Prospector returns to action this weekend in the Rolex Fastnet Race, one of ocean racing’s greatest events.  This is the 46th edition of the Fastnet Race which is celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2015 with a record 372 entrants.

The 603 nautical mile race is a test of strategy and skill with challenging tidal currents and changeable weather. The fleet starts off the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, races out of the Solent and down the English Channel passing The Needles, Anvil Point, Portland Bill, Start Point, The Lizard and Land’s End, ahead of the open water passage across the Celtic Sea and the symbolic turn around the Fastnet Rock off the southern coast of Ireland; a rounding that heralds the race’s emblematic moment as the fleet embark on the long return leg to the finish in Plymouth.

We start at 13:40pm British Standard Time, which is 8:40 am edt.  Our start will include our class, IRC Zero with 16 yachts, IRC Canting Keel and the Volvo 65s.  32 yachts in total will be on the line with us including Comanche, Rambler 88, Bella Mente, Lucky, Leopard and Volvo Ocean Race competitors Dongfeng and SCA.  It promises to be a very exciting start. 

IRC Zero is a very diverse class, very different from the fairly homogeneous group we were grouped with for the Transatlantic race.  It is a very similar class, with many of the same yachts, to the one we were in for the Caribbean 600.  We will have our hands full and will be happy to finish in the top half of this group.

Details of the race can be found on the race website:

http://www.rolexfastnetrace.com

There is a terrific race preview video available at:

http://www.rolexfastnetrace.com/Multimedia/multimedia-area-overview.html

The start of the race will be broadcast on radio and TV and will be streamed over the internet at

http://www.rolexfastnetrace.com/Fastnet-Radio-2015/87-9-fm-fastnet-radio-2015.html

You can track the race on Yellowbrick via the internet or the mobile app.  The link for online tracking is:

http://www.rolexfastnetrace.com/Tracking-Full-Page-Hidden/2015-fleet-tracking-race-player.html

We hope you will follow us along on our latest adventure!

A Glossary of Prospector Terms (in no particular order)

Quinn Tobin is Prospector’s linguist.  He applies his particular and often peculiar

sensibilities to all aspects of Prospector’s equipment, operations and daily

routines.  You can’t understand Prospector if you don’t know DialQ, a language

Quinn invented.  This might be helpful.

Supermodel:  Our A2-4 masthead spinnaker.  Tall and curvy, she is very beautiful

but extremely high maintenance.  She will give you plenty of trouble if you don’t

pay the utmost attention to her.

The Girl Next Door:  Our fractional A-5 spinnaker.  Safe and reliable, the GND is

easy to handle and trim.  Lately the boys have been referring to her as Caitlin

Jenner following an unfortunate incident that required extensive surgery to fix.

The Green Monster:  The toilet seat in the head, painted green in honor of our

beloved navigator.

The Silk Road:  The pathway between the galley/head area and the forepeak. 

This is the most heavily travelled area of the boat.

Lindsey Vonn:  Our number five jib.  She is very beautiful, very sturdy, and always

comes through in the clutch.

The Drive Thru Window:  A cockpit portlight that opens to the galley.  Food and

beverages are distributed to the on deck crew from here in foul weather.

Pol Pot:  The persona assumed by our beloved navigator when he doesn’t get

enough sleep.

The Carbon Cabana:  Also referred to as steerage, this is the below deck area at

the very back of the boat where our nippers Scotty and Lu sleep and do strange

things that no one wants to know about.

The General:  Our Genoa Staysail.  Set just behind the headsail, the General

doesn’t go to the front lines but he is always ready to lead the charge.

The Third Dolphin:  If you know, then you know.

Cambodia:  The starboard lower bunk in the main salon.  Pol Pot can often be

found sleeping here.

Spin Class With Henry (aka All Aboard the Pain Train):   The unlucky position of

being main grinder when Henry is trimming the mainsail and Dave is lawn darting. 

The tone in Henry’s voice will let you know how much it is about to hurt.

