1ACHTING WORLD FEBRUARY 2OII

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s dark fell, the cra ggyoutline ofMauritius retreated astern and thewind and the seas rose. Around us, theother ry yachts in the World ARC

round the world rally were settling down fora night at sea on one of their shortest oceanpassages, to the French island of Reunion.

In the lee of the island a calm patch wherethe wind had backed was quicklyreplaced bytradewinds and suddenly the biakes were off.A surprisingly coor z5-knot wind fed in froma touch abaftthe beam and 23mseaspropelled us with urgent little surfs.

I was sailing with Dutch couple Hans andEmmy Huis in't Veld on their Clntest 50,Drammer. As the navigation lights of theother boats went on around us they furledthe main and the boat strode atong easilyunder a smallish, high_clewed 9.116r.

The World ARC, in whichzoyachts aretaking part,has shed some crews and gainedothers as it progressed from the start in saintLucia last lanuary. Hans and Emmy joined inAustralia, having cruised there from theNetherlands at their own pace.

They joined the rally forwhat they knewcould be a fast-paced and often boisterouspassage of the Indian ocean to south Africa,rompressed into the short favourable seasonof the North East Monsoon. Their threechildren had been worried about them andpersuaded the couple to do it in companyIr,'ith the rally. They were, at first, sceptical.

"We had decided not to go through theRed Sea, then we read that you could do partof the world ARC. I didn't expect to enjoy it asmuch as we have as we are quite independent,,,savs Emmy. "But you can go your own way if)-ou want, there is scope. you can leave earlieror later if you prefer and that was a big rerief.,,

They found it easier than they d imagined

:o slot in and make friends and their chiefmemory of the soli darity of the fleet wasr-';hen they were being shadowed by a flshingrcar close to Bali. They were very worried andrrcke into the world ARc's dailyradio sched.'-',-irhin an hour several other boats had;::cled wagons and the fishing boat retreated.

lhis lvorld Cruising Club round the world:alir,- is the third I've covered and sailed ins:nce limmy Cornell's first tnlgg2. One of the::g differences I've noticed, which has come:rr rn the continuity of the rally every two;'e3.trs, is the flexibility for crews to drop out

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modest iib, Drammerscooted on effortlesslyat7-T.sknots and we all lapped up theglorious tradewinds sailing.

When the mountains of Reunion cameinto sight in daylight other yachts convergedand we made our way into port close to thecapital of st Denis. The world ARC team, paulTetlow and suzana Buraca, were there to takelines and dispense information. Even after soshort a leg of the rally, the crews weredelighted to see each other again and, assailors do, headed straight roi the nearest bar.

The particularly strong bond between thedouble-handed coupres is fascinating. whenI covered the last World ARC in zoo9, thedrop-out rate among couples was qlit. high,and one crew who made it to the finishadmitted that the pace of the rally, whichgoes round the world in 16 months, had beenvery hard work. This time more couples havestuck with it and seem to be coping hrr..

Why the difference, I wonderedl"l don't have the feeling that the two_

handed couples in our fleet are finding itparticularly hard work,,, comments eventmanager paul Tetlow who has been in almostevery port with the fleet. "l think the double D

fr & we read that you could do part ofthe world ARc. I didn,t expect toenioy it as much as we have as we are quite independent. But you can goyour own way if you want, there is scope

D utc h co u p I e E m my a n d H i ni; i;i;Tffi'iiti{'fff{'ftffithe world ARc in Austraria after sairing harfwayround the world. Their contest 5o Drammer(aboveright) was shadowed by a fishing boat (right)

of the rally at any point, or to join up alongthe way.

I had sailed with this rally at an earlierpoint, when I went through the panamaCanal with swiss couple charles and Mariestutz. The stutzes have had a few headacheswith their Hallberg-Rassy 4g and decided tostay in Australia,make repairs and reioin thenext world ARC tn 2012. others, like the Huisin't velds, have joined in after sailing halfwayround the world on their own.

