2015 Campaign

Campaigning for the 2015 AZAB Race & Rolex Fastnet Race

Monday 8 June 2015

Autopilot forces retirement

It is with great sadness that we made the decision to abandon racing
yesterday and turn toward Brest.

One of the lessons we learnt from the Round Britain & Ireland Race last
year was the importance of a reliable autopilot when sailing downwind in
heavy seas. During that race Trevor & I had to steer by hand for up to
24 hours and found it exhausting, having to change watches every hour.

So we made the decision to upgrade to a more modern autopilot over the
winter. Unfortunately that proved to be unreliable, going into standby
without warning on random occasions - potentially catastrophic at the
wrong moment.

So late in the day we switched to a third pilot which has has worked
tirelessly without disengaging. However, insufficient time for complete
seas trial meant we started this race at risk. Despite our best efforts
to adjust various sensitivity settings, we just cannot get the pilot to
hold a steady course downwind in moderate seas. So with the forecast
increased winds and seas, we reluctantly made the decision to play safe
and return to port.

As our Fastnet campaign is fully crewed we will not be using the pilot.
So we now have time to sort out the pilot before our next
double-handed campaign.

Thanks to all for your support and do follow us on the Fastnet in August
as we race with a crew of four. We are currently leading the J109 class
in the RORC series, so there is all to play for there.

Richard

Sunday 7 June 2015

Jangada Too withdraws from the race.

Just heard from Richard, he and Trevor are both fine, but because they do not have enough confidence in the Autopilot, they have had to withdraw from the race. It would not have been safe to continue in the rising winds and sea state with an inconsistent Autopilot.  Both are very disappointed but their safety and that of the boat is paramount.
They have informed Falmouth Coastguard and are now heading for Brest in France.  More news when I have it, probably tomorrow.

AZAB - the first 24 hours

The race got off to a good start with a great array of spectators lining
Pendennis Point and also on the water. With a freash westerly breeze
the first decision was to reef or not. We decided against and carried
full main, twisting the leech and spilling power in the gusts.

We sailed slightly lower than the direct course initially to keep speed
up through the swell that was coming in from the west around The Lizard.
As the wind eased overnight and veered around to the Northeast we were
kept busy with several sail changes. First from No3 jib to the Code0
spinaker, our light wind reaching kite. Then from Code0 to Code2
spinnaker, our downwind kite that will take us up to 20kts widn speed.

With the increasing wind forecast and while the spinnakers were up we
took the chance to change jibs and replace the No3 jib with the Jib-Top,
a great reaching sail in stronger winds.

Once that was all complete we realised the spinnaker was not full
hoisted to the top of the mast as we had inadvertantly crossed two
halyards. So spinaker had to come down, be repacked and rehoisted.

After two hours on the foredeck instead of in my bunk, I now feeling the
effectgs of lack of sleep. But before taking to my bunk mid morning I
still found time to donwload the latest weather forecast and upload all
the boat positions. We are really pleased that our strategy to sail
around the high pressure systems seems to have put us up with the front
runners. We are enjoying the company of other yachts all with spinnaker
flying.

I'm off to my bunk now for another hours kip before my next watch.

Richard

Saturday 6 June 2015

Jangada at the National Maritime Museum

The origin of the name Jangada Too comes from the traditional fishing rafts sailed up to 60nm off the Brazilian coast at Recife. An example can be seen at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth.

Friday 5 June 2015

Visitors!

Richard and Trevor are supporting the AZAB Schools initiative, aimed at involving the pupils in both the race and the geography of the Azores.  On Monday Trevor went to visit his old school and yesterday five pupils from Truro school came to visit Jangada Too. They were very enthusiastic about the boat and asked many questions about both the technology and life onboard.  Whilst they were at the nav table, I sent a text to the satellite phone to show them how the communications work.



Wednesday 3 June 2015

The Crew assembles

Although the AZAB is a single or double-handed race, Jangada Too has the benefit of 3 extra crew members!


On the right:  Admiral Sir Waddle Flapjack, keeper of the crew morals - and the Flapjack pot.
On the left: Skipper, Assistant Navigator. Always wants the boat to head south. Is very pleased to hear that the first stop is the Azores.
And in the middle the newest member of the crew: Benedict Bear, who, as you see, is representing RNLI in support of Richard and Trevor's efforts to raise money for the Lifeboat Fund. Please support them by using the link below.

They are also supporting the AZAB Schools project and are linked to Truro Preparatory School.  Trevor is an Old Boy and we hear that Benedict himself is named after another (famous) former pupil. Any guesses as to who that might be?