Easter Challenge Debrief

Easter Challenge. A three day regatta run by the Royal Ocean Racing Club is the first major regatta to kick start the 2025 sailing season. Run out of Cowes UK this year saw a range of weather conditions, none less challenging than the other.

A newly refitted Carkeek 40 Jolt 6 had touched down in the water a couple of days prior to my arrival in Cowes, 5 days before Easter Challenge Regatta. The refit completed by Alpha Plus UK meant the boat was back to a brand new state with some new and improved systems on board. Arriving on Saturday I was greeted with a rather large jobs list to be completed in order to start training on Monday. As more crew arrived, the jobs got shared around and soon we were ready to start Training.

Monday was our first sail on the newly refurbished Jolt 6 as a new crew with new equipment. Our first two sailing days was aimed at checking all the systems work and the sails fit, finding anything that needs to be changed before the regatta starts on Friday. The crew is made up of a mix of professional sailors from all backgrounds and some regular sailors from Jolt sailing team and their other boats, a Maxi 72 and a TP52. From bow to stern a high skill level however, learning how to work together as a team and operate this racing yacht was our mission. With on the water coaching and thorough debriefs every evening we were able to steadily improve our boat handling and performance throughout the week.

Day 1

The forecast for day 1 was considered a typical day in the solent.. 23-26 knot winds with rain was what we were greeted with when motoring out of the marina in Cowes. The wind against a strong tide making conditions even tougher to navigate and with the race committees objective for 3 races we knew it was going to be a tough day. Race 1 was tougher than we thought it was going to be, 3 laps of a windward leeward course in strong breeze meant pulling off the manoeuvres without fault was essential. However some boat handling errors in this race made our lives incredibly difficult. Race 2 was very similar, as we tried to get around the race course clean and safe, yet managed to have some issues dropping the spinnaker. In the end only 2 races were completed and although we made mistakes around the race course we were able to recover from them well, not loosing incredible amounts of time or damaging the boat. Between the fun of sending it downwind we had a lot to improve on for the next days racing.

Day 2

The morning of day 2 we were held ashore as the race committee postponed the first warning signal due to strong winds. With the forecast for winds to ease, by 12:00 hours we were docking off and heading for the race course. After a heavy debrief on our previous race day and some tweaking of some boat systems we were determined to make amends and get some better results. We were racing in category IRC 1 with a fleet made up of 6 boat. All boats bigger than us, we were punching above our weight. Results were decided by using the IRC handicap system, however in order to place well we had to sail fast, clean and make the correct decisions around the track. Tactician Ben Saxton and navigator Will Harris put us in the right places, finishing 3rd in race 3 and 2nd in race 4, concluding day 2.

Day 3

The penultimate day of Easter Challenge was a complete different story to day 1 and 2. The wind lighter, from the north and off the mainland causing it to be cold and shifty. The forecast was for a major right shift as a new front approached, tactically we had to be aware of this from start to finish of race 1. The breeze lightening off throughout the day meant we had to change our modes from the previous day, using our weight wisely and searching for puffs of wind on the water. After finishing race 1 the race committee shifted the course as the forecast was correct and the wind shifted right. We managed to start race 2 and sail around the top mark, however the wind dying off meant it was tough to get to the leeward gate while fighting a strong current. The race committee shortening the race to finish at the leeward gate, we crossed the line after completing a good downwind and finally getting a race win, in what ended up being the final race of the Regatta.

3rd Place Wrap Up

A really tough week mentally and physically as we not only had to get up to speed with how to operate the boat as a team, but had to optimise the boat after each sailing day. The conditions were challenging however plenty of learnings on and off the water which we will carry forward to our next training and race which will be the Myth of Malham. A race you can learn more about by checking out my sailing events page https://www.southernxracing.com/the-sailing-1/myth-of-malham

With a strong team and a fast boat we are comfortable as we edge closer to the admirals cup, arguably the biggest event in the 2025 sailing calendar. Im super happy to be apart of this amazing team at such a high level and excited for the racing and adventures that await.

Stay tuned for more news and debriefs!