In the water

Lia Ditton's Open 40 completes speedy refit

Out of Hamble Yacht Services on Thursday emerged an Open 40 with a fresh blue livery. Even after micro time in the shed, Dangerous When Wet! hardly seemed the same boat. Her white anti-foul cut a crisp line around her sheer underside. Her survival orange keel drew your eye with her sharp sexy lines downwards to the torpedo bulb. Sitting in her cradle in the middle of the yard as the crane rolled into position, it was hard not to blink and imagine that in that split second she had torn herself free and shot off into the yard with bullet precision. The James Bond theme tune thrummed in my head! She looked dangerous; dangerously fast.

Working on my sleep pattern, my physical fitness, PR and race entry requirements [enough paper work to fill a small office!] I have watched the yard activities somewhat in amazement. The amazement is partly because I have for the first time, been afforded the ability to watch on. In my previous campaigns, I have had no option but to fit every bolt and wire every electronic unit myself. For a Route du Rhum entry, at least a last minute one, that simply is not possible. But my amazement stems mostly from observing four people – John Fildes, James Walker, Ben Punter and Dave (Banana-man) Baker [my shore team] work with a dedication, passion and attention to detail, that I thought only I threw at projects. When the race starts I feel I will be the next athlete to carry the baton. In the meantime, in the race to the start of the race, the team are in full sprint, every runner sweating, pushing and going beyond what he thought he could give. It reminds me that the Route du Rhum may be single-handed, but for the Dangerous When Wet! team, it is our race. In Formula 1 terms, I’m just the driver.



To say that I first heard of the Route du Rhum, when I met Marc Guillemot in Sao Miguel when he came in for repairs during the 2002 edition, might give you some idea about how I feel on the brink of a race through Biscay in November. His trimaran Biscuits la Trinitaine had a section of the forward starboard beam hanging out. He was down to third or even fourth reef in the main that was sailable and both his jibs hung off their furlers in tatters. It took him the entire day to tack into the bay of Ponta Delgada as under-canvassed as he was. I waited with Marc’s shore crew as the speck of his boat in the distance drew painfully closer. In 50ft trimaran Moxie, we had run with drogues in 65-70kts true to be there ourselves. There was a mutual feeling of ‘oh my God, I am alive’ in our eyes. So when I woke with a start last night from a dream about receiving a phone call warning me that 50kts was on its way- I’d say my sense of fear is healthy. I am enthralled and terrified. As my boyfriend would say, I am about to play with my suicidal energy!



The Route du Rhum race organisation is expecting roughly half a million people in the run up to the start. I find it hard to picture such a volume of people! At the start of the last Vendee Globe, a throng of some 20,000 people flanked the harbour walls alone. This year, in the Route du Rhum, there are far more entries than there have ever been; 85 is double the number of 2002. When I got a call from Ellen Macarthur on Tuesday at seven thirty in the evening, I nearly leapt out of my chair. What could I say but ‘hello?!’ ‘Oh, and while I’ve got you on the phone, how do you...?’ We share the same nutritionist. The team got a terrific buzz out of her interest in the boat, when she turned up in the yard the following day to lend me a helmet for mast ascent. When it comes to scaling rigs, she would know!