22/12/2009 by admin.

Isabelle Watson with her winning Fizz jacket

Well, here we are back in the UK having survived the St Lucia post-ARC parties.  If there had been a prize for the team who most enjoyed the entertainment, there is no doubt team Fizz would have been winners. Many thanks to families Absalom, Warner, Pryke and Willis for making the post-ARC celebrations so memorable. We were a respectable 5th in our class, so we are happy with the result.I can confirm that the winner of the Guess the Fizz ETA St Lucia competition is Isabel Watson from Dundee, whose guess of 23:50 on the 8^th December was the closest. Well done Isabel, the Fizz of Cowes jacket will be on it’s way to you shortly. Many thanks to everyone who entered and also to those who made a donation to Sussex Sailability on the Just Giving website. So where next. In February next year we look forward to seeing the Sturrocks and the Quaidoos in St Lucia for some sailing on Fizz. We then head up the windward islands chain , hoping to be in the Virgin Islands by early April . We then head over to the Florida Keys and  up to St Augustine for the start of ARC Europe in early May. We will keep posting regular blogs so keep an eye on the website for further details.Chris.

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09/12/2009 by admin.

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08/12/2009 by admin.

“Well here we are on day 17. It is 16:00 and we have just over 50 miles to
go. We have had the spinaker up all day,it’s perfect sailing weather, plenty
of sunshine and wind. We will drop the spinaker at about 22:00 tonight
before we make the final gybe round the top of St Lucia and then the short
run down to Rodney bay and the finish line.
As this is the last Fizz ARC blog, I have asked the crew to add a few
thoughts of their own .So here goes:
Stu:
“I will remember the ARC  as one of the hottest, most tiring and
unforgettable 2 and a half weks of my life. The best parts of the trip would
be the fishing, the whale watching , the downwind sailimng and the squalls.
I will also never forget the first few nights sailing with the cruising
chute and having to drop the chute in the pitch black and howling winds
after a series of breath-taking broaches. I am sure Liz, John and myself on
the foredeck will never forget the m,oment when we realized that the sail
wasn’t coming downwhile we were holding onto stanchions with our feet in the
water and the sail flogging wildly above our heads. These are the
experiences that make the ARC so popular and why I will remember the ARC for
a long time to come.”
David
“The ARC 2009 will be something I will remember for years to come. I
remember when Chris mentioned it to me 2 years ago. I never thought it would
happen.
Before I knew it I was in Las Palmas waiting for the start of the ARC. I
will never forget the atmostphere on the morning we left. We had a brass
band walk down the pontoon to send us off. The feeling of slipping the
mooring l,ines  and knowing that was the last time I would touch land for 2
and a half weeks was extremely weird and the challenge that faced us still
seemed unreal.
The first 2 nights were the most memorable as we managed to broach numerous
times, one of them almost ending in losing the cruising chute. John kept us
amused with the fishing after losing his rod he was left to gut the fish Stu
and I caught. The way he beat the fish with a winch handle will stay in my
mind for a long time.
Every day out here has been very hot, with temperatures reaching 30′C.
However every night there have been squalls , the most memorable one being
when Stu and I were caught in a typhoon. Surfing down the waves at 10kts
with hardly any sail is somethjing I doubt I will experience again.
I am very grateful or the opportunity Chris and Pam have given me and would
like to thank them for it.”
John
“Whilst sailing a wayfarer dinghy with Chris in October 2007 out of
Shoreham, he asked me if I’d thought about sailing across the Atlantic. I
replied,’love to’ and thought no more about it. Chris purchased Fizz in
Feburary 2008 and I realised he was serious.  By November 2009, I had
stepped from dinghy sailing to 4 channel crossings, a Biscay crossing and
then the ARC. When we boarded at Las Palmas, I didn’t have the nerve to tell
him I was only joking. The crossing has been a fantastic experience  and
puts our planet into perspective. He’s tight with the beers,-off to the
nearest bar”.
Liz
“On our last day of ARC 2009, it is time for a review. The best bits- the
whale was amazing, the weather incredible-lots of wind, sun, too much
sometimes ! The sea is beautiful and as ever, the food - thanks to Pam- has
been great  and the company. We’ve all got on, kept each other amused and
enjoyed ourselves. The worst bits, I found leaving Las Palmas really hard
and I have missed all my beloved 2 legged and 4 legged family. So weighing
it up, it’s been an amazing time. Thanks for everyone who made it possible,
most notably Chris, Pam, John, Rosie Dan and Mel”.

