| |
|
|
|
|
Northern Child's - Recent Race Results |
For the St Martin Heineken Cup 2010 we had an all Dutch crew. A team of successful businessman with varied sailing experience. |
Friday - Race 1 A 32.4nm race clockwise around St Martin. We had 8-10 knots from the South East and the race took us a little over 5hours. We beat the other Swan 51 by almost 30 minutes and were close to our old rival EHO1. 5 th place. |
Saturday - Race 2 We had a reasonable start and were placing well up the first beat until together with several boats in our fleet sailed past our windward mark to the wrong windward mark letting many boats slip through ahead of us. 7 th place. |
Saturday - Race 3 After the mistake in race 2 we were extremely focussed and had a great start and first leg. The crew worked extremely hard, grinding, trimming and the foredeck team excelled running the kite smoothly throughout. 4 th place. |
Saturday - Race 4 A long spinnaker leg from the start in Simpson Bay right round to the Anguilla Channel with 16-22 knots was ideal and we topped 12.5 knots on the reach. A solid performance gave us a 6 th place. |
Sunday - Race 5 A reverse of race 4 from Marigot back to Simpson Bay and great race in 20 knots of wind. The leg from the South West corner of St Martin to Simpson Bay was exciting with a tight Spinnaker reach and 9-10knots all the way to finish in 4 th place. |
Northern Child and her crew sailed superbly well to finish 5 th place overall. |
Northern Child - Fastest Ever Atlantic Crossing |
Northern Child had her fasted ever crossing; 15 days 4 hours and we were proud to come 5th in racing class behind some very large out and out racing boats. |
|
The passage wasn’t without dramas though. After a slow start in 5 knot winds, the first 3 days provided some sparkling 20-25 knot trade winds and on the first night we had a huge tear in the #1 Genoa. After an enormous effort by the crew, lots of sail repair tape, needles, thread, a drill and most importantly perseverance, 3 days later, the sail was hoisted again and the repair lasted the remaining 2000nm to St Lucia. In those first 3 nights, the fearless Juha from Finland managed to get Northern Child surfing down a wave at 16.8 knots – our best to date!! We also had 2 spinnaker blow outs – a problem for many boats on the ARC, but it didn’t dampen our spirits. |
Cruising in the Caribbean |
Northern Child arrived in the Caribbean on the 7th December. After several days recouperating in St Lucia we set off with 3 guests, sailing North through the Leeward Islands. |
Stopping in Martinique, Dominica, Iles de Saintes, Nevis, St Barths and St Martin. We had some great sailing in beautiful turquoise seas and some memorable trips ashore. The first anchorage in Martinique had the most amazing crystal clear water. Iles de Saintes was beautiful, peaceful, chic and idyllic. Nevis was another great stop. The now redundant sugar plantations have been converted into luxury sanctuaries with fine food, accommodation and views. St Barths, home of the super-rich, again a French Island is truly beautiful. Anse de Gouverneur is a beach with the most amazing white sand and blue sea - straight from a James Bond set. We arrived in St Maarten with our crew; Ben, Wheels and Julie after a great adventure ready for our next charter in these beautiful sailing grounds. |
 |
