We are going this way, that way, forwards and backwards, over the Irish Sea

Lt Cdr Laura Blagden took to the Irish Sea alongside senior members of the Royal Navy Sailing Association for some Adventurous Training this month on Exercise Celtic Dawn.

April saw the Sailing Association welcome their newest member, the currently nameless, Sun Fast 3600! The Sun Fast is a racer-cruiser sailboat that has built a reputation for itself, including collecting the coveted IRC boat of the year from the Union Nationale pour la Course au Large in 2016.

A crew of five senior sailors from the association took the opportunity to test her out on the Irish Sea in an Adventurous Training exercise and Lt Cdr Blagden gave an insight into the trip: 

“A few days down the Irish Sea and quick dash along the channel…is anything but simple in April!  

20 knot headwinds from Dublin to Lands End with leaden grey skies and a decent sea running made the first three days uncomfortable.  

A quick refuelling stop in Falmouth allowed us to dry out, shower, clear customs and win the pub quiz in The Chain Locker!  

The home stretch from Falmouth to Gosport - downwind with the sun out pretty much the whole way - done in exactly 24 hours, with a max speed off Start Point of 17.5 knots.  

The wide range of conditions experienced shows the pedigree of this class and gave the delivery crew a real insight into its abilities, where comfort is rightly sacrificed for performance but all manageable with a small crew of capable sailors.  

This means there is space on board for the less experienced, and they can still contribute and learn without impacting heavily on boat performance.

Everything is laid out for crew work, from the wide cockpit to the clear, uncluttered foredeck. She may not be comfortable upwind, but she is designed with racing in mind, both around the cans where the deck allows extra bodies to move around, to offshore where an element of shelter exists down below and the upper deck layout is comfortable for those long night watches!”  

The new sailboat offers the opportunity for the Royal Navy Sailing Association to improve competitively and train novice sailors on an exciting and modern boat.

Lt Cdr Bladgen encouraged those wanting to try sailing for the first time to “join the Royal Navy Sailing Association and come and give it a go! We always take novices to less competitive events so you can experience as much sailing as possible.”

She said, “The Sun Fast 3600 presents an exciting an opportunity for the Royal Navy Sailing Association going forwards, we have a really competitive boat and a really exciting season ahead with it.”