Conrad's Blog

Introduction

04 August 2007 - I am sitting in Stockholm airport, hardly able to keep my eyes open after a very tough Raid...

CH © conradhumphreys.com

Overall, the experience was incredible. Being only my first F18 event, with only three days practice in the boat beforehand, it was a steep learning curve, the navigation was insane at times and the conditions made for some of the most demanding sailing we've ever undertaken.

The last minute change in Bernard Stamm's plans for the Barcelona World Race meant I switched to sailing the Raid with Ryan Crawford (who normally occupies the front slot for Hugh Styles). His knowledge of the boat, strength and superb crewing certainly raised my game. He is currently sitting next to me on this flight and the sight of his hands tells me a great deal about his level of determination. He gave it all.

Some of you will know that I decided to use this race to learn about Bernard Stamm's abilities, as a test for the Barcelona World Race. Sadly this will not happen as Bernard decided after the Calais Round Britain Race to focus on the Vendée, a decision that I was pretty gutted about. However, the Archipelago Raid has been the biggest two person test and challenge that I have undertaken and for this reason alone, it has been an amazing experience. It certainly ranks up there with the Vendée in terms of mental and physical duress.

For the BLUE™ Project, this race has been perfect and the level of awareness is gaining momentum daily. The decision by the Archipelago raid organistion to allow us to partner the race with individual teams sailing as ambassadors for the environment was brilliant and as a result we have increased the awareness further through this event than I expected. The feedback from the competitors was very positive and I know that their efforts will continue to build the awareness for BLUE™ on their return home.

The highlights were many. The camaraderie of the teams and organisation was exceptional. Christine and her team ran an incredible event, always putting the efforts of the competitors first and there was a great bond with them even if they got us up at 3 o'clock in the morning!

Day three produced some of the greatest sailing with a monster downwind leg over 100 miles in 20-25 knots through rock alley. After an early capsize, we pushed hard and got back to score one of our best results of the week. It was insane and the footage taken from the chopper by the APP team was remarkable.

The lowest part of the race was the gut wrenching sound as we destroyed both our dagger boards in a collision that could have ended our race. I guess the lesson is to make sure you hit it hard, the boards exploded but we suffered no damage to the boat. The last two days had us sailing and tacking upwind having to switch the board on every tack, not easy in 20knots!

The other worst part of the raid was the bites from the mosquitoes. I resemble something like the elephant man after suffering over a 100 bites to my body on Wednesday night in Orland.

So overall a top experience, I'm sure at some stage I will go back and race again. It is one event that I have wanted to do for a number of years and having completed it at the first attempt in the top half of the fleet was really pleasing.

Big thanks to Matt and Jamie for sailing as Team BLUE and to Disc Manufacturing Services, Navico and Corum for supporting us at the event.

Cheers

Conrad