Owner’s Stateroom:   The dark cave portside aft with three bunks where

Brendan, Paul, and sometimes Larry have their bunks

Owners Changing Room (aka The Group W Bench):   The bench just outside the

Owner’s stateroom.  A perfect place to get into or remove your foulies.

Colette’s Stateroom:  The starboard side companion to the Owner’s Stateroom.

ESU:  Emergency Services Unit.  Led by Tery and assisted by various off watch

crewmembers, the ESU responds to on deck emergencies to help shorten sail or

take jibs/kites down.  Its motto is “You flag ‘em, we bag ‘em”

Bear Claw:  A sheet hobbling device that was initially met with much derision by

the Prospector crew.  However, with time the boys have come to appreciate the

invaluable service provided by the Bear Claw.

Poking the Bear:  Sailing too close to a low pressure system.  (See also:  The

Widowmaker)

Bikes:  Arm-driven handles that power the mainsheet and primary winches.  (See

also:  The Midget)

Baptismal Font:  The nickname given our offshore companionway hood.

Mulligan – Ever Elusive:  Spending a watch in your bunk instead of on deck when

you are perfectly capable of standing said watch.  This never happens.  Sorry

Dave.

Monkey:  The act of bouncing along with the new active sheet during a jibe.  Its

effect is to tension the leach of the spinnaker and snap the twist out of the head.

Dryer:  An extremely valuable device invented by Tery, the Dryer is a tray in the

engine room for drying hats, gloves, and socks.  Accessed through a trapdoor in

the galley counter.

Sched:  Fleet position update.  The obsession of racing navigators the world over. 

Offshore race boats live and die by the Sched.  Updated on the half hour during

the TR 2015.

Cranky:  What our navigator is when we have a bad Sched, which may lead to Pol

Pot making an appearance.

Get The Lulu:   What is said when an item or is too heavy for the old guys to lift.

The Deflect:  What you get when you try to get an answer or commitment from

our sailmaker.

BFL:  Big F***ing Light.  A large flashlight with many thousands of lumens.

The Widowmaker:  The low pressure system that we got a bit too close to, that

tried to kill us.

Longboarding:  Benign surfing conditions.  A less aggressive version of the Lawn

Dart.

Lawn Dart:  A big wave surf.  So named because the Prospector’s bowsprit often

pierces the next wave in the train, much like a lawn dart.

North Atlantic Boat Racoon:  Our nickname for Scotty who is found constantly

eating out of the cooler of left over freeze dried in the early morning hours. 

Always armed with his “Racoon Spoon”, he is something of a human garbage

disposal, which explains his frequent gastrointestinal distress.  This usually leads

to the administration of a cocktail of stomach medicines by Dr. Dave.

The Midget:  The mainsheet winch bike.  It seems just a bit too short.

The Keystay:  An ingenious device devised by Tim Keyworth, aka Keys.  The

Keystay consists of a masthead halyard led back to a padeye on the weather rail

which helps to stabilize the topmast when flying The Supermodel.

Moneypenny:  Our number four jib.  It is our money sail when things get sporty.

From The Deck Of Prospector 13 July 2015 1000Z

A Paean To Prospector

As we near the finish of the TR2015 all 15 crew onboard are reflecting

on how lucky we have been to do this event on such an exceptional

yacht.

The yacht called Prospector today has a long and illustrious history

since her commissioning in 1998.  She has been Deep Powder, Carrera,

Harrier, Hissar, and Captivity.  She has had terrific owners in Joe

Dockery, Steve Munger, Edgar Cato, and Sam Byrne who maintained

her well and upgraded her consistently.  She is a winner on the race

course, and among her many victories she is the current holder of the

course record for the Annapolis to Newport race, set when she was

Carrera.  When the SITP partners found her in Maine we could

immediately tell she had great bones, though she needed a bit of love. 

More on that in a separate post.