And finally a few words from me. Crossing the Atlantic in a yacht has been a
dream of mine for many years, and I have to say it has exceeded my
expectations many times over. It has been very tiring getting used to
sleeping in short bursts and dealing with constant motion 24/7, we have had
a wide range of weather from light airs, thankfully rare, to full on 30 kts
of wind. The downwind sailing has been a fantastic experience, and one of
the most amazing experiences has been seeing the Minke whale in it’s natural
habitat at such close quarters. The way it followed us for over an hour,
diving under the boat, was truly amazing. Leaving Las Palmas was an
emotional experience, we played Rule Britannia, Land of Hope and Glory and
Jerusalem on the yacht’s speaker system much to the amusement of the locals
watching from the jetty. It wasn’t until we were several hours into the race
and were heading out into the Atlantic that it finally dawned on me what a
massive adventure we were taking on. We had some rough times, broaching with
the cruising chute up in the middle of the night, not an experience I would
like to repeat, but John, Stu, Liz and David were fantastic and we got
through in one piece. And we had some incredible experiences, sunrises and
sunsets, the whale, dolphins, the fishing and the shared cameraderie.So here
we are, just a few hours from the finish line. It is a weird feeling, and a
great sense of achievement. I have no doubt I and I am sure the rest of the
crew will remember this for many years to come. Fizz has exceeded my
expectations, she is such a good boat. We have asked a lot of her and she
has responded so capably. Never once in the last 2 and a half weeks did I
ever doubt that she could get us across the Atlantic in one piece.
It has been really uplifting to have the support and encouragement from
family and friends. It makes such a difference to know so many people are
following our progress. Thank you for all your messages and support.
And finally….. in every big campaign, there is always one key component,
without which things just don’t happen. That component , that key link that
holds it all together is Pam. Without her unswerving support, planning and
encouragement, there is no doubt we would not be sitting out here within
sight of the finish line of one of the biggest adventures we have ever
undertaken.She has been brilliantly supportive and there is no doubt we
could not have done it without her. Thank you Pammy xxx
So I’ll sign off now before I start dribbling  We still need to get to the
finish line in one piece, and I suspect this will be a long night ! ! Chris”

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07/12/2009 by admin.

“Day 16, and we are sooo close to St Lucia you can almost hear the calypso music drifting across the water. We have 228 miles to run and are expecting to cross the finish line at 2300 local time tomorow, Tuesday 8th. So tonight is our last night of full night watches. Tomorrow night I suspect we will all be on watch for the final run in to the finish line. We are starting to see other boats as we get nearer the finish. I just spoke on the VHF to a French yacht about 1 mile to port of us. Their automatic steering failed about a week ago so they have been manually steering ever since, and there are only 3 of them on board. They are expected to finish about an hour after us tomorrow.We will need to get the spinaker down shortly as it will be sunset soon, so I better get going. Tomorrow will be my last ARC blog, so will try and make it a good one.  Till then, Chris.”

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07/12/2009 by admin.

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07/12/2009 by admin.

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07/12/2009 by admin.

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06/12/2009 by admin.

“Day 15, and we have had a very uneventful day. The wind has stayed with us so crew morale is up. No other yachts in sight today, but we expect to start seeing some in the next day or two. We still expect to cross the finish line on Wednesday morning, but it does depend on the wind staying with us. We now have less than 400 miles to go. I can almost smell the rum punches. We have had loads of rain squalls passing through over the last 24 hours, and the forecast is for more to come, so we will have something to keep us occupied durting the long night watches. We have now finished all Pam’s beautifully prepared frozen meals, plus all the fresh vegetables, so are now on tinned food. It’s not actually as bad as it sounds, as Pam bought loads of M&S tinned food before Fizz left the UK, and the fresh-baked bread every morning is a real treat.Well, I can see from the radar that we have another rain squall heading our way, so we had better get the sails reefed for the oncoming onslaught. Till tomorrow. Chris “

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05/12/2009 by admin.

“Day 14 and it has been a wet one. We started the day at sunrise with a heavy rain squall, followed by sunshine for most of the day, and at sunset the rain squalls have started rolling in again, with 2 in the last hour. We have taken the spinaker down for the night and are sailing under main and genoa, which are easier to reef from the cockpit during the squalls. The wind has picked up at last, after 2 days of light airs, so we are making good progress again to St Lucia. Along with the wind has come an increased swell, so we are back in the spin cycle again, with the boat rolling like a good’un. We are monitoring our boat speed constantly now and currently expect to cross the finish line in St Lucia on Wednesday at midday. Hopefully the wind will keep us moving. We have not had any further sightings of Sparky the Minke whale, so hopefully he has found someone else to play with, although Stu and David did see a large group of dolphins around the boat earlier today. Only 4 days to go, can’t wait to see everyone and stand on dry land again. Till tomorrow. Chris

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04/12/2009 by admin.

“Day 13 and we are still struggling with lack of wind. The last 24 hours was our lowest daily run, at 142 miles. Today the wind that the forecasts have promised has still not materialised, so we are likely to have  another low daily run tomorrow. Hoepfully the wind will fill in soon. The big excitement for today was whale spotting. Stu saw this big splash about 100′ in front of us this afternoon, as a 20′ whale came out of the water. It then proceeded to swim round the boat, coming in to within 10′ of the boat before swimming underneath us. It carried on doing this for about 30 minutes, obviously unsure what to make of us. It was incredibly exciting to see a whale so close up in it’s natural habitat , but we were also a little concerned as a whale of this size could easily inflict damage to the underside of the boat with a flick of it’s tail. It was amazing to see it just follow us for so long. We have decided to call it Sparky, not sure why, but there we are.  We got plenty of video footage of it leaping out of the water and coming in very close to the boat. We have had the spinaker up all day trying to get as much boat speed out of what little wind there is. We will probably keep the spinaker up overnight, provided there are no rain squalls in the area. More tomorrow. Chris “

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