Feedback - 19 June 2001

How was the race for you? The Hoya Round The Island Race is one of those great races when anyone can win. I first won the race in 1984 in my little 1/4 tonner Odd Job and that year all the small boats were in the chocolates. Two years later I was the navigator on Graham Walkers Indulgence V and won that year as a middle sized 3/4 tonner.

This year on a "big boat" Mandrake we thought that given the right conditions and a little luck we could do well but hardly expected an overall IRC victory. Adam Gosling and I spent two hours on Friday morning off the Needles finding the best way through there but as it happens that corner was not crucial in the race - that came later. Most of the race was fairly simple however we did stay high on the way to the Needles which meant we only had a tack of about a minute and a half on starboard to round the Needles.

On the way to St Catherines we felt that there was a little more pressure offshore and our navigator Tom Schnackenberg kept us on the rhumb-line on both that leg and the next to Dunnose and Bembridge Ledge. We peeled to a 1/2oz runner at Dunnose and back to the reacher at Bembridge but it was at the Forts that our big break came. We reached up the Solent against a very weak tide playing cat and mouse with Full Pelt only to get too close into the Norris "nadgers" where we found a light spot for a minute or so. By then the breeze was heading slightly and the boats behind were beating against an increasing tide. I have to say that this did not upset us too much and we finished inside the old record by 12 minutes. Adam did a great job steering the boat and Tom is just an awesome sailor. Those two along with a great crew primed by Calvados hangovers helped a great boat to a great victory in IRC.

It was only an IRC win and well done to all the other Class winners. For the record Stuart Alexander, Keith Wheatley and you guys have got it wrong with the facts on Mandrake. She was built in 1999 by Richard Faulkner and the Elephant Boatyard to a new Mark Mills design. We did use the deck and some bits off the old Farr 50 Mandrake but the hull and keel are new. Mark did a fantastic job designing the boat and she is a delight to sail in a breeze. We do suffer a little from a lack of sail area in light airs (my fault Mark) and I'm sure the result would have been very different had we not have such good conditions. Mr Ker is also wrong when he describes her as an IRM boat. We have never had an IRM rating for the boat and do not intend to until such time that an IRM style and size rig is put in the boat.
From Teresa Whelan- XARIFA

How was the race for you? Brilliant. Being one of the smaller boats in our group we decided to start mid-line to keep clear air as long as possible. It was almost Hampstead ledge by the time we started to get bothered by the odd Sigma 38. We had Crewsaver Dickies a few lengths in front and Software Mistress in our sights and feeling well placed. The beat to the Needles started just off Yarmouth - exciting stuff with square cats coming over on starboard going sideways and big chaps like White Crusader thundering through to weather but sailing lower and one wondered if they knew they were meant to keep clear - still, size matters and we like our little boat.

As usual our skipper called the shots through the gap between the ledge and the wreck. White sail blast to St Cat's where we had a few cat's cradle problems with our spinnaker which Flying Boat took advantage of and went through us. We didn't get them back until we were over the Ryde Sands.

Here we had a wonderful time hard on the wind, right on the edge of the bank, our nose to windward and just ahead of their transom and an X332 similarly placed on us .. depth sounder saying .01 and then of course the gentle lurch as we bounced off the mud - dump the main (not again!) back on course and a frisky gusty beat to the finish. From Wooton the wind just went left and left so the beach was an excellent place to be. Still just behind Software Mistress and EyeEye. Unfortunately coming into the finish two other black group boats seemed more intent on maintaining their starboard rights than tacking for the finishing line which could not be crossed on starboard.

After we had dipped the first one he tacked. When we called for water to tack for a starboard boat he replied NO! We then informed him that we were tacking and he still said no... anyway luckily he did tack and we somehow avoided him - 1mm is 1mm. And so to finish in the most amazing time 7hrs 19min+ and last year we were delighted because we had done it in less than 8hrs.

From Andrew Gallie, Cumbria
How do we rate Tyco against the other campaigns? Tyco seem poised to do well. Skipper Kevin Shoebridge and navigator Steve Hales seem to posses a good blend of experience and youthfulness. Both will have the energy and determination to push hard while Shoebridge in particular would have learnt a lot under the tutelage of Grant Dalton and Sir Peter Blake. Perhaps though, their biggest asset will be their lead time in developing the boat. By launching in May, team Tyco has had ample time to develop into a fast and efficient racing machine. Compare this, for example, to Nautor Challenge. A campaign that, one suspects, will still be on the back foot when it reaches Kiel in 2002. We may, though, point to a lack of incisive leadership and authority. Regardless of Shoebridge's credentials, this is his first campaign as skipper, while no one will forget that Hales was fired by Lawrie Smith last time around.

Nevertheless, these doubts may be unfounded. During the Sydney to Hobart race last December, Tyco seemed to have the legs on Illbruck, both in terms of navigational perspicacity and boat speed, until, that is, she broke her reefing line.Will all this be enough? The Volvo Ocean Race has become increasingly professional, and there are several other boats who are equally determined and confident that they have the all important 'edge'. The aforementioned Illbruck challenge was conducting sail testing before the other campaigns had been conceived, while team SEB appears to have a impressive level of experience and organisation. Skipper Gunnar Krantz seems more determined than ever to add the Volvo's new 'Fighting Finish' trophy to his mantelpiece, while navigator Marcel van Triest brings a level of experience and technical astuteness that few can match.