Page 1 - January 2012 Newsletter
Page 2 - Earlier News
Northern Child goes Green
The season Northern Child has decided to invest in an Air Breeze Wind Generator to suppliment our energy requirements on delivery and ocean passages. The wind generator will reduce our use of diesel as we will have to run the generator or engine for fewer hours to maintain our battery charge. Power onboard during long passages is essential to run all of the navigation and weather software, keep the fridge and feezer cold and run the water maker.
BVI Spring Regatta - 2nd in Class
The 40th Anniversary BVI Spring Regatta was full of fun on and off the water, with 122 yachts competing. Over the 3 days, the competitors were treated to spectacular course in the Sir Frances Drake Channel, using the Islands for marks. Tactics and navigation were key; to make the best of any current, avoid wind shadows and test the nerves of the skipper on how close he dare go to the islands.
Northern Child was racing in Performance Cruising and enjoyed the start to the regatta in 15 -22 knots laying 2nd in class on Sunday. On the final day all was to play for, however the wind decided it was going to play tricks on all the competitors. Northern Child had an excellent start dominating the first beat toward Dead Chest Island. On rounding the island the spinnaker went up only for the wind to diminish and the back of the fleet creep up on us. Down the coast of Peter Island the rain came down and the wind swung through 180 degrees several times. Northern Child crept away slowly and achieved a respectable 3rd in the final race securing our 2nd in class for the regatta.
More information on the BVI Spring Regatta 2012
RORC Caribbean 600 - 2nd in Class
For Northern Childs first RORC Caribbean 600 we had some old and new faces with 6 girls in the crew which was great. There were 35 entries with boats ranging from 40.7s up to Rambler a 100ft IRC optimised racing machine which set a new course record with her time of 40 hours and 20 minutes. The forecast was for 15 to 25 knots which Northern Child revels in.
The course sent us around the leeward islands of the Caribbean giving the crew lots to do with different sail configurations on each watch. NC was sailing like a dream slicing the chop and rolly seas of the Caribbean. We finished the race at 00:23:47 on Friday the 25th February after 84 hours 53 minutes claiming 2nd in class which we were all very pleased with.
More information on the RORC Caribbean 600 2012
New Year Cruise in the British Virgin Islands
On December 28th Edward, Lillian, and their boys, Ward, James and Collier joined us for an exciting weeks adventure in the BVIs. We sailed to Jost van Dyke, Peter Island, Norman Island and Virgin Gorda, taking in some of the most beautiful parts the BVI has to offer. The boys enjoyed some kayaking and swimming, as well as exploring the amazing caves of the Baths. The family were a great crew and with their 4 sons plan to do the Atlantic circuit themselves once David their youngest is a little older.
ARC ~ Atlantic Rally for Crusiers ~ 21st November to the 10th December 2010, 19.5 days
From one extreme to the other! In 2009 Northern Child had the fastest ever crossing, in 2010 she had the slowest ever crossing out of 13 Atlantic Rally crossings taking 19.5 days. Europe was having record snowfall and cold weather, while on the Atlantic we were experiencing a very unusual series of low pressure systems, displacing the usual trade winds. As a result, we had days of very light winds and even some head winds. Whilst the crossing was long, it was also extremely good fun with a fantastic crew, including our 5 'Dutchies' who were great. We were all lucky enough to have the chance to swim Mid Atlantic which is a truly magical experience. When we finally arrived in St Lucia we wasted no time in celebrating as the friendly locals welcomed us in with Rum & Beer. However the most amazing welcome we have ever had from crew family was the 'Dutchie' Girls, together with Mark and Nick's family!!! A wonderful trip, with thanks as always to Lucy for her amazing cullinary delights from the galley and of course our crew; Judy, Jerome, Mark, Nick, Andy, Edo, Taco, Eric, Christian & Dirk.
LesVoiles de St Tropez ~ 25th September to the 2nd October 2010
For Les Voiles this year we had some new faces but also many regulars. Iosif, Luc, Simon, Chris and Hans, all having sailed extensively with us on Northern Child before were once again back to join Cally, Suse, Ralph, Vadim and Michael for the Regatta. From the outset, we knew we had some great sailors on board and plenty of high spirits for the nights out in St Tropez. The week was mainly moderate breezes, ranging from 10-20 knots giving some great racing and varied courses around the coast line of the Bay of St Tropez. Our results gradually improved throughout the week, and we finished a respectable 14th out of 27 in a hotly contested fleet, with the first 10 boats all being local race boats.
