News Around the World AUSTRALIA
Stacey Jackson goes to Cowes
‘I got a message in early March from Robbie Naismith, who I sail with on Wild Oats, asking if I would be interested in doing the Admiral’s Cup with the Monaco team – obviously I said yes! I mean this is an opportunity that hasn’t been available for 22 years. ‘A good friend of mine did the last Admiral’s Cup in 2003, as
a youth sailor in the Australian team, and I was thinking way back then just how cool that was, so when the opportunity arose all these years later I jumped; there is no way you would miss this. They needed a mid-bow on Jolt 3… and because that is what I do on Wild Oats it was an easy call to make. ‘We had four events scheduled, starting with the RORC Easter
regatta – which is cool, because you win Easter eggs! I had 24 hours’ flight time from Australia to think about slotting in, always a challenge joining an established squad… and this is a big team. Two boats meant around 50 people, and to come into a squad of mostly strangers is always a big ask. You just have to turn up con- fident and do your job well. Plus learn 40+ people’s names, fast! ‘It was interesting, as at the beginning the majority of the crew
didn’t know my skills, meaning I had to prove myself to them. This all goes back to being good for the job, while being polite and com- municating well. One of the guys then Googled me, then mentioned I had done a Volvo; he smiled more when I told him I’d done two. ‘Then straight into the Easter regatta, which was great, as we were up against the Kiwi TP52 Caro and Beau Geste, the top boats
to solve, and then we did another full week with the St Malo Race, then another week and then the Admiral’s Cup started. ‘The big thing throughout all the debriefs was that it will be one
second of time that changes a result, and one place here could be everything – seriously, it will be that close. And the Channel Race starting the event was double points… ‘The six inshore races became five with a drop, single-point races.
From memory we had a 1,2, on the first day and then a 1 the next day, and then we had 2,5,9, and so it felt a little like we became the target boat at that point. All of it confirmed you had to hit the finish layline perfectly and hike hard 100 per cent to the finish or someone could slip through and suddenly it changes everything. ‘Then the Fastnet was triple points and now anything can happen!
And because of all this complexity, both the navigator and tactician are working incredibly hard. Being mid-bow, I don’t often hear a lot of the quieter conversations that are happening back there; but sailing with Ed Baird as tactician and Andy Green as navigator the information that we were getting from them was outstanding. ‘Andy is a young legend in the making, and Ed is such a cool
person to sail with. He would say, “OK, guys – what is going to happen next is this…” And he would broadcast it so calmly, you never felt there was any rush. His communication was so impressive. One race in the IRC Nationals we planned a starboard tack start and, with a minute and a half to go, he calmly said, “Change of plan, guys, tack the boat and head to the pin” and we launched on port 30 seconds up on the fleet! So calm and so level. ‘Going into the Fastnet there was certainly a sense of relief that
this wasn’t a windy one, as our boat was very inshore oriented. There was also a lot of chat on the dock of how many people to drop for the light conditions… and we left owner Peter Harrison ashore. This Fastnet was essentially a big windward-leeward, and so we went from hour-long Solent-based windward-leeward races to a 400nm beat and a 300nm run! ‘It was so intense! We led to the Scilly Isles, and then Beau Geste
made a gain, but a lot of the boats were already covering each other. Beau Geste had water ballast so I think they dropped to nine crew, whereas we had 14. With the tidal gates and number of TSS zones, it is a completely different race from a Hobart… We knew that at the end of 700nm we hadto finish within 10 minutes of Beau Geste! ‘Then three days and eight hours later the sun came up that last
Monaco’s Jolt 3 crew know their work is done. So while Stacey Jackson loads up with diesel for the delivery back to England, for the rest it’s time to head for the airport (via the bank) as this much America’s Cup talent can’t wait around. Plus team owners Peter Harrison and Pierre Casiraghi are by now already into the planning of a real party down in Monte Carlo a few weeks hence
on paper. We had done some crew training, but mostly sail testing that week. We then were straight into windward-leeward and round- the-cans racing. To win that event as we did really firmed up a good feeling leading into our main Admiral’s Cup programme. ‘For sure it can also be tough sailing in the UK. It was cold and
windy for that event and we learned a lot of what we needed to do. Our next event was the Myth of Malham Race, with some of our crew arriving back in the UK the day before, plus the forecast was pretty wild. A key issue was that we still had to have reefing locks fitted to the boom, so with that forecast it was a high-risk event. ‘But the startline and opening stages were close to the Fastnet
itself, so we began the race and knew that when we needed to reef we would retire. So we managed 34 minutes of that race! Beau Gestewent a bit further but also decided it was boat-breaking time and turned back. And, boy, that high-latitude weather can really come through! It is way further north than Hobart is south! ‘Then onto the IRC Nationals, and that was cool as we had, I
think, eight of the top teams. And right then we all got a clear insight into how close the racing was going to be. From memory we got a third, but it was close, and boats were tied on corrected time, with half-point results coming into play. ‘Our debrief after that was really positive, with good learnings and outcomes. The things that weren’t working yet we knew how
30 SEAHORSE
morning and we sailed into a transition with all the boats catching up – including the AC2 Fast40s… Now we were probably a boat length from Beau Geste, and rounding the last TSS in around 10kt of breeze, both of us with similar speed. ‘We were sailing fully weight-forward in the light stuff, just three
people on the handles and the rest of us literally on our toes, moving around super-carefully. With about an hour to go we had a little loss in a tide change… but actually the tension then lifted because it is so hard to judge 10 minutes of distance in that tide. All we could do was keep pushing, but at one point it did feel really bad! ‘We ended up finishing just behind Beau Geste close to sunset.
But as you are approaching the finish you can’t see the line as it is around the sea wall in Cherbourg, so you go through the sea wall gap, then turn right a little. So we didn’t see Beau Geste finish – but we heard the radio chatter, and took a guess. Then we finished and took a guess on our time vs their estimated finish time… we think we have it, but we don’t know! ‘So we pull the kite down and have a quick chat, shaking each
other’s hands, and Ed Baird came forward and gave me a hug, and I asked, “Ed – did we get them?” and his reply was “I think we did – but honestly I am not sure.” Then our chase-boat came roaring over. They had done the maths and Peter [Harrison] told us we won by 51 seconds… everyone exhaled a bit. And then we all roared. ‘Meanwhile, our small boat was going really well but they would
be finishing in the dark so something like catching a fishing pot was always possible. After waiting it out it was a special moment when the result came through virtually as they finished, so a great credit to RORC. But no big celebration as most of the team flew out straight after the race… while I did the delivery back to England! ‘Just a handful of people went to Cherbourg for the Fastnet and Admiral’s Cup presentation, and so in late September we all met
PAUL WYETH/RORC
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