You can feel the camaraderie in the fleetright away. As night fell on our passage to

R6union, the vHF came to life. Buddy crewschatted to each other. Reports from thebigger boats ahead were sent about changingwind conditions an,c direction - the kinds oiconversations you get on the radio afterdinner and before the night watch systemstarts in earnest and silence falls on-board.

As it became fully dark, a full moon rose inour wake, so bright it obriterated the starsand lit every crease of the waves around it.You could put your hand out and see ashadow cast on deck; the shadow of the sailsskimmed along our leeward side. with her

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Charles and Marie Stutz aboa rd Dreamcatcher,a

Hallberg-Rassy 48. When the world cruise was first

suggested Marie had serious doubts, but swallowed

her fear and decided to give it a go

handed people benefit more from a rallybecause they are short of hands coming inand the information we can give them cutsdown on the legwork."

The double-handed crews on the WorldARC impressed me and I think many of the\\rays they organise a circumnavigation havelessons for crewed boats. The strong bondthat forms between the double-handers onthe rally from their shared experience isunmistakable. Aside from realising theirsailing ambitions, you can easily sense howthe crews in this World ARC, Iike itspredecessors, are in the process of makingfriends they will probably keep for life.

llouble-handed doesitSailing long-distance double-handed has

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svstems, electric winches and windlassesmake it easier to sail a large cruising boat

short-handed and many people find cruisingmore enjoyable quietly as a couple withoccasional visiting friends or family.

But the other factor that is not so widelydiscussed, and which ultimately may deciden.hether or not you go long-distance at all, islr,'hether your other half buys into the idea.For many people a long-term cruise remainsa dream because their other half doesn't holdthe same vision of Nirvana.

So how do you arrive at this happy state ofaffairs, where your wife or partner is every bitas keen to sail into the sunset as you are? How

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make it work, particularly on a rally such asthe World ARC, which circles the world at afair clip in t6 months and balances all thesailing, repair work and logistics on only twosets of shoulders ?

I met Charles and Marie Stutz whenI sailed on their Hallberg-Rassy 48Dreamcatcher through the Panama Canallast year. Charles, who is Swiss, and Marie,who comes originally from the US, have hada mixed year. They dropped out of the WorldARC in the Paciflc after an accumulation ofboat problems: se rious repercussions froma tsunami in the Galapagos Islands pluspersistent teething problems with their newboat. They are repairing and refltting inAustralia and plan to slot back into the nextWorld ARC rnzoTz.

"When Charles first brought up thesubject of doing a circumnavigation I was notreally comfortable with the idea, norcommitted," says Marie "When I started toconsider the proposal seriously, all thosedoubts came to light What if I get seasick?What if I miss being on land? What if I can'tlearn all the instruments or I can't managethe boat on my own?

"What if one of us gets seriously injured orI can't handle the stress and the fear? What if,what if, what if... The list was endless. Andthere it was, that familiar word - fear."

Marie's comments get to the nub of manywomen's reluctance to venture far offshore. Itmainly comes down to anxiety born of lackof control, or training, or an uncomfortablefeeling of over-reliance on their mate.

The most successful double-handedcouples I've met are those who areinterdependent and have broadlyoverlapping areas of sailing and technical

competence. That starts with training - ChayBlyth always used to drum into his amateurcrews facing the Southern Ocean the motto'knowledg. dispels fear'.

"l read a book about 15 years ago, that Iwould highly recommend, entitled Feel theFear and Do It Anyway,by Susan Jeffers," saysMarie Stutz. "She writes: 'At the bottom ofevery one of your fears is simply the fear thatyou can't handle whatever life may bringyou. If you had the confldence to handleanything that comes your way,what wouldyou have to fear? Nothing!'

