The 52nd Annual Helford to L’AberWrac’h race took place June 24th in challenging and at times wild conditions.

As the wind forecast built in the days before the race, the number of entries dwindled or retired, as competitors were facing 25 to 30 knot conditions to cross the Channel from Helford River to L’AberWrac’h in France, near Brest.

In the end, 21 yachts braved the conditions as they were set off by the Race Officer John Jane and Commodore Jane Benney from the start boat of Dennis Head in the Helford River, a tranquil start for what lay ahead over the next 18 hours of racing.

The first mark on the course was the Manacles Buoy off the Lizard, as the yachts passed the Manacles they braced themselves for the 90 mile slog into the wind across the open expanse of the Channel.

With winds around 16-17 knots for the first 3 hours the yachts progressed well, with many heading out on starboard tack, with only Calypso taking a tactical gamble to tack to the West early.

By 20:00 hours the winds had freshened and the first rain squalls came through forcing the yachts to change to smaller headsails. By 22:00hrs. the conditions and sea state conditions had continued to build into a solid 22-25 knots, a very wet and lumpy force 6 which brought the first casualties of the race, beaten by the sea and wind as some of the yachts turned tail to head back to the protection of Falmouth or Helford.

A pursuit start saw the smaller yachts start first, with the fastest yachts starting later, each staggered over a period of 5 hours, the handicap system creating a fair race so all yachts should finish at the same time, the first yacht into L’AberWrac’h wins.

By midnight the wind was now gusting 29 occasionally 30 knots and there was a building West swell from the Force 7, near gale force winds. Seasickness became a major factor on many boats, as the crew were in race mode and sat out on the rail of the boat facing into the wild conditions. Temperatures dropped and trying to eat and take on liquids became an ever demanding task as the yachts were thrown about by the seas. Going below was equally challenging with the rough seas creating an extremely uncomfortable ride. By the early hours of the morning, sailing into the building seas in the dark of night took further toll with more boats retiring to sail back with the wind behind them to calmer waters of the Cornish coast. Those that pushed on either reefed their main sails or changed again to smaller headsails.

Tactics are a key part of any race and something that is hard to stick to when yacht and crew are being constantly beaten by mother nature, it is dark, wet uncomfortable and all the members of crew are questioning why they do this! Calypso, a veteran L’AberW’rach race winner and Black Dog had a similar view on tactics, which was to take some speed in the windiest of gusts and get over to the French Coast as quickly as possible to take advantage of favorable tides and the hope of quieter Seas. Daring and Excelle stood on and kept slightly West, it would be interesting to see the results as the hours rolled on.

John Fox of Excelle saw Black Dog pass them approximately 1 mile to Windward in the middle of the night in the windiest part of the race at around 1AM and commented later that Black Dog was ‘flying’ with Team Gul pushing her incredibly hard right through the night.

Crossing the West and later East bound shipping lanes created an added level of danger and constant monitoring by the crew, who by this time had been racing for 8 or 9 hours solid. As all yachts were scanning channel 16, it was interesting to hear the other yachts tackle the super tankers and cargo ships, with both Daring and Black Dog having close encounters. At one point Martin Leech, aboard Daring could be heard on the radio repeatedly seeking confirmation from a tanker that they could be seen off the tankers port bow, with eventually a confirmation and a change of course to avoid a collision by the tanker. Black Dog also had a close call with a cargo ship passing only 300M behind them after late confirmation despite repeated attempts from Josh Redgrave to confirm a sighting from the ship as the crew on board Black Dog preparing themselves for a sudden change of course to clear the converging collision line.

As daybreak dawned the yachts had their first chance to see if they could see the opposition. Garth Weaver and Roger Ford aboard Black Dog were just finishing their shift when they revealed they could see no other yachts and having driven the yacht so hard all night felt sure that Team GUL were in a solid position. But in a near 100 mile race and such a large sea space to cover it is always hard to know as another yacht could be 10 miles away. So as Black Dog skipper Stuart Sawyer re-took the helm after a short rest and Duncan Adams, who had stayed up all night, took over on mainsheet, the decision to keep pushing hard was made and the crew took out the reef in the mainsail to punch into the now solid sea state and large swells always looking for that extra speed.

With the yachts safely through the shipping lanes with only the fishing boats to worry about now, there was much less radio communication, which didn’t allow the yachts to get an idea were their competitors were. Now it was a final push to the French Coast and the finish line, the famous Libenter Buoy marking the treacherous rocky outcrop by L’AberWrac’h.

As Black Dog rounded the Libenter buoy the team had a quiet sense achievement crossing the channel in such demanding conditions as well as a relief that comes with arrival at a port after a storm, there was an underlying uncertain and nervous feeling that the team had done enough to win the difficult and coveted L’Aber Wrac’h race. Team Gul would not know for sure for another 20 minutes or so until they arrived at L’AberWrac’h marina, some 2 miles up the channel. So sails were dropped, the debris of a challenging and wet sail from the nights hard sail cleared away and physically and mental demands of the race started to sink in. Lifelines and lifejackets and a lot of wet gear could finally be removed and bodies stretched for the first time in 16 hours of constant abuse.

On arrival at the Marina, Carole Lawrence representing Helford River Sailing Club was on hand to meet the yachts and confirmed that Black Dog was first home with a clear lead over the field.

By the end of Saturday, only 12 yachts managed to finish, with the infamous French Boat Calypso coming in 2nd approximately an hour behind Black Dog, followed shortly by Falmouth boat Daring, skippered by Damien Bloor.

L’AberWrac’h once again blessed the sailors with a wonderful welcome and prize giving overlooking the rocks and Libenter Buoy. As competitors looked out over the channel bathed in warm, dry and glorious sunlight, it drew a stark contrast to the conditions the night before.

A special prize was also presented to Wally Royal, now 83 and taking part in his 38th L’AberWrac’h race and a finishing 8th in his yacht Xenia.

Helford to L’AberW’rach Winners Black Dog Team Gul racing in calmer conditions than the English Channel

Final results overall.

• 1st. BLACK DOG / Team Gul – Stuart Sawyer, Helford. UK
• 2nd. CALYPSO III – Mnsr. Caraes, L’AberWrac’h. France
• 3rd. DARING – Damien Bloor, Falmouth. UK

UK finishers.

• 7th XCELLE – Toby Claridge – Falmouth
• 8th XENIA – Wally Royal – Helford

Report: Frederique Chien