Evening cocktails
John Duff's enterprising plan to organise a Croatia rally came to fruition after many months of organisation on Saturday 30th September. The skippers and crews of the four, 40 foot Grand Soleil yachts - Tara, Cleopatra, Nina and Bucuvac - together with the crew of the committee boat, Arethusa, gathered in Marina Frapa in Rogoniza for the first of many evenings sampling local delicacies of fresh fish, octopus salad and chilled wine. It was clear this was going to be a good week.
Very light winds on Sunday morning meant that the rally got off to a gentle start but it challenged the crews in other ways. The first was to navigate using a black and white A4 photocopy of local charts with precious little useful information with which to determine a bearing. Fortunately, a combination of guess work and good visibility served just as well and Arethusa's VHF operator - aka Race Officer, Steve Gear-Evans - was always 'standing by' to chivvy along any stragglers. The second challenge was to find some wind but we eventually found just about enough - around Force 2 - near some outlying islands which conveniently served as a new (if slightly shortened) course for Race 1 and we were off.
And it was full of surprises. Unable to anchor in water over 70 metres deep and despite Nick's best efforts at the helm, Arethusa's start line had a somewhat 'dynamic' quality. The crew of Nina, nonetheless, found themselves the wrong side of it but, after a swift 360 round the committee boat, they edged their way up the fleet to take the race with great aplomb. Our crew on Bucuvac, on the other hand, had less luck and discovered the hard way that, not only did our boat have the most unpronounceable name, but it also had a colony of barnacles camping out on the hull making it the slowest boat in the fleet. Still, it's the taking part that counts...
After the exertions (!) of the first race, the crews took a well-deserved lunch on deck in one of the many secluded anchorages and a dip in the warm Adriatic (or, in the case of Bucuvac, carrying out some serious barnacle busting (with a fish slice?!) in preparation for Race 2) before motoring on to the village of Maslinica. There, our committee boat hosted the first evening's cocktail party for the weary crews, moving later to a nearby hostelry for more local fayre (complete with more octopus).
Monday brought even less wind than the previous day so the race committee hastily declared it a rest day and the fleet motored to Hvar to chill out and explore. This beautiful island was colonised by the Venetians in the 16th century and retains much of its architectural splendour today. The more adventurous climbed up to the citadel for superb views of the coastline and a glimpse of how the fortress had protected the city from the invading Turks (only to be partially destroyed a few years later when the gunpowder store was tragically struck by lightening) while others sampled the local café culture and swam in some of the many lidos dotted around the harbour. The end of this idyllic day hailed another cocktail party (sigh!) and yet another fish fest (with, you've guessed it, more octopus). The die-hard party people checked out the local night life and danced til the wee small hours.
The wind was a bit more lively for Race 2. So much so that the Flag Officer, Cathy Burge, abandoned her tangled flags in favour of Steve Gear-Evans' dulcet tones over the radio announcing the raising and lowering of 'virtual' ones. Hangovers were quickly forgotten as the gusty conditions entailed some tricky manoeuvres and challenging sail trimming, and a rather uncomfortable ride for anyone with the misfortune to be struck down with the lurgy and confined to their cabin all day (that was me - E). On board Bucuvac, John R proved that men can multi- task and was a great help in assisting the ladies with his manly strength on winches, furling lines etc. and doubling acting as radio operator too, popping his head up from time to time asking 'This is John, this is John, do any ladies require assistance?'. Race 2 was swiftly declared the best of the week and, after a long siesta to recharge the batteries, the crews were soon out celebrating over good food at our destination of Kut, on the island of Vis.
