Some of the Best Doublehanded Races - Seahorse June 2023

Written by Kate Cope

In my last column I talked about why doublehanded sailing is so appealing. If that has inspired you to try it then this column will inform you about some of the best doublehanded racing this season and how to access the doublehanded scene. If you are already an avid doublehanded sailor, then I hope to inspire you with some ideas for some different races to try.

2023 is shaping to have some great opportunities with classic races as well as new ones on the global calendar. If you’ve not tried doublehanded, each region has a passionate community that is only too willing to help with your questions about boats, set up, manoeuvres, races, sails and technology. Reach out to your local sailors and I’m sure you will find the answers.  

If you watch the “Shorthanded Evening” video below you will hear Ken Read asked what is the best boat for doublehanded racing. The answer is ‘probably the one you already have’. Many boats can be set up for offshore shorthanded sailing with reasonably easy modifications to allow you to try out the sport. There is a huge sense of satisfaction in completing the races so my advice would be first think about safety and sail handling, speed can come later.  You will need an autopilot for tasks like hoisting sails, maybe gybing, having a comfort break or trimming sails when your co-skipper is asleep. However don’t expect to be using it for hours on end. Contrary to the myth I’ve heard that the autopilot is the chief reason doublehanders win racers, for the autopilot systems in reach of typical amateur racing budgets, you will quickly find you can steer faster by hand. All autopilots benefit from being properly calibrated so as well as commissioning dockside and on the water, try and find another similar boat with the same system as yours and compare settings. 

It would be wise to think about how you would recover you co-skipper single-handed if they fell overboard. First you need to find them (Personal AIS/ Strobe light/MOB systems) then get them back on the boat (Helicopter strop/ Pick up sails/powerful winch).  There are some fairly straightforward boat optimisations you can make.  If you are handicap racing then you could rate for a smaller jib to balance having less weight on the rail. IRC now allows for two certificates which is perfect if you are mixing up fully crewed and shorthanded racing.  To avoid changing your jib when the wind pipes up, which can be slow with only 2 people, you could add a reef to an existing jib and hanks are generally easier than a tuff luff. Look at what systems can be led back to the cockpit eg:mainsail reef 1, jib cars and cross winched jib sheets to allow you to helm and trim the jib.  I will cover more about boat set up and technology in future column but for now “Lets get racing!”

Starting in the UK with the 2023 Rolex Fastnet race, as we go to press the 50th edition of this iconic race has 100 doublehanded boats registered. This really underlines the growth of doublehanded sailing in Northern Europe and is a huge leap compared to the 59 DH boats that took part in 2021.  The UK has a very vibrant doublehanded racing community in the Solent, focused around the UK Doublehanded series, now in its third year. The group organises social events, training and pre-race weather briefs as well as running a successful crew match.  The series welcome new members and their management team can be contacted on contact@doublehandedoffshore.com .

Fastnet participants are coming from near and far. Farthest travelled will be Jules Hall and his co-skipper Jan Scholten who are coming from Sydney, Australia. They are the 2021 DH winners of the Sydney Hobart race on their J99 Disko Trooper and have found an identical sister ship in the UK for the event which will be racing under the same Disko Trooper branding. Jules told me, ‘It’s extremely exciting to have the opportunity to line up against the 100 or so two-handed boats that have entered in the 50th anniversary Rolex Fastnet race, especially the UK Doublehanded Offshore Series crews. Two handed offshore racing is a new and rapidly emerging discipline in Australia. Importantly it’s making ocean racing accessible to a new audience of Australian sailors, injecting fresh energy into the sport. We hope to learn a thing or two from the Fastnet experience, helping the continued development of the two-handed scene back on our home waters.’  Doublehanded sailing has been growing in Australia and in 2022 Jules led the creation of the Sydney Doublehanded Offshore Series, with a strong group of volunteers, modelled on the UK Doublehanded Offshore series. They have been growing the community with 90 members on their WhatsApp group and a well-attended recent get together at Cruising Yacht Club Australia (CYCA). For Australian doublehanded racing Jules can be contacted on hello@juleshall.com.

Fastnet currently has four doublehanded boats coming from Poland. The discipline has been growing since 2017 with the doublehanded series based in Gdynia. Off-Short Racing (www.offshort.eu) has 30-50 sailors each year taking part in a series which in 2023 will have eight events. Organised by Pawel Wilkowski, one of the most experienced Polish doublehanded sailors, he tells me, ‘We have developed a satellite tracking platform S-track to improve safety and attract more spectators and hopefully more sponsors. Off-Short Racing is not only Gdynia based regattas, there are also events in Gdańsk, Świnoujście and Nexo. The plan also includes the start of an Off-Short Academy where sailors can learn more about safe and effective shorthanded sailing.’ There are plenty of doublehanded races happening in the Baltic including the Baltic 500, Round Sealand (230NM), Gotland Runt (353NM) and Rund Denmark. They also have the 2023 ORC Doublehanded European Championship in Denmark.  Pawel can be contacted on gdynia.doublehanded@wp.pl 

