The 2007 Open Demi Cle was a 200 mile double hander up the coast of Brittany, starting from Locmiquelic in Lorient and ending in historic Douarnenez on the west coast.  Right from the start, the race looked like it was going to be a long upwind bash and so I was very grateful to have the company of the brave Sue Pelling who is not only a talented dinghy sailor, but is also editor of Yachtingworld.com.

Sue had not long flown back from reporting on Antigua Week and so we were both keen to get Domosofa out on the water and get some practice in. What with the massive sail area, canting/sliding keel, canting dagger board, barber haulers and tweakers galore, the prospect of just jumping aboard with a total stranger and going offshore for 200 miles must have been a daunting one for Sue! Luckily, there was a prologue before the main race, a chance for all the boats to test equipment and teamwork and so we headed out for the start of that.

We decided it was best if Sue took the helm and I operated all the gear which turned out to be a great combo as Sue put us in a great position straight off the start. We rounded the first mark in the top 5 and generally had a good sail from here on in, but due to an unexpected mast inversion on a gusty upwind leg, I thought it wise to retire in order to check the rig. Back in port I found nothing unusual except a slightly loose spreader which I duly tightened as well as give the entire rigging a bit more tension. I’m still not sure why it happened, only that it’s a new main with a 1 metre square top and with 1st reef in at the time, it does tend to pull aft in that area.

There was plenty to do on the boat during the rest of the day and poor old Sue was a great help as we worked well into the evening ironing out all the bugs. We finally managed to get a few hours sleep later that night thanks to Annabelle of the Classe Mini who put us up, before rising early for the race briefing at 0830.

The boats started to be towed out soon after 0930, but inevitably the race was postponed due to half the fleet not being near the start line. Nevertheless it was eventually a clean start and once again Sue’s expert dinghy skills put us in good stead as we rounded the windward mark in 6th position. Once around I was a little slow getting the big kite up for the 15 or so mile run down to Belle Isle, but we still managed to keep pace with the leading bunch including Yves Le Blevec on Actual, Bretagne Lapins as well as Tom Braidwood and Nick Bubb on the other Rogers proto who also had a good start.

All was going well until we suddenly realised we weren ’t actually moving! A quick look out the side then sure enough alongside us was the discourteous bobbing of a lobster pot danbuoy. My usual ‘solo sailor’ language at this point was fairly colourful, as I had clearly forgotten the presence of a lady!

Catching a pot upwind is one thing, but with the entire fleet with kites up and sailing at 9 knots, it took no time at all before we were right at the back of the pack. This of course added to my anger which surprisingly wasn’t calmed by the loss of a much treasured wristwatch to the depths as I wrestled with the obstinate pole. Eventually it freed itself and we started sailing in the right direction, albeit with a now slightly ripped spinnaker and a fast fading breeze.

We decided it was best to heat up our apparent wind angle a little and sail under genakar which  turned out to be a good move as we managed to claw our way back up into mid fleet just in time for the big park up. Just about everyone save the leading 5 or 6 fell into a wind hole behind the lee of Belle Isle, leaving a typical ‘rich get richer’ scenario and as the gap grew, we could do nothing but watch helplessly.

Eventually a breeze kicked in and we finally rounded the southern mark, which left us with the night and cold drawing in and a long beat to Douarnenez. The weather info we had was showing a couple of shifts and I think we did a reasonable job of putting ourselves in the right place for when they arrived.

We took it in turns to helm through the night, alternately getting about an hour’s sleep off watch and I think Sue was pleasantly surprised how comfy it can be down below in 500’s ‘V’ berths. Whilst I was helming I was loving my new three layer Musto kit, previously I’ve always thought... “yeah, so long as you’ve got good waterproofs it’s fine”, but I can honestly say I’ve never been more cosy on watch than when using this complete technical kit. So a big ‘thank you’ goes to Musto for sending me that in time for this race.

The next morning, after a position gaining gybe around the northernmost mark, we had a kite run down to the finish line which ended up really needing a genakar, but with so little distance to go we gritted teeth and sailed about the same speed with the wrong sail up! I’m also pretty sure the boat had a good deal of weed around the keel as it felt as though she were sailing through treacle whilst making no gains on the boat ahead, one which 500 normally easily overhauls.

This put us over the line in 23rd which is a real disappointment, but as always, I still learned a lot about my sails and tactics, and also had a great sail with Sue who I hope hasn’t been put off offshore racing completely!

The next race is a single hander called the Trophee Marie Agnes Peron or Trophee MAP

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