The weather had a real treat in store for us for Race 3. The Croatian meteorological office was clearly having an 'off' day when it forecast a Force 6-7 for our passage race to Milna. As soon as we reached the start line in the lee of the island, our instruments showed this to be a complete lie as the wind speed quickly rose to over 30 knots. Undeterred, the race got under way but, as we all crossed the line and ventured in to open water, we soon felt the full force of the Adriatic wind. Attention quickly turned to the on-board safety equipment (or, rather, lack of it) and the prospect of reefing sails in winds gusting over 40 knots. Arethusa took a bold decision to abandon the race and Cleopatra and Tara quickly turned back, leaving Bucuvac and Nina out front still racing head-to-head and too preoccupied with the conditions to hear the Race Officer's frantic calls for a decision on our course.
In the case of Bucuvac, it didn't take us long to reach a decision. After hitting a breaking wave at 42 knots and almost losing the skipper's wife overboard in the process, it seemed sensible to reconsider our options. After a heroic effort by John to secure a much-needed reef, we too turned back to join the rest of the fleet. Nina on the other hand was having none of it. As she disappeared in the general direction of Milna, skipper Martin had the crew on the rails, full sails up and was shouting to John Brent on mainsheet "More power, John. More power". The rest of the fleet meanwhile limped back to Kut with a long list of missing or broken kit and waited anxiously for news of Nina. Split Radio was carrying a Mayday for a similar sounding boat which caused more anxiety but, much to everyone's relief, a text message arrived later in the afternoon to confirm that Nina and her crew had arrived safely in Milna. Like true professionals, the message included their self-declared finish time (!).
Unsurprisingly, Nina was absent from the start line for the re-run of Race 3 at 8.30am (!) the following morning, but not for want of trying. Aware that forfeiting a race at this stage could come at a high price, Martin made a valiant effort to negotiate start-time which would enable his crew to return to Kut without the need for a night sail (which would break the terms of the charter). Alas, Nina had to be content with cruising that day and we ended Race 3 with a new winner, Cleopatra. The high-level negotiations resumed over dinner - a sumptuous spit roast supper at a quayside café back in Maslinica - and Nina lobbied hard (this time, successfully) for a second race on the final day so that they could stay in the running for the One Design Cup. Little did we know, it was to be a close run thing...
As if to prove that Croatian weather forecasts really can't be relied upon, we ventured out of Maslinica on the final day in what was predicted to be a moderate wind of 6-16 knots. The wind, however, quickly died to almost nothing as the boats drifted around the course of Race 4. Bucuvac bowed out of this race (this time, the skipper was struck down with the lurgy) and the crew spent the morning swimming and snorkelling in the anchorage where the fleet were stopping for lunch, blissfully unaware that the race was turning in to quite a battle. By lunch, we had another new winner - Tara this time - and the scene was set for a dramatic finale. Race 5 would be the decider.
Not wanting to miss out on all the excitement, Bucuvac rejoined the fleet for the final race, this time with John at the helm (now nicknamed 'miniskip' by the crew). The wind rose to the occasion too, which caused a bit of excitement on the start line as Bucuvac and Tara vied for advantage. A spot of emergency tacking saved the damage deposit and then it was every man for himself as we all headed off towards the lighthouse 'mark' with the wind defying the forecast once again and gusting over 20 knots. Back at Marina Frapa after the race, the crews 'wound down' with a few beers and did a hasty hand-over with Boris, our friendly charter manager, before heading off for one last cocktail party on Tara and dinner at a fine local restaurant where we ended our rally as it had begun with a fish fest, octopus salad and chilled local wine.
John's organisation was first class, down to the minutest detail to include dinner venues, marinas and our airport taxis (nicknamed 'Duff tours'!). Oh, and we forgot to mention who won. Well, it wasn't Bucuvac (that dirty bottom ….). The winner of the first LCSC One Design Cup was Nina, with Cleopatra a close runner up just one point behind. As with all these events, all crews had much fun and far too many laughs to write in an article. So, be sure to catch up with us in the bar and ask who was chatting up lap dancers on the 4.05am train to Gatwick, what shenanigans did Steve Gear-Evans get up to on the pontoon on the final night, who just couldn't resist one last octopus salad before flying home and which boat had the coolest-looking crew shirts...??
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