One of the most inspiring Polish boats registered is the Figaro 1 Hultaj. Co-skippers Szymon Kuczyński and Anna Jastrzębska bought their boat in 2021 and had the idea to do a five-year global tour of iconic races which they have named ‘Call of the Ocean’. After warming up with some Polish racing, they crossed the Atlantic doublehanded in May 2022 on the Twostar race (Plymouth to Newport). In North America they were then the only DH boat in the Verve Cup (Chicago) where they got great results (1st, 2nd and 3rd ) in some inshore regattas in New York and Toronto.  In January 2023 they arrived in the Caribbean where they were the first DH boat in the Antigua 360 race and were 3rd in the Caribbean 600 doublehanded division. Next stop is Europe for some RORC races including the Fastnet. Then it’s off to the Pacific (via Cape Horn!) for the Race to Alaska (R2AK), Transpac and finally they are sailing to Australia to take part in Sydney Hobart and the DH series of races in New Zealand.  Anna told me, ‘We love life on our yacht and travelling. We wanted to sail the yacht everywhere, to visit and get to know the local events and racing communities. The main aim is do the classic races like Sydney Hobart, Fastnet, C600 and Newport Bermuda but to also take part in as many local events as possible in different parts of the world Brazil, New Zealand and maybe even Japan.’ Hats off to Szymon and Anna for a very impressive itinerary for a small boat.

Over in the USA there is also momentum. Peter Becker (Young American Sailing Academy) updated me on two important races. The Bermuda Short-Handed Return race (BSHR) was run for the first time in 2022 with two divisions – solo and DH. There were 20 entries and a significant amount of interest from other boats whose participation was sadly curtailed by lack of insurance coverage. This race allows short-handed sailors to compete single and doublehanded to and from Bermuda every year. It’s been described as the most significant addition to short-handed racing in the USA for a generation.  The inaugural race was won by Sara Stone and Cat Hunt on Alchemist (Sunfast 3300). In 2023 there is the Bermuda 1-2 race. Run since 1977, it currently sitting with 22 entries ranging in size from a Finot-Conq-53 (Stanley Paris) to an L30 (Diane Reid). The race is appealing to a broad audience, with 40% of participants new to the race and there are three family teams, five female skippers and an all-female entry. This race runs in alternate years to the classic Newport-Bermuda race whose organising committee is keenly interested to grow the DH division and synergise with the BSHR in 2024.

In March the North Sails loft in Rhode Island held a ‘Shorthanded Evening’ with 150 in attendance - https://youtu.be/A_GzCLNfmPM. Ken Read and Suzie Leech, who have been successfully sailing a Sunfast 3300, talked about what they loved about the discipline; particularly how you are not pigeonholed to one role and how good it is to stay active the whole race. They also talked about the importance of diversity in the team as Ken and Suzie both bring very different skills to the partnership.  Ellie Driver (Y&Y UK Sailor of the Year) came over from the UK to talk about her successful season sailing doublehanded on Chilli Pepper (Sunfast 3300) and some of the initiatives in the UK to create pathways into the sport for younger adults. Finally, the team announced the creation of a USA based offshore doublehanded series based on the UK model.  For more details on the US series please contact Jonathan Banks at jonathan@bluenoseyachts.com.

New to the racing calendar this year is the IRC Doublehanded European Championship. This is expected to appeal teams across Northern Europe particularly the French and British sailors. The first race is La Trinité Cowes a 350NM course dodging the rocks of NW Brittany through the Raz De Sein and Chenal Du Four before crossing the Channel. The race transits the very tidal Hurst Narrows and Western Solent and finishes at Cowes.  The second race of the Championship is Cowes-Dinard-St Malo with its well-worn path round the Casquets and Guernsey.  British sailors looking forward to the challenge include Deb Fish (Sunfast 3600 Bellino) who tells me, ‘It’s a great chance to meet up with our French friends and enjoy some highly competitive racing on two very interesting races courses. The biggest challenge will be the strength and depth of the competition and racing through the challenging Raz de Sein and Chenal du Four.’ Richard Palmer (JPK 10.10 Jangada) comments, ‘The courses themselves offer many navigational challenges with tidal gates and rocky shorelines all of which add to the excitement of the race. I’m especially looking forward to visiting La Trinité and St Malo as well as meeting the team at the RORC clubhouse in Cowes in between the two races.’ Rupert Holmes, Jangada’s co-skipper, adds, ‘I thoroughly enjoyed both races last year – they test every aspect of offshore sailing from rock-hopping around the Quiberon peninsula to open water speed and strategy on all points of sail. They tie together three iconic destinations La Trinité, Cowes and St Malo where the fleet arrives in time to join the Bastille Day celebrations.’ www.rorc.org

In Italy, the Marina Militare Nastro Rosa Tour (www.nastrorosatour.it)  will provide another season of doublehanded racing opportunities in the Mediterranean. Any Team can charter matched Figaro 3s for a Doublehanded Offshore European, World and Women’s Championships or racers can complete a tour of Italy either from Genoa to Venice in eight legs or the return 1,492NM non-stop race from Venice to Genoa – the longest race in the Mediterranean calendar. It all starts on April 20th with the 630NM all female doublehanded offshore event which is being run in collaboration with the Magenta project which is committed to develop pathways and opportunities for more diversity in sailing. Marina Militare is also donating one boat in all their events to the RORC Griffin project to develop U30 talent in doublehanded racing.  Deb Fish, Griffin initiative leader, comments ‘The series supports so many of RORC’s aims; offering high quality international racing, developing the next generation of young sailors, and increasing diversity by broadening the pool of female sailors able to compete on equal terms in short-handed racing.’ For enquiries about applying as a sailor for any event please contact griffin@rorc.org 

So, if you thought shorted handed sailing was a niche activity - time to think again. I look forward to seeing you on the start line.