"l knew from my past experiences I wouldbe able to handle the circumnavigation andif I passed up this opportunity, it might notbe available later in life - we were not gettingany younger. My husband and I discussed

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fr ffi When I started to consider the proposal seriously, alt those doubtscame to light. What if I get seasick? What if I can't manage the boat on my

own? What if, what if, what if . . . And there it was, that familiar word - fear

after taking part in a previous BIue WaterRally. The Greenwoods are comparativelynew to sailing and have approached it in anorganised manner, almost as a project-managed venture. As a personal observation,I've found couples who have taken up sailingand gone about gaining knowledg. this wayto be some of the most meticulouslyprepared, as they apply the disciplines ofbusiness life to their'proiect'.

"We started sailing ten years ago when we

went on a Sunsail holiday," says John."Then we both did our RYA Day SkipPer

and Yachtmaster courses at night school," |enadds. "We learnt to sail jointly and in zooowe bought a Jeanneau 43 and sailed toTenerife where we sailed and chartered it.

"When we decided we were serious about

World ARC fleet sets off together from Va n uatu - the

camaraderie has proved a boon for most couples

going round the world we took on aninstructor to live on board with us on ourboat [their new Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 54,Tzigane] for four weeks in the Canaries. Hewas very old school and he taught us a lot."

This all flts with |en's background - shehad a training business. John had anadvertising company."l was the one who

pushed to do it," she says, " andl organised allthe courses. Because we are relatively nerv tosailing we do everything by the book."

In contrast, Hans and Emmy Huis in't \/elcnhave been sailing since childhood. Emmvwas a mad keen Solo dinghy racer as astudent and the couple later sailed with theirgrowing family in a succession of cruisers.

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Joh n a nd Jen Greenwood are relatively new to sailingand set about their round the world'project'in anorganised manner, learning together and buyingtheir Jeanneau 5054 Tzigone (right) for the trip

Despite - or perhaps because of - thisdepth of experience they embarked on theirrcund the world cruise conservatively. Theybotir did additional training. Emmy had toget official qualifications to satisfy insurancerequirements and took coastal navigation,\,"X-{F and ship's medical courses.'AlthoughI l-e sailed all my life, I learnt a lot," she says.

it is very important to know that you canbring a boat safely back to port. I wouldn't:eetr comfortable if I didn't know how to saila::i navigate the boat and I often do the:i,.-igation. You have to enjoy the sailingi art; it doesn't work if only one of you ise:icr-ing it."

For his part, Hans did an enginenraintenance course and got instruction inrepalring and maintaining other keyequipment, which also helps give themtrust in each other's abilities.

"lt ls very important to have confidence

rn vour boat," says Emmy. "We have beenuncomfortable, but never afratd."

So their number one tip is? "Know your'5oat.

Even after 50 years'sailing there are-hings you learn and you should start withboat preparation. We wanted to sailDratnmer for two or three seasons before,eaving because there are always a fewihings from the yard [to fix]."

Their recommendation echoeser"erything we have learnt, year on year,from our annual Great Atlantic Gear Test:rhat the best way to make sure equipment is

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reliable, and that you don't spend too muchtime flxing systems, is to fit them and getthem working long beforehand.

Charles Stutz says: "lf you have problemswith a new boat it will be both veryfrustrating and tiring. Frustrating becauseyou will spend the few days in each stop inyour engine room or elsewhere, flxingproblems while everybody else is enjoyingthemselves. And tiring because you willtend to spend all the hours you are awakeeither working, chasing help or on thephone or computer arguing with theboatbuilder or the equipmentmanufacturer about who is responsible."

The Greenwoods concur: "lf you arethinking about long-distance cruising, sailyour boat for at least a year. The yardwill putswitches and filters and so on in silly placesand because boats have low volume salesproblems take a while to get back."

The couples we talked to said the processof getting to know the boat helped themsettle into a harmonious life on board. Andmost seemed to enjoy life togeth er z1hoursa day from the start.

"We get on very, very well," says ]enGreenwood. "John and I probably get onbetter on the boat than we do on land."

"One of the secrets is to respect eachother's wishes when it comes to how yousail," advises Emmy Huis in't Veld. "l don'tlike to push the boat. Hans respects this,although if he were sailing alone or with

friends he would sail differently. If one of uswants a reef there's no discussion. "

A common denominator on board wasthat couples tended to keep watch accordingto their stamina, rather than operating anequally apportioned watch rota as youwould on a fully crewed boat. The issue oftrust and fairness that can sometimes nigglein a full crew doesn't seem to arise here.

