Jes Bates and Mwera
My challenge, as for many of us, started well before the start date on the 15th of June. I had decided, under the influence of Roger Taylor, Alan Mulholland and others, to do a junk rig conversion on Mwera, my Corribee 21. The ease of handling just one sail from the cockpit, quick reefing, a more ‘forgiving’ and simple rig were all factors in this decision.
This turned out to be a big job and took me about 5 months of hard labour over the winter with a lot of help from the Junk Rig Association technical forums and the Practical Junk Rig book. I finished towards the end of May and towed Mwera down from Sheffield to Poole for launching, and from there made my way down to Plymouth.
As the start got closer it became apparent that we would have some challenging wind conditions with a big blue hole around the Lizard and the Isles of Scilly that would block our progress, but then a perfect F5 southeasterly across the Celtic Sea if only we could get there!
My start was very discouraging. I crossed the line like everyone on starboard tack and found myself going east of south whilst everyone else headed off towards the Lizard, so I tacked into Whitsand Bay and then out again and reached Eddystone Lighthouse after about 9 hours having covered 10nm along the course. Probably in my enthusiasm for having all 7 panels of my new junk sail flying, I was overpowered, heeling too much, and going sideways!! I also noticed a few litres of water slopping around the cabin sole which was running in from a stanchion base on the port side,
I resigned my self to being the backstop of the fleet, and decided that I would just sail my own race and enjoy it. When the wind veered WNW and dropped a bit, I found myself heading towards the Lizard doing around 3kt. I managed to have some food and settle into the night passage.
The next day found me becalmed SE of the Lizard, drifting with the tide and dodging ships. I did some boat work to pass the time. I managed to remove my leaky stanchion and reseat it (with some butyl putty I harvested from my new hatch installation!), sorted out some issues with my electric outboard, got my tiller pilot working again, and one or 2 other jobs. Before the flood started to take me backwards, I decided to go into Cadgwith Harbour for a few hours and cook up some food.
I left again around midnight with the ebb tide, which carried me around the tip of the Lizard, and then back again, no overfalls noted. There was zero wind at this point so I went into Mullion Cove for the night, anchored and had a sleep.
On Wednesday morning I set off again and picked up a breath of wind, enough for ½ a knot, then 1, then 1½ until by the evening I had passed Wolf Rock. At last I was on my way to the Scillies. 0600 on Thursday found me passing Bishop Rock doing 6knots, the fast downwind surfing was exhilarating. I didn’t want to drop even one panel on the sail, the sailing was too exciting. The junk rig felt safer than my previous set up of poled out genoa and preventer on the main, partly because, with no stays, the sail can be let out all the way making an accidental gybe less likely. I ended up doing 117nm in 24 hours. I spent some of the night sitting on the cabin floor having 30 minute naps and then a quick look round, it worked surprisingly well. That sensation of flying along, hearing the waves rushing by in the dark, feeling the surge of the boat, is just unbeatable.
However all good things come to an end. I was a day too late to ride the wind all the way to the Fastnet, and the finish. By 2300 on the Friday I was once again becalmed, being carried eastwards by the tide. The next morning I was 12nm SE of the Fastnet Rock. In the glassy calm I had a visit from some dolphins, ducking and diving around Mwera’s bow in crystal clear water. Looking down I could see the reflection of Mwera’s rig behind me superimposed on the dolphins. It was pretty special.
At this point, so near and yet so far from the finish, I decided I didn’t have the patience for potentially another 24 hours of drifting along, and I decided to motor up to and around the Fastnet. I thought by then I had probably tested my boat and my seagoing mettle to my satisfaction and the temptation of an evening in the pub with fellow Jesters and some good food was too strong! A couple of miles from the finish I did manage to start sailing again and it was quite special to cross the finish line, sail into the harbour, and see my fellow sailors at anchor there.
I have some regrets that I didn’t sail all the way but I appreciate the Helm’s decision to record the finishers in the way that they did, ‘completed but with use of motor for a short time’. I won’t be entering for Newport 2026 but may see you all again in 2027. Cheers!
Jester Challenge 