This week-end we had a tidal window extending from Saturday 3rd to Tuesday 6th September, meaning that the confluence of Irish Sea tides and daylight hours made crossing the Irish Sea in single handed Laser class dinghies a possibility. In particular Tuesday looked promising, according to weather data available Friday, and we proceeded to book a ferry crossing from Liverpool to Dublin for early Monday morning, in order to locate the boats and the sailors to the departure point in Howth.

Additionally we mobilised the support vessel, the 11 metre catamaran “Wild” from the West coast of Scotland to a standby position at Peel, on the West coast of the Isle of Man, and awaited the weather reports with anticipation.

Unfortunately, as the week-end progressed the weather situation became less favourable and by Sunday our meteorologist Roger Williams was predicting the possibility of 40 – 50 knot gale force winds and a 10 – 12 ft swell, with all other available data in agreement with this.

As conditions were expected to be greatly in excess of those considered safe for the planned crossing, we took the decision on Sunday to cancel the attempt and the support vessel “Wild” returned to Kip Marina.

In reality we have only been fully prepared to attempt the Irish Sea Challenge since our final training session off the West coast of Scotland on 20th August, and thus had given ourselves little opportunity to complete the crossing during the remainder of 2011.

On the bright side, for 2012 we will be fully prepared and ready to go from mid-April through to mid-September, which will give us a possible 65 days for the crossing over this 5 month period.

We thank you for your ongoing support, and in the meantime will continue our fund-raising activities for the Irish Sea Challenge charities, Mind and the John Merricks Sailing Trust.

On 22nd May 2011 David made a training run from Bournemouth to Hill Head, a distance of 28 nautical miles. The forecast was for a Westerly breeze of up to 24 knots, but unexpectedly he experienced winds of up to 38 knots, a Force 8 gale.

“I wanted to undertake this sail in order to complete just over a quarter of the distance of the Irish Sea Challenge, test the recently prepared boat in a decent breeze, and see how I felt at the end of it. The first hour or so was fairly uneventful, and I certainly wouldn’t have left the beach at Boscombe in excessive wind, even if I’d been able to. It’s always a bit strange to experience significant wind increases when you’re already on the water, and you have no choice but to adapt to the changing conditions. In Christchurch Bay the waves were building significantly as the combination of the Westerly wind and the full flooding tide forced the massive volume of water over the Shingles Bank and into the constriction of Hurst Narrows, the entrance to the Solent. As I sailed closer to Hurst Castle and the waves became increasingly higher and steeper, it became impossible to tack or gybe, and I experienced difficulty in sailing low enough on starboard tack to avoid the shallows of the bank, at times seeing the shingle as the huge waves bottomed out. Just before the entrance to the Solent I sailed into the back of a huge wave and felt the top mast break at the collar. I was focusing on getting through this stretch of water which felt akin to a Grade 5 white water river, and I fully expected to be towed in by one of the numerous yachts headed in the same direction, all of which were motoring under no sail. However, once I shot through the narrows like a cork, a tug on the mainsheet indicated that the rig in its damaged condition was enabling me to sail at a decent speed, albeit with the tip of the top mast dragging in the water, creating a huge rooster tail. The resultant sail area after the breakage was later calculated to be a mere 2.25 m², the area of the triangle created by the lower mast and the boom, but I managed to complete the remaining 15 nautical miles from Hurst Castle to Hill Head Sailing Club in 1 hour 40 minutes, at an average speed of 9 knots over the ground, enhanced by both the flood tide and the regular waves for surfing. Overall I completed the 28 nautical miles in 3 hours 40 minutes, at an average speed of 7.6 knots, which will be an acceptable speed to complete the Irish Sea Challenge within the time constraints imposed by daylight hours and tides. Once I’d recovered my Laser to the boat park at Hill Head and had a cup of tea I felt very positive about sailing 115 miles across the Irish Sea, given that we plan to sail in a more moderate breeze of 15 to 20 knots, with significantly more meteorological input and the added comfort of a support boat. I was also very pleased that my “bullet proof” Laser responded well to the buffering she was subjected to. ”