NOW based in Lorient for the summer, Nick has been working around the clock on and off the water in order to ensure his boat, Mini 6.50 ‘719’ and he are in the best possible condition to work towards successful qualification for the Mini Transat next year.
With the majority of races starting along the West coast of France, each event sees a marked extension of the course distance, increasing the physical pressures on the boats and skippers.
Three races in and Nick is a confirmed force among the leaders, with 719 proving to be fast and reliable. Constant attention to the conditions, the fleet and the boat is a priority; sleep comes second when able. Here Nick describes two incidents from the Pornichet Select 300nm race:
“The first upwind leg for 50nm (nautical miles) went well, driving 719 to the windward mark with only about five or six boats ahead of me, and I was looking forward to launching into my downwind leg!
“Unfortunately for me disaster struck in the way of three fishing buoys that wrapped around my keel stopping 719 dead in the water.
“As I had just rounded the mark the wind and waves soon started pushing my boat back down onto the rocks. It was completely dark at this time, which made seeing the fishing buoys impossible as they are unlit.
“I quickly established that I could not reach the tangled line from my boat and had to make the decision quickly to drop my sails and jump into the water to cut myself free. It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life…
“In pitch black water with 25 knots blowing me into a rocky bank. It took me about 10 minutes to cut the boat free and then I had to climb back into my boat and re hoist my sails to clear myself of the rocks.
“Completely frozen after my time in the water, a serious situation if I didn’t take care of myself immediately, I turned my autopilot on and went downstairs to try and dry myself better, huddling in my survival blanket to try and warm up.
“As dawn came on Sunday and the sun rose, it gave me a second wind…
As the day went on I started to catch up and by sunset I was back in the race! It was such an uplifting feeling compared to the night before, pushing all night to gain more places and eventually finishing 4th.”
With no serious damage sustained to 719, Nick was back at sea for the Mini en Mai race at the end of May, racing 500nm and continuing to demonstrate a knack for hitting things in the middle of the night…
“As we rounded the headlands, the wind angles got tighter and we were constantly changing down to smaller kites (sails). I was flying along at 15 knots, thoroughly enjoying the night sailing when there was an almighty BOOM.
“In the time it took my brain to register the noise I was already being thrown over with the boat being laid down flat on its side. It was at this point I thought ‘things aren’t looking too good right now Joycey…’. After managing to get the boat back on the flat, I was promptly spun into another knockdown.
“Once back under control for the third time, I quickly dropped my spinnaker and bundled it down the hatch and was 99 per cent certain at this point that one of my rudders had been blown off the back. With the wind over 20 knots at this point and the time just past midnight (these things never happen at lunchtime), I hoved the boat too and leant over the back of the boat to try and assess the damage.
“After fully submerging my arms and torch whilst trying to work out if it had snapped I felt a strange rubbery texture at the end of my fingers and after pushing my torch a bit further into the water saw a metre long shark bent double around my rudder…
“The race headed north for another 50 miles in some big choppy seas through the fast tides before heading back to the south for the long 200 mile leg down towards Bordeaux.
“It was around midday on the second day that the wind completely gave up…Even the weather in France goes on strike.The leg took just over two painful days of mostly drifting. Thoughts of using my paddle were frequent among other things… Do I have enough food? Do I have enough water? What actually happens when you run out of Pringles?”
A frustrating 6th in class for Nick, but the 719 remains unscathed and he is now hopeful for an uninterrupted attempt at the podium as the races now head further offshore. A 1,000nm solo qualifier next week, Mini Fastnet in a fortnight, a dash back to the Solent for the Round the Island Race are all in the diary for next month, before Nick prepares for the Azores Race at the beginning of August.
