Matador II, with crew Barry McCrae and Andrew Guilbert, competed in the 38th edition of the 200 Millas x 2.

The organisers took the decision on the morning of the start of the race, to shorten the course due to the impending high winds and sea state expected on the Saturday afternoon, and building up during the night, which could seriously affect the slower boats in the regatta.

All participants set off at 12.00 hrs on Friday 1st March in a 12-13kts breeze from the SE, this gave a relaxed beam reach to the NW corner of Ibiza. The wind was due to veer slightly, so a spinnaker was prepared for hoisting. Once we had a suitable wind angle, the asymmetric spi was hoisted. Boat speed increased nicely, but we were on a very tight angle resulting in several broaches. We carried the spi for about 1 1/2 hrs before deciding that it was time to take it down, as we were being pushed further and further off course. We then had a more comfortable reach across to the first turning mark – a nice large unlit rock.

Once safely around the rock, we hardened up slightly and put in the 1st reef in the main. By now we were seeing 18 – 20 kts, so we took the decision to put the 2nd reef in the main in the lee of the 2nd turning mark, another large unlit rock. Once around the turning mark, we tacked and prepared for the long beat back to the finish line. Initially we could see the lights of the other boats in front of us, but gradually they faded, and then disappeared altogether.

We saw a couple of red port lights behind and downwind of us, but again they gradually disappeared. We felt very alone. Eventually the lights of Cabo San Antonio and Cabo la Nao appeared on the horizon to help guide us in. The heading we needed to the finish line was 245 degrees, but the wind was coming from almost the same direction, so we were making 200 on starboard tack, and 280 on port tack. It seemed to take forever to make any headway towards the land. On starboard tack, we saw our heading gradually increase to 210, 220 and then easily 245 degrees. This is the bit of luck you always need in a regatta, as we were now laying the finish line.

Once close to land we managed to get an update on trac-trac, and saw that we were still in contention, despite what we thought was not such a good beat back. This gave us renewed energy, and boy did we need it, as the wind started to shut down and blow from different directions. We drifted for hours making 0.5 – 1 kt of boat speed, it was agonising to have got so close and see it slip away. We concentrated extremely hard to keep the boat moving. Eventually the wind filled in from the SW, very fresh, 15 – 18 kts. We were once again hard on the wind, so we put reef 1 back in the main for the beat back to the finish line. We crossed the line at 11.55 hrs, just 10 mins shy of 24 hrs. What a relief! A hot meal awaited us in the Club, and whilst enjoying this a fellow competitor came up and congratulated us, saying ” Well done, you are currently 2nd in our group”. We couldn’t believe it. Other boats still had to finish, but we held onto our 2nd place. We were naturally thrilled.

Until next year !