Emilia AZAB report
Nutmeg of Shoreham
Ollie Holden
Mon 17 Jun 2019 08:28
What is it like being on a yacht on the ocean
Well, think of what it is like being on a ferry, with no land in sight, just ocean as far as you can see in every direction. Then scale that ferry down until it is just 38 feet long - that's the length of a bus I guess. And then make it tip from side to side a lot! That's what it's like.
Why did you want to take part
My Dad told me about it and asked me if I wanted to take part, and I said "Yes, I guess so", not really giving it much thought. But then we did some practice sails, including a 300-mile qualifier sail around the English Channel, and I actually really enjoyed it - so we were like, "OK, it looks like you're doing the AZAB"
Did you have to do any preparation?
Well my Dad has been doing work to Nutmeg to get her ready for quite a while, including a new mizzen mast, and new teak decks and various other things. I had to do my qualifier, and I also needed to do a number of courses. These included First Aid, Sea Survival, and Offshore Safety. The Sea Survival course was realy interesting although quite daiunting - we had to jump in a liferaft in a swimming pool in London, and turn it the right way up after it had capsized. It was fun but a bit daunting as it made it a bit more real, what we were letting outrselves in for.
Tell me about Nutmeg
She is nearly 50 years old, she is a ketch, which means she has two masts, with a smaller one at the back. She has 3 cabins, one in the friont which is just a V-shaped bed, then the main cabin which we call the salon, which has seating and a table, as well as the Galley (which is the kitchen) and the chart table where my Dad plots our course and checks the weather. Then towards the stern (back) of the boat, there is a cockpit, which is where you steer and trim the sails, then an aft cabin which is where Jemima and I sleep.
Because Nutmeg is an old boat, she is quite slow and heavy - she was never designed to do races, so we expected to be at the back of the fleet. All the boats racing are different, so to make it fair, each boat is given a rating handicap which means that when each boat finishes, the finish time is adjusted so faster more modern boats have to take a time penalty to try and make it fair
Tell me about the race itself
The AZAB is a race which has been running every 4 years for the past 50 years. It is run by the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club, and it's one of the only ocean races which is non-professional and therefore open to all sailors. You can only do the race single- or double-handed, which means either one or two people on board, no more. It consists of a 2400 mile course, split into 2 legs of 1200 miles each - Falmouth to Ponta Delgada, which is the capital of Sao Miguel, the largest of the Azores islands. And then leg 2, from Ponta Delgada back to Falmouth. Each leg is expected to take between 10 and 14 days depending on the weather and the type of boat.
Tell me about the days leading up to the start
I had baeen on a French homestay trip to Rouen with school, in the week before. So I was picked up from the coach by my Mum, and we drove straight to Falmouth. We met my Dad at a competitors dinner at the Falmouth Hotel. I had to shake lots of people's hands! We found out that not only was the youngest person in this race, but I was actually the youngest ever competitor, so lots of people wanted to congratulate me. It was all a bit weird as I wasn't expecting this, and I'd been travelling all day so I was tired. On the Friday morning we had a tearful goodbye with Mum, and then Dad and I did some last minute jobs - shopping for fresh food, and getting a few last bits. We also had to have a boat safety check, to ensure we had all the correct safety equipment.
Radio Cornwall had rung my Dad up and asked if they could interview us. So when we got back from food shopping there was a lady at the boat and she interviewed us on board. It was really scary - I'd had less than an hours notice that I had to do an interview, and I've never done one of these before. She had one of those massive fluffy microphones, and she asked me questions about my sailing experience, and getting seasick!
Saturday 1st June was start day. It was a very weird feeling. At the last moment just before we were about to cast off from the pontoon, the BBC turned up and wanted to do a camera interview! That was really strange and stressful - I'd never done one of these and I was also quite anxious about the race itself so this was the last thing I wanted to have to do. But it was OK - they asked me and my Dad some questions and that was it. And then we cast off!
Whats the race itself been like
When we set off, it was sunny and there was a nice breeze. There were loads of boats out to watch the start - RIBs, press crews, people in their yachts, there were drones taking live video, I reckon there were a couple of hundred boats out. There were four starts, and we were the last start (the fleet is split into four classes based on the speed rating of the boat). We got a good start, and then we were off!
It's been really long, I don't think I had appreciated what a long trip it was - it took nearly 11 days, and that is a long time to be on a small boat. There is no internet, and I'd downloaded a load of books on my kindle but unfortunately it got wet on the 3rd day and deleted all the books. I've done lots of crosswords and Suguru puzzles with my Dad, and we've cooked and chatted.
What has been the scariest part of the trip
When it was really rough, and you're in your bunk at night and all you can hear is lots of crashes and bangs and alarms going off. It made me feel anxious and scared, I never said I was scared to my Dad but I was at times. We had a couple of times when the wind was really strong and the waves were huge, and you couldn't even move around the boat as the motion was so violent, so it was hard to do anything. And because you're so anxious you can't sleep, so you lie there feeling awful. I got seasick a couple of times which was a pretty rubbish feeling.
We heard via our family in the UK that nine boats had turned back and 2 boats were dismasted, so it was a tough race for everyone.
And what was the best part of the trip
The last few days were the best because it was sunny and calm and we could get out of our waterproofs and thermals and the boat wasn't being thrown around. We watched some lovely sunsets and had nibbles and drinks as we watched the sun go down. That was really special.
Did you see any wildlife?
Yes, we saw some, although not as much as I'd hoped. A couple of times we had a bunch of dolphins come to play on our bow wave, and one time there was some really small baby dolphins swimming with their mummies. At other times we saw dolphins leaping out of the sea. We also saw lots of jellyfish - they are Portguese Man O'War, which we called PCPs = Psychological Cornish Pasties, because they are like floating pasties - translucent like a plastic bag, but with bright orange and purple edges, pasty-shaped, just being blown along by the wind and waves.
There was one time when the whole sea around where we were sailing became all disturbed and we think a big whale must have just dived in front of the boat.
Would you do it again?
Yes, but I'd want to be a lot more prepared, neither of us expected the conditions to be as bad as they were so I'd want to do more offshore sailing and get more experience.