Crew: Mark Attrill (skipper), Margaret, Molly, Michelle Nicholson, Gerard Nicholson, Ella Nieper, Stuart Wheeler, Geoff Head.
Ushaka is a 34 foot Dehler Optima 101 Competition yacht based in Hamble, UK and owned by Mark Attrill. Ushaka competed in the White Cruising Division.
I found the boat on the Cowes Week website crew seeker forum. After a couple of emails with Mark I accepted his offer to join the crew for part of the week. I took the train from London to Southampton and then the Red Jet passenger ferry to Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Checked into my little hotel, the Fountain Inn, and eventually caught up with the Ushaka crew who were partying with the crowds on the waterfront. They were a friendly lot and made me very welcome.
The next morning I took the Chain Ferry across to East Cowes Marina to join the crew for breakfast at the Lifeboat restaurant. Then it was down to the boat to get ready for the day’s sailing.
I had a fantastic experience enjoying two days of racing on Ushaka. The regatta organisation by the Royal Yacht Squadron was definitely world class. As well all the printed documentation with race info, charts, tides etc., each skipper and crew member was able to log into the app which provided full details of individual races, courses for your division, as well as weather and results.
I was allocated the role of bowman on both days handling the spinnaker work with Ella assisting. With a 3 mt range between high and low tides Mark certainly relied on his local knowledge to work the currents to our advantage.
We won in our division on both days and we won the series only just beating Panda.
On Friday evening we all converged in the massive Royal Yacht Squadron clubhouse for the prize giving ceremonies.
On Saturday we sailed Ushaka back up the Solent to her home berth at the lovely port of Hamble. A nice relaxing cruise enjoying the company of my new sailing friends!
Thank you Mark for the opportunity!
Halo Log Book 