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Round the Island race, crewing on "Beam On" - 22 June 2002

The day started early, at 05:30 with a detour at Ocean Village to pick up my life jacket and sun glasses, before making my way to Hamble Yacht Services and joining "Beam On", a Beneteau 40.7 racing yacht.

Our start time was at 09:10 and we prepared the yacht while making our way from the Hamble to Cowes, to join the 1,600 other yachts milling around in two staging areas. The morning was overcast and grey with rain threatening and the wind building from an initial 10 knots to 14.

Through the middle of the assembled 1,600 roared REXONA MEN, hoping to beat the 3 hour time around the Island, With bowmen bouncing on the trampolines, screaming at the milling throng to give way, she charged through at 40 knots across the line and then off down the Western Solent to end her bid in a cloud of spray as she hit Lepe Spit, just off Beaulieu River entrance.

Beam On was skippered by Peter, navigated by Rupert, crewed by myself, Christian (ex Save The Children 2000/1), Paul and Paul, Nicola and Emily. Also on board were her owners Stuart and Jane, and Emily's mom Veronica.

The start was truly frightening. Everyone bunching together, jostling for the best position while screaming down towards the rocks at Cowes doing 8 knots. Nobody able to tack because of other boats and everybody needing to tack or run aground in spectacular fashion. Bumps, shouting, trim on, ease off...

We got a good start thanks to expert helming by Peter, but then the whole class was recalled and we had to wait an hour for another nerve racking start at 10:10.

This also made it more messy because we soon caught up to the smaller cruising yachts which had now started ahead of us.

The wind was pumping down the Western Solent, so short tacks and match racing was the order of the day until we ripped a headsail and had to drop back to replace it. Then the main sheet track started to come loose and bend alarmingly. I went below and 15 minutes (seemed longer), a sweaty Ricky emerged and the Main Sheet traveller was secured and we could race again. The new headsail came out the forestay slider, so again we dropped back to run it up the starboard slider and put loads more halyard tension to try and encourage it to stay put.

By this time we were approaching the Needles, with the tide about to turn against us, and everyone short tacking and squeezing around the light house. En Route we passed a few yachts looking very forlorn with broken masts. We took the dangerous route between the light house and the wreck which so many other participants had clobbered in the past - and got away with it.

Around the needles, we could bear away and launch the large light spinnaker and start scything our way through the fleet.

All went well, and we clipped along at 12 plus knots passing everyone and trimming for all we were worth. A jibe later, and the spinnaker ripped, so out with the heavier one and we continued our path around St Catherines point, Ventnor towards the buoy outside Bembridge.

I felt supreme satisfaction in trimming our way past "Outrageous" - although she was later to beat us on handicap. Still it was hugely satisfying to be on the spinnaker sheet and get the immediate feedback of inching past her as I kept the trim just right.

Around the buoy and the relative calm of the downwind leg was replaced with the inevitable shouting as the fleet converged on the buoy, dropped their spinnakers, and came hard on the wind again. A short dash to the fort, and then the eyrie turn around the fort with zero wind, music blearing from the fort and our momentum taking us around within touching distance of the fort wall, whilst being hemmed in by others also trying to take the shortest distance.

Around the fort we were forced to tack towards the shallows by the rest of the fleet on starboard, and then tried to balance the shallows, lighter tides against and the stronger winds further out in the Eastern Solent. With a depth reading of 5.4ft when Beam On draws 6ft - the 30 degree heel saving us the embarrassment of grounding on Ryde sands, we charged up the shallows before opting for a compromise, taking the stronger winds in an effort to beat "White Knuckles" to the line.

More match racing towards the finish with crew having to lift their legs to skim past a starboard pole, and relief at the finishing line.

Our time was 07:13, which placed us 18 in the 50+ entrants in our class.

Would I do it again - YES PLEASE, but not in Debanessa thanks. Beam On is a superb racing machine with almost twice the sail area of Debanessa even though she is only two feet longer. She was expertly helmed by Peter and well crewed by the rest of us.

It was some race - thrilling, exciting and a little bit frightening.

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