'At the beginning we did four hours on,four off, but it didn't work. Hans can't sleepfor four hours and I need double the sleephe does," says Emmy. "We now have avariable: when Hans needs to sleep, hewakes me up and I go on watch." Emmy saysshe lets Hans sleep as long as he needs.

John and Jen Greenwood have a morestructured watch system of three-on, threeoff - "but if someone needs an extra houryou say so." When the weather is fine Johnoften snoozes in the cockpit when jen is onwatch and they say they work on the basis of'when in doubt, call out'.

They say they have complete confidencein each other's decision-making."l don'tthink I've ever woken up and thought: 'lwonder what's going on?'" |ohn comments.

Although these long-distance sailingcouples strive to be equally competentsailors, when it comes to day-to-day chores

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on board the division of labour tends to bealong more traditional male-female lines.

"l do the domestic stuff and John doesthe boat," says Jen Greenwood. John says hewas always "fairly handy". Mechanicalknow-how is absolutely critical to a long-distance cruise because even if you getsomeone else to repair key equipment,it can go wrong.

"Know where to get urgent spare parts,"says Charles Stutz from bitter experience."shipping to certain places is close toimpossible and to find a supplier willing toship to you is sometimes very difficult.

"lf all else fails you can get on a plane andfly to the closest of either New Zealand,Australia or the USA to get your spare partand take it back with you in your luggage."

Have a plan to stop if need be along theway, they advise. "lt's important to bothenjoy what you're doing, but it's alsoimportant to be able to go home to childrenand grandchildren," says Emmy Huis in'tVeld. "When you are doing acircumnavigation in stages like we are, youshould learn where you can leave or storeyour boat safely along the way, Iike theCanaries, Trinidad, Ecu ador, Tahiti orAustralia. We also have an amount of moneyset aside to ship our boat home or to get a

skipper to deliver her if needed and thatgives you peace of mind."

One thing everybody stressed was theimportance of a good, strong, reliable(possibly over-specced) autopilot, or evenduplicate pilots. "Go overboard on theautopilot," say the Greenwoods.

"The major risk to us is autopilot failure,"

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llow to eruise double-handed - and enioy itr Get to knowyour boat and its systems

thoroughly before you teave - cruise for;,''i.,'r,i,gt,l6e$t,6fiCis-Cd.$0 'i.ilil,'il.i',".i..t,

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r Fit a really good autopilot - or even twor lncrease both your skill levels with

plent y of approptiate trainingr Make sure you are both comfortable

with navigating and sailhandlingr Be prepared to share out areas of

responsibility (and control)

I Discuss your fears,upfront and yourplans for emergencies

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I 5ailwithin the comfort zone of the most'cautious partner

comments Hans Huis in't Veld. "This is oneof the most critical points and we check thewhole system in every port."

"Redundant systems are crucial if you sarldouble-handed," agrees Charles Stutz."ldeally you would have two independentautopilots installed, as in our case, or at thevery least carry all the parts."

Double-handed couples highlightedthings that made life easier than with othercrew: simpler to provision, cook and cleanfor two; o rrrore relaxed atmosphere onboard; and the sheer satisfaction ofmanaging such a big undertaking as acouple. "There are far more upsides thandownsides," declares J ohn Greenwood.

Marie Stutz highlights the achievefite nt:"Even though I didn't achieve the sklll leverI would have liked before we set sail, I har-emanaged to sail double-handed halfttravround the world. Wow!

'And guess what? I get seasick, I miss landI've been injured, I get stressed and itprobably will take me the entirecircumnavigation to gain a full knowledgeof all the equipment on our boat. And Iwould be lying if I told you I don't get scare;sometimes. But it's all worth it. My advice,embrace the adventure and you willsurprise yourself how well you cope.'

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