Swan Cup ~ PortoCervo ~ 25th September to the 2nd October 2010
Dr Edward Krubasik and his friends arrived in Sardinia, excited about the Swan Cup Regatta. A group of friends and business associates, they have been sailing regattas together all over the world for the past 15 years. Most of them were experienced sailors and with the coaching of Ralph (an ex Whitbread Round the World Sailor and coach on many famous Superyachts), they worked extremely well as a team. Sardinia really is a truly spectacular place to sail, with many small Islands to race through and around, making courses interesting and varied each day. Conditions too, were varied, with one day lost to no wind and another to gale force winds. The sailing in between though was top flight, with winds varying from 10-30 knots during the week. We had some great close racing against similar Swans beating our 2 sister ships on the water in all but the first race when we were beaten by one of them. We ended the week 18th overall.
Delivery Cruise to the Med
Our crew, George, Geoff and Bernice, joined us in Portsmouth ready for the voyage down. George has been sailing for many years, mainly racing dinghies and this would be George's first offshore passage. Geoff & Bernice are extremely experienced sailors who race a Laser 4000 regularly and also have a Sigma 33 which they race and cruise with their children Matthew and Joanna. This would also be Geoff & Bernice's first experience of proper offshore sailing. Our Sail to Brest was a long upwind slog in moderate winds and consistent rain, not the most pleasant sailing conditions, but we managed to keep spirits high, with the thought of the warmer climes to come. After a night stay in Brest we set off again across the infamous Bay of Biscay with a favourable forecast for the first 200 nm and the prospect of a beat in a 15-20 knot SE for the last 100nm. The forecast was almost right, other than the 15-20 knot SE which ended up being 30-35 knots. A combination of a confused sea state with gale force winds was enough to make it hard going. 2 reefs in the main and the staysail was marginally too much sail, but allowed us to make good speed to windward. We were originally headed to Bayona, but the conditions made it an easy decision to seek shelter in La Coruna and wait for the gale to pass. Onward down the coast we stopped in Cascais and Puerto Banus, before dropping Geoff & Bernice off in Malaga. I am pleased to say that this second part of the passage was favourable winds and warm sunshine with many Dolphin encounters, much to Bernice's delight. We sailed via a day stop in Palma to Sardinia. Our largest catch to date, we landed a 40kg Yellow Fin Tuna between Palma and Sardinia which would feed us for many weeks to come!!
Summer in the UK
Northern Child's Summer was a rather more relaxed affair in 2010, it being a non-Fastnet year. This meant much of the Summer was spent on Corporate Charters and Cruising across the Channel. We were once again lucky with the weather, seeing very little rain and mostly warm and pleasant days.
The first of our events was the Round the Island Race which Peter Willson organised for the Admiral Group. The team that arrived were mostly experienced sailors and we had an excellent race with plenty of wind to make the race exciting. A N/NE wind made for a fast rounding with only a small amount of upwind work from Bembridge to Ryde. The whole team enjoyed some fun ashore after racing and we celebrated Finishing 12th in class out of 52 and 210th overall.
In July we had great Cruise to Cherbourg with Dave Youds and his friends to celebrate a special birthday for Dave. A quick crossing both ways across and a fun night out in Cherbourg on the Saturday was just the ticket.
Cowes Week was a mixture of Corporate Hospitality and 2 days racing. John Lester organised 2 excellent days for clients of Neptune Investment with crew arriving at Ocean Village, Southampton, in the morning and a second group each day coming aboard after lunch in Cowes. The wind was fresh and we were able to sail amongst the racing boats getting a front row view of the exciting racing. For the Friday of Cowes Week, Baker McKenzie chartered us for racing and racing we really were. The day started overcast and at times we had some rain, but the final downwind leg from Hurst Castle back to Cowes and across the line was extremely exciting. We had up to 30 knots of wind and with our large asymmetric spinnaker flying achieved 15 knots at times on the way.
