Coupe Napoleon – Sadiiqi back in berth safe and sound after 2 days 10 hours of racing round Elba and back to Antibes. Was the wettest race I’ve done in a long while – might as well have swum the course. We had a good start and then made it to the new breeze off Monaco, then sleigh ride through the night to Corsica. Got to the Giraglia Rock at dawn – it’s pretty iconic, then into the big breeze down to Pianossa. Wind was sustained 36kn, gusts into the 40’s, with one being 47. After that stopped looking at the instruments. The boat had one reef in and the heavy J4 jib up, and we were speeding along, water everywhere.
As we rounded Piasnossa, noticed several boats heading for shelter. Another reef in for the beat to Elba, and up the E. Coast, then though the channel between Elba and Italy. Got the 2nd reef in after a struggle – it’s much easier when you practice in calm winds. The boat was under control, just lots of waves sweeping the deck, and lots of noise from the wind. Not seeing waves in the dark made it a bit more exciting than it needed to be! We made it out into the open sea to the North of Elba, and now we were reaching along as it got lighter, and a bit easier.
Rounded under Capraia, crossed the shipping lanes (had to sail around 3 commercial ships which didn’t help), and headed for home. Now we hit a light patch and up went the spinnaker – a frustrating few hours until we reached consistent breeze, and back sailing along as dusk arrived. A whale then made an appearance alongside, before diving underneath Sadiiqi, waving her tail (had to be a her – very flirty). A while later more whales in the distance – lovely.
Along the Italian coast up to Monaco, boat was settled into 8-10 knots as we surfed off the rollers in the breeze, now 30 knots felt a little calm. At Monaco, the wind disappeared, maybe for tax reasons, and the last few miles to Cap d’Antibes were painful in the dark. Lots of sail changes trying to keep the boat moving, finally a fresh, and cold, Northern wind piped up, and we beat towards the finish off Port Vauban.
We were the last to finish the race!Results – we finished 8th out of 23, so 15 retirements. The race finish committee met us at the dock at 5am, and then invited us back to the club for pasta and a coffee – a lovely touch. The boat did us proud – nothing broke in the stern conditions and she handled well. I have to thank my co-skipper Jean-Louis (we raced double-handed) for joining me on this adventure – we raced hard, wore ourselves out, focussed on safety, and had a good race – chapeau. And thanks to the shore team, following us on the tracker and trying to guess what was going on with all the boats retiring.Prize-giving is on Sunday, when we hear the stories from the race, and found out how we did against the other double-handed boats. Well done to the organisers for an excellent event, and being brave enough to send us out into the Force 8 gale.