GBR 254 Harwin Mini Skirt Update

Clemency Williams on GBR 254 Harwin Mini Skirt © www.ClemencyWilliams.com

After I made the decision not to race in the Transat 6,50 this year I felt rather lost and without direction. However, I soon started to relax and catch up on some much needed rest after a difficult six months. This is not to say that I have spent mcuh time sitting around.......

I did a very long delivery - 6 days - from Hamble, on Nick Bubb’s mini, to La Rochelle for the start of the Transat 6,50. There was not a breath of wind for the first two days as we drifted across the channel trying to avoid ships but fortunately we had the cricket to listen to which prevented us from going stir crazy!

I was also very much involved with the preparations for the Transat on Nick’s boat. I spent 5 days in La Rochelle before the start helping with the last minute detail - although the boat was immaculately prepared and therefore the jobs list was not long at all. I was also working on the weather routing for the first leg which turned out to be a very fast downhill sprint to Lanzarote.

The start was a spectacular event. With 72 minis lined up in the old port basin, each skipper was towed out to a personal introduction and their favorite tune blasted out from massive speakers. Surrounding the start line were hundreds of spectator boats and helicopters all jostling to get the best view of the start. As the gun went I felt a distinct pang of disappointment mixed with a resolute determination to be there in 2007.

Back in England I enthusiastically launched Harwin Mini Skirt and went sailing. Heading out solo, in a Mini, into the Solent on a lovely sunny Saturday with 15kts of breeze is not necessarily a sensible decision, however, buoyed with enthusiasm off I went. I have to say my wits and fitness were tested trying to avoid the plethora of yachts saturating the Solent. However, it was a great training sail - the first time I had sailed solo this year.

I am now racing Harwin Mini Skirt ’fully crewed’ in the Royal Southampton Yacht Club Winter Series. We are sailing on a club handicap which means we line up on the start with all sizes and shapes of yachts. On Sunday we took line honours by 20 minutes but only just won on handicap by 40 seconds so we really need to keep pushing her hard to win. It is fantastic to be out on the water again; charging round the cans which is very demanding in a boat designed for long offshore races. I am really excited about the future sailing I will be doing on Harwin Mini Skirt in the UK and France and I hope that by the Transat 6,50 in 2007 I will be on the start line with all pistons firing.

Having enjoyed some rest, I am now back to the grindstone at Reading University doing an MSc in Applied Meteorology. Last year I was on the BSc course but I convinced ‘ powers that be’ that I was capable enough to do the MSc, which is a year long course after which I can focus on the Mini for the 2007 Transat 6,50. To fill in any spare time I have also been doing some weather routing for Martin Wild, skipper of SAIC La Jola, in the Challenge Round Britain and Island race.