Two-Handed Paul
(Far) beyond the practical
Doublehanded offshore racing is growing in popularity – to state the obvious. Hence in this new regular column I’ll be looking initially at what is driving that growth, exploring the main contributing factors, the boats, technical – and cost – aspects, hopefully also tempting in a few of those who’ve not tried it yet. Later in the year I will be looking at youth pathways into doublehanded racing and how with a bit of focus we are already creating exceptional opportunities for the next generation of sailors of all sexes.
In the UK if we look at the Rolex Fastnet as a proxy measure of growth to date, an IRC doublehanded class was first introduced to the race in 2005 with 20 boats taking part. Since then, numbers have grown pretty much every edition, peaking at 64 boats in 2019. In the USA, combining DH participation in the four most popular New England races shows a peak in the covid years. Although the numbers have since reduced slightly, they are still at a higher level that pre-covid. In contrast, in the case of the longer Newport to Bermuda race, which has hosted a doublehanded class since 2000, participation has been relatively static.
In Australia, the Sydney-Hobart race has been late to welcome DH entries, but participation has now taken off and 21 boats registered to start the most recent 2022 edition.
But it’s not just established events that are popular, in France the new Cap-Martinique IRC transatlantic race from La Trinité-sur-Mer to Fort-de-France (Martinique) had a very popular first edition in 2022 with 15 solo and 25 doublehanded boats. For the recently launched 2024 edition, the 60 places sold out in less than three days... and they have 15 boats already wait-listed.
So, what is driving all this? When you talk to the sailors, there are multiple factors, some very practical and some slightly spiritual. Let’s start with the practical. Logistics are easier with just two aboard. Most partnerships are then for at least the season, so once you have found your co-skipper the crew box is ticked. Two people have less gear, less need of provisions and there is more space onboard. It’s also easier on the owner’s wallet. The boats are smaller, cheaper to run and there are less crew expenses. Also with two co- skippers, the work ashore tends to be better shared... There is a variety of offshore opportunities to choose from with
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many clubs having a DH class now in their races. There is shorter weekend racing (60-120nm) broadly available as well as flagship longer events (600nm and Trans-ocean). In the UK, typically 50% of the fleet in all the RORC Offshore races are now doublehanded entries, and they are increasingly taking part in the longer races as well. The 2022 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland consisted of almost 70% doublehanded entries.
The racing itself is extremely competitive and getting more so with each season. The boats themselves fall into a fairly tight IRC rating band, which means there is plenty of close boat-for-boat racing even under handicap.
The doublehanders have also often proven competitive against fully-crewed rivals... and in a widening range of conditions as tech- niques improve. In 2022 the RORC season points championship was won overall by a doublehanded boat, the JPK 10.10 Jangada sailed by Richard Palmer with co-skippers Jeremy Waitt and Rupert Holmes. However, it wasn’t just first place that was snapped up, second and third were also doublehanders. In total the doublehanders claimed eight out of the top 10 places.
However, when you talk to the modern Corinthian doublehanded sailor you quickly learn that the appeal goes way beyond the practical factors. And the feedback is remarkably consistent across the world; the sailors all talking about the deep connection between two com- petitive co-skippers racing together without distractions. To have any sleep at all you need you trust your co-skipper to sail the boat singlehanded and this creates a strong bond of friendship – sometimes in the face of adversity. Ludovic Gérard together with Nicolas Brossay won the first edition of the Cap-Martinique race in his JPK 10.80 Solenn for Pure Ocean (above). Ludo later told me ‘dou- blehanded racing is not just about having an exciting time racing on a sail boat...
‘Firstly, it’s about friendship and having, or developing confidence in your co-skipper. To begin with you must of course trust him or her when you go to sleep! You have to share your doubts, your joys. They must also challenge your strategy at the chart table. Plus on the Cap Martinique we set a rule that we should have at least one big laugh every day... we really enjoyed our 20 days together’.
RICK TOMLINSON
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