Many famous sailors and highly accomplished crews have raced on her

over the years.  We have been amazed at the number of people we

have met who fondly remember sailing on her in the past.  To a one

they have offered us advice and encouragement as we have gone about

getting ready for the TR2015.  Many of them have told us how happy it

makes them feel to see the old girl out and about again.  It would be

great fun if any of you who sailed on her put a post on our Facebook

page.

Every racing yacht is great at some things and not so great at others.

We have only found two flat spots with Prospector.  The first is that she

is underpowered downwind in light air.  The second is that we have to

switch to smaller fractional spinnakers in any reaching condition over 8

knots because the top of the mast is unsupported and we don’t have

running backstays.  Both of these issues are minor (though they did

impact our Annapolis to Newport result) relative to her many strengths. 

There are a couple of other minor annoyances. Prospector is a bit of a

wet boat now, mostly because of her age.  The aft facing Nav station is

a bit of a trip and a bit of a challenge for her navigator.  All things

considered, these are pretty acceptable trade-offs in exchange for her

many strengths.

Prospector is very fast upwind in almost any wind condition and

downwind above 15 knots though we can’t quite compete with the

planning yachts of today.  The more the wind blows, the more she likes

it.  It is amazingly easy to tell when she is underpowered and when she

is overpowered.  In either state, a quick adjustment to the sail plan gets

her back on her groove again.  During our transatlantic crossing we

were blessed with a lot of wind.  On more than a few occasions too

much wind.  The crew had more trouble dealing with that than

Prospector did.  After we reduced sail area, often to a triple reefed

main and J5, Prospector would settle right down, incredibly balanced

and relatively easy to steer.  It was an incredible sensation in over 40

knots of wind to feel her trundle on like a locomotive on a track,

shaking off the mayhem raging around her.  Her strength and

confidence rubbed off on us.  In conditions that often were just this

side of terrifying, we were able to remain calm knowing our sturdy

yacht could handle them.

Her other terrific attribute is her sheer volume.  Long, wide and tall she

is enormous below decks.  Prospector was an amazingly spacious and

comfortable home for the 15 of us as we crossed the Atlantic (this is of

course a relative comparison).  There was plenty of room for all of us,

our gear (too much gear), 14 or 15 sails, food, supplies, tools and

spares.  Sail storage and handling was easy given the space in the main

cabin.  She is extremely comfortable, an important consideration for a

partnership group that would be hard to categorize as young. 

Prospector is very big, and she looks it.  We were in Antigua this winter

at the Catamaran Club for the Caribbean 600.  We were on a dock in

front of the Ker 51 Sorcha and alongside the Cookson 50 Privateer. 

Both looked tiny compared to the massive Prospector.   People would

walk the docks and check Sorcha and Privateer, both amazing yachts. 

When they got to Prospector they would stop and stare, stunned at her

size.  We really benefited from her size and volume in the sailing

conditions we experienced during TR2015.

We had a very tough race.  We rarely sailed in less than 30knot winds. 

Often, too often really, we were in 40 knot plus winds.  We also had

very big seas.  Bigger than any of us had ever seen before or want to

see again.  We pushed Prospector hard to try to put up the best

possible finish we could.  We had some breakdowns, and some near

break downs, and even more near misses but Prospector gave us more

than we should have asked of her and brought us across the big, unruly

North Atlantic safely.

All 15 of us now trust her completely.  We know we are beyond

fortunate to have such a fast, strong, sea kindly yacht to enjoy the

adventure of a lifetime aboard.

From The Deck of Prospector 13 July 2015 XXXXZ

PROSPECTOR FINISHES TR2015!

At 0333:02Z on 13 July 2015 the mighty Prospector and her indomitable

crew of 15 crossed the finish line at The Lizard in Cornwall, England to

finish the 2015 Transatlantic Race.

The second yacht to cross the finish line in her 10 boat class, Prospector

was the ninth of 38 monohulls and tenth of forty yachts to finish in the

TR2015 fleet. 

