sail. An amazing but terrifying experience, what if we hit something or lost the wind? We made it to the start in a rush and got the spinnaker up. We were racing downwind to the needles and back. I had only sailed on the south coast once before and had never seen the needles. We were racing so constantly trimmed the spinnaker, while Stuart and Rick focused on tactics. We wanted to leave the spinnaker up as long as possible so had to get it down quickly before rounding the mark and heading upwind. We then sailed close-hauled to the shore to avoid the tide. It was a game of tacking, finding the wind shift and avoiding other boats. I have never seen so many yachts in such a small space and it was cool to see how daring they were when it came to crossing each other. Eventually, we made it to the finish line and had held our position well coming in 3rd!

We then had the mission of returning to our morning with no engine, luckily another boat gave us a tow to the Marina. Stuart then went for his RIB to tow it to its mooring upriver. We packed up and cleaned up. Then went for hot chocolate in Cowes while we waited for the ferry.

All in all, I had an amazing time, I pushed myself and learned so much. I met some great people and discovered what racing yachts is all about, now though my expectations are so high and I just want to do even more!