It’s a Thursday afternoon in September, the day before the finals of the RYA British Keelboat League, and Daryl Conyers is still looking for crew. Several people have dropped out of his Royal Western Yacht Club team and he’s spent the past week on the phone looking for replacements. For the Royal Western to take its place in the finals, Daryl just needs two other sailors, but as every skipper knows, finding crew is never easy. The club qualified via the regional event it hosted earlier in the summer and is keen to be on the startline. But now, with about 14 hours to go, Daryl has all but given up. He goes off to the pub in Plymouth for a pint, where he bumps into Chris Harris, aged 18, a keen J/24 sailor, and David Haw, aged 22, a J/70 regular. “Can you come keelboat racing tomorrow in Surrey?”
The lads give Daryl a look. Is the Pope Catholic? They down their pints and head off to pack. Royal Western is back in the mix.
ROOKIE
9am the following morning I’m suited and booted at Queen Mary Sailing Club in Surrey, looking for three blokes from Plymouth. My Yachts & Yachting jacket is helpful in these situations. My call had come via Jack Fenwick, who heads up the RYA’s keelboat team. “There’s a crew from Plymouth needs some ballast….are you free?”
Luckily for me, Queen Mary is five minutes from my house, but after a five hour drive from Plymouth, my new teammates Daryl, Chris and David are in need of strong coffee. Knowing its customer base well, Queen Mary has strong coffee on tap, so I get the drinks in and we sit down to survey the wind gusting across the reservoir and discuss significant matters such as: “So have you done any of this type of racing before, Rob?”
“No.”
I wrack my brain…wasn’t the America’s Cup once won by a scratch crew?
NATIONAL LEAGUE
This story is from the April 2020 edition of Yachts & Yachting.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 2020 edition of Yachts & Yachting.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Super, smashing, great
How do you stand out in one of the most competitive sectors of boat building? Sam Jefferson steps aboard the Dufour 390 to find out
ST PETER PORT - GUERNSEY 49°27.19'N, 002°32.00'W
This haven on Guernsey is the ideal starting point to explore the beauty of the Channel Islands, as Emma Bamford discovers
Round the Island Q&A
Dave Atkinson, director of the Round the Island Race, now postponed until the autumn, explains some decisions and breaks down misconceptions about the race in a revealing chat with Rupert Holmes.
The rest is Istria
Nicola Beykirch headed to Venice in search of a cheap winter berth and endured the hardship of sailing the length of the Croatian coast en route
Grinding to a halt
Sent home from warm-weather training in Sardinia amid Covid-19 restrictions, grinder Freddie Carr updates us on what is now for INEOS TEAM UK and the America’s Cup
From a distance
Rob Peake looks at what ‘sailing’ we can do via distance learning courses and online regattas
Flying the flag
Her rise through the ranks has been meteoric and her helm Charlotte Dobson calls her ‘an absolute weapon’. Rob Peake meets 49erFX crew Sakia Tidey
Eire on a shoestring
The Irish sea deserves respect, but the rewards of a summer cruise can be great, as Don Smith notes
Ace Your Club Race
Quirky courses and mixed fleets - Mark Rushall talks tactics and sorts strategy for club race situations
WIZARDS IN OZ
After Ainslie’s spectacular series debut, ROB KOTHE speaks to SailGP skippers on the lessons learned in Sydney, and finds out what’s next from Russell Coutts