Preliminary predicted, provisional standings have Prospector correcting

to third place in IRC 3.  She is currently the leader in the clubhouse for

the IRC3 fleet with the two yachts ahead of her still out on the course. 

We are ecstatic with these results.

Our Transatlantic Race is over.  It is very surreal to write such a thing

after two years of planning and 3,000 miles sailed.  The entire crew is

thrilled to have finished the race, an accomplishment to be proud of for

the rest of our lives.

Now, it is on to the 164 nautical mile Coastal Race to Cowes.  Many of

us have family eagerly awaiting us in Cowes.  They will watch us cross

the final finish line from the Royal Yacht Squadron, meet us at the dock

and join us for what promises to be an epic party.

From The Deck of Prospector 12 July 2015 1430Z

Camaraderie

There are few things in life that build camaraderie like team sports. I

have had the good fortune to play team sports since childhood and can

say that some of the relationships developed in those early years are

still my closest.

When it comes to sailing there are many types of racing and racing

teams and programs, from inshore buoy racing to middle distance

offshore and long distance offshore. Some of these programs are fully

pro, some a mix and some fully amateur.

The Transatlantic Race falls in to the last category and the Prospector

team falls into the fully amateur category.  Last year when Brendan

approached me about joining the program I knew only a few people on

the program well and most were acquaintances that I knew from

different programs and had competed against over the years. And

some I did not know at all.  Having sailed with Brendan for several years

on Barleycorn and knowing the people he engaged with made the

decision an easy “yes”.

First I cannot say enough about Tery, Quinn, Scotty and Colette for the

outstanding job in getting the boat prepped and provisioned for this

event.  This is a monumental undertaking and has been executed to

perfection.  Of course none of this would be possible without the vision

and follow through of the partnership that drives this program.  The

partners are individually and jointly top notch to sail with and I consider

myself very fortunate to be a part of this program. 

Fast forward to July 2015 and 12 months of anticipation and practice

refining the crew, the boat, the sails and so many other aspects of the

program. This included the Vineyard Race, the Caribbean 600, and the

Annapolis to Newport Race as lead ups to the TR.

The TR is the equivalent to an ultra-marathon or an iron man triathlon.

There are no breaks, you don’t get off the water at the end of the day

and have a nice meal with friends or family, you don’t check in with the

office and tuck your kid into bed.  You are on the grind 24 hours a day

with 14 other people who have 14 different personalities, sharing a

living space that is 60 feet in length and 15 feet in width at its widest

point. You share 1 bathroom, you get one cubby that is approx 3 cubic

feet to put what you deem necessary to bring for 2 weeks at sea, you

share a bunk with your watch partner. There is no cocktail hour, there

is no nightly news, there is no shower, there is no ice cream before bed,

there is no calling in sick, and there is no communication with the

outside world. You cast the lines off the dock, check your ego at the

door and you are in the hands of your fellow crewmates – period.

I have personally had the good fortune to compete in many different

racing programs both inshore and offshore with semi professional and

amateur teams. Most of these experiences have been very rewarding,

some have been disastrous but at the end of the day when you

measure it all you have to ask yourself – “would I go offshore with this

person?”  

During this race we have experienced a lot of heavy weather sailing,

and some very challenging situations. In all of this I have not only been

impressed but I have been astounded by camaraderie and seamanship

of this team. Each and every one of us has pushed ourselves and each

other beyond our boundaries and worked together as a team to

overcome adversities handed to us by Mother Nature. In 2 weeks I have

learned things about myself and learned lessons from my teammates

that will make me a better person and serve me well in future

endeavors, all through the camaraderie of this crew.  Through all of the

challenges we have faced together we have laughed, joked busted each

others balls and our own and done so with a smile, knowing that we are

all our brothers keepers.

As much as I am looking forward to hearing the voices of my loved ones

at home, taking a shower, having a beer and enjoying a meal that was

not a product of boiling water…. There is a large part of me that does

not want this journey to end.

Tim Keyworth