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| JESTER CHALLENGE NOTES No 2 By Ewen Southby-Tailyour 30th December 2005 (www.jesterinfo.org) |
| Summary: various amendments, additions, lists and starting details. |
New website at: www.jesterinfo.org. To be entered in the 'official' entry list as a Jester Challenger all skippers are asked to contact both me (tailyour@hotmail.com) and Trevor Leek (trevorleek@culinaire.co.uk) with a statement to the effect that they will be willing to sign the indemnity form before the start (rough details below) at the same time forwarding the name of their vessel, LOA, sail number, nationality and attaching a photograph of their vessel and themselves. A short piece of personal/vessel history will help in any publicity The Challenge may attract. |
Start details: Having done my sums and checked the Brittany Ferry Timetable with the operators, start for The Jester Challenge will be at 1200 (BST) on Saturday 3rd June 2006 across a line running precisely for one nautical due west of Plymouth Breakwater lighthouse. My Black Velvet will be at anchor as the western outer distance mark in Cawsand Bay. She will also be due north (1.22 nm) of the only mark (which will be left to starboard) of the course until Newport: the Draystone Ledge Buoy off Penlee Point. Black Velvet is a black, 12 ton gaff-cutter (sail number BV3 - but probably not set if there is a strong wind - and flying the flag signal Juliet Charlie from the port yard arm): she will have at least Val Howells (who will start The Challenge) and Mike Richey embarked. |
| If the wind is from the SW, Black Velvet will be at the favoured end of the line (although it might be in a bit of a lee). HW Plymouth (Devonport) is 1112 BST (neaps) which means that at 1200 there will be a 0.2 knot ebb tide off the west end of the Breakwater helping the Jester Challengers to clear the Sound towards the south west: this tidal stream increases slowly in strength until well clear of Penlee from where it will gradually turn south easterly-going at 0.3 of a knot (or less, the closer in to Whitsand Bay) until slack water in the Channel at 1500. Then a favourable west going stream up to 0.5 kt will be encountered until 2000 by when the Jester Challengers should be/could be well south of the Dodman and offshore of the worst east going tide after the next slack water at that time. |
The reason for a 1200 start is that the Roscoff-Plymouth ferry is due to pass the Breakwater, in-bound, at 1315-ish to dock at 1330 so if we start at 1200 then The Challengers should be well clear to the westward and any spectator vessels will have dissipated. Obviously a 1300 start (as originally planned) would confuse everyone and especially so if there are light airs. The ferry leaves at 1500 (1510-ish off the Breakwater) so it would not really make sense to delay the start (although it does leave the Eddystone to Starboard out-bound) and, anyway, the tides will become less favourable. The weekend before the 3rd June has tides in direct opposition and the weekend afterwards sees the start of the Shetland Round Britain and Ireland Race. I have agreed with the Deputy Queen's Harbourmaster that should the number of Challengers dictate, then the start will be across a line running one nautical mile south east from Rame Head point (highwater mark) with, again, Black Velvet as the outer distance marker - although she will not be at anchor. There will then be no mark on the course until Newport. |
| Paul Gelder has kindly agreed to publish all of this in the Boat Show issue of Yachting Monthly. As soon as those who have shown an interest in The Jester Challenge have been informed then a press release will be issued with a wider distribution than this 'internal' Newsletter. |
| Newport finish line details: in the East Passage of Narragansett Bay when Castle Hill Light (41 27.72N 071 21.82W Iso R 6 sec 12M Horn) bears 123 degrees magnetic. Jester Challengers shall leave buoys R"2", R"4" and R"6" to starboard when approaching Narragansett Bay. UK chart numbers: 2730 and 2731 |
Amendments: after much discussion there will be no inspection and no 'rules' as they would put an undue onus of responsibility on the co-ordinator and tend to take away the duty of care that, rightly, wholly rests with the skippers: a sine qua non of The Challenge. Recent advice suggested that once a rule is made someone - in this case the co-ordinator- has to ensure it is obeyed and that would imply some acceptance of the responsibility by the co-ordinator. Thus the conditions for entry should now read: There are just four mandatory requirements and two recommendations:
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Draft form of indemnity: this will be signed by the skippers before 3rd June in order that - in accordance with one of the guiding principles of The Jester Challenge - all skippers will officially accept the responsibility of the duty of care for themselves, their vessels, their actions, their dependants and any fellow seafarer with whom they may have a disagreement! |
| The alternative is to go down the route of other organising yacht clubs and organisations and set up a committee, apply sets of irksome rules, impose inspections, pay corporate insurance and the rest: that would involve a sizeable entrance fee which would be against the spirit of The Jester Challenge and could absolve skippers from their natural duty of care and so on. I believe that all will want to be wholly responsible for their actions and especially for their dependants and others at sea or ashore should the worst occur. From correspondence received I believe that no one wants to revert to the position of blaming a 'non-existent' organiser! |
| Plymouth arrangements: now we know the start date I am hoping to find a friendly yacht club who will offer us temporary membership, where we can meet and have an un-constructed form of informal skippers' briefing with weather and ice reports and that sort of thing. I am also hoping to persuade some of the local marinas to offer a one-off, reduced mooring fee but don't hold too many breaths. |
| U.S. visa requirements: All Challenger skippers are reminded that it is their responsibility to contact the U.S. Embassy for a visa. Arriving in U.S. waters without one will - without doubt - cause untold problems and could even bring the JC into disrepute. Applications should be made several months before 3rd June to allow for possible processing delays. U.S. Embassy London |
| Boat Show arrangements: an informal meeting has been arranged for 1400 on Tuesday 10th January at the London International Boat Show at the Yachting Monthly stand (so that we can recognise each other in less of a crush - sorry, Paul, but it is probably less crowded!) before adjourning to the Guinness Stand. |
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