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Preparations
Willie and
Mike flew out with me on the 10th November 2004 and Roger arrived
on the 17th.We had 11 days in all to prepare for the passage.
This may seem like a long time particularly as we had not experienced
too many equipment problems and we had most of the dried and canned
food on board. However at a steady pace, the time is soon filled
checking stowing, sometimes partying!
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As usual World Cruising, organisers of the ARC, had provided a very full programme of events both informative and social. The ARC entry fee has always appeared good value to me. £400 for Éowyn plus £50 per crew member. We saved much of this fee in marina discounts on the way to Las Palmas and the free beer alone seemed to cover the crew's £50!
We were visited by Per and Roland from Hallberg-Rassy. They delivered some items of spares, I had ordered and fixed a couple of minor problems to the yacht. They also hosed an excellent paella evening which gave us the chance to meet the crews of other Hallberg Rassy yachts in the ARC.
Our insurers Admiral, provided a free rigging check by Neil Cox of Solent rigging. This was most educational in showing us just what to look for in our own checks during the ARC. Roland from Lewmar came to fix some rope clutches which were faulty but overall the preparations were smooth and trouble free. I managed to find time to sit the oral examination for my Yachtmaster Ocean qualification as examiner John Giblet was at Las Palmas preparing Russian yacht "Murka" in the racing division.
We're
Off!
The start
on 21st November was a great anticlimax as there literally was
no wind. We were 50 metres from the line at the gun but still
took 10 minutes to cross the line. We later heard of some yachts
taking 2 hours just to reach the start line. The instant we were
over, I started the engine and motored for 3 hours! 
Once we reached the south
of Gran Canaria. we found the perfect wind for Éowyn. North-easterly
force 5-6. Initially we goose winged the main and genoa, but it
was not long before our specialist down wind "Twistle"
rig came out of the locker. this comprises 2 identical 130 yankees
hoisted up the twin luff grooves. The sails are poled on 2 yards
which do 
not come back to the mast,
but are attached to a universal joint held by an uphaul and downhaul.
Because there does not seem to be a wealth of knowledge on the
setting of this rig, we had to experiment with the ideal positioning.
It is important not to attempt to trim the sails as a conventional
rig. The photo shows Roger "adjusting" the twistle!
We reached the following
conclusions after much trial and error. -
1. The point
of the "V" formed by the 2 poles must always face aft.
Once the "V" moves forward, then there is a real danger
of the poles becoming jammed in the shrouds! To stop this happening
accidentally, we fitted an extra line to the joint as a preventer.
2. The uphaul must be trimmed so that the joint is above the outer
pole ends. Once this is achieved, the rig is stable in most wind
strengths and a full 120 degrees of course variation is possible
with virtually no sail trimming.
3. Temptation must be resisted to "power" the rig by
hauling the sheets. The windward sheet must allow that pole end
to be well forward of the forestay to allow the sail to fold across
and in front of the forestay.
4. If trimmed correctly, full sail can be set at least until 30
knots of wind! We did not reef the sail at any time (except see
next point!)
5. When winds become light, the rig does not hold up well. It
is necessary to roll the sails to create a brace effect to stop
the sails slatting.
6. Hoisting the twin yankees in the same track requires a superhuman
effort. See "specification" to see how we overcame this
issue with an electric drill!
After 5 days, not
only were we substantially leading our class, but we were 21st
overall in the ARC 
(and probably leading on
handicap!) Unfortunately, reality kicked in and the wind kicked
out! For 7 days we had virtually no wind and our boat speed often
fell below 3 knots. So calm it was, I was able to "abandon"
ship for some photographs. We all took a swim but it is a strange
feeling when the sea bed is 4 miles beneath you!
As larger yachts overtook us we were ruing my decision not to include a spinnaker or gennaker in the sail wardrobe, but cost and space dictated some economies.
Nevertheless it was a great moment when we reached half distance and this was duly celebrated with a bottle of cava. We ate well throughout the passage and made good use of the 2 legs of serrano ham. Bread was baked on a daily basis and the fresh food lasted all the way across. We found initially, the fruit and vegetables started to deteriorate, but once we removed the locker doors to air the contents, everything kept well.
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As well as the weather
forecast from the ARC, we tuned on the SSB to Herb, callsign 
"Southbound 2" - Herb is a dedicated
amateur who gives weather routing to yachtsmen and we used his
advice to good effect in our attempt to find wind. After about
5 frustrating days of light winds, we found our strong N Easterlies
and the "Twistle" was rigged again. This time we tested
it to the full and regularly achieved speeds in excess of 8 knots.
As the wind strength increased, we decided to make the night watches
double handed as "Helga the Hydrovane" sometimes needed
help to steer. However, we did not have to reef the sails and
kept the rig until we approached Pigeon Island on St. Lucia. At
this point we had our first problem to speak of. The foresail
feeder broke and it was very difficult to remove the yankees,
but the crew battled through and the upwind yankee was hoisted
as you can see by the finish photo on the home page and the ones
below.
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We came home to the usual ARC welcome of rum punch, fruit and steel band music with our loved ones waiting on the pontoon to greet us!!!
