#Clipperroundtheworld Part 4 (LEVEL 2 TRAINING) to the Pacific leg of the 2017/18 round the world race.

I am just back from completing Level 2 training and I feel much more assured by it and very motivated.

While I enjoyed Level 1 it was full on and a lot to take in in one hit. While I had grasped the principles of hoisting sails, reefing them and changing them as well as how to tack and gybe such a complex machine like most of my crew mates I did not feel I knew it as I should. While Clipper skippers did not expect evolution assurance at the Level 1 stage I was anxious to get it right and probably put myself under pressure. At the end of the Level 1 week I was physically tired yes - but more than that my brain felt like mush with information overload and self inflicted stresses - ha! (EVOLUTIONS - while the principles of sailing are the same on any yacht, on a 70 foot / 40 ton yacht with a suite of sails and very big and heavy sails at that - everything you do has to be systematic and has to involve a number of crew to make things happen. Tacking a Clipper for instance might take 8 people all working in sequential harmony. To get the sequences and individual techniques and timings right is challenging and there are quite a number of different evolutions to understand and eventually perfect (I hope.) )

I was with a very good bunch on Level 2. It started with a full day in the classroom and pool learning about how to deal with an abandon ship situation and how to use a life raft. It was a very instructive course and a salutary lesson in the need for safety at sea. What we did in the pool was hard. Trying to do it in a Pacific storm, dressed in foulies and in very cold water is mind boggling.

The bulk of the week was at sea practicing and building on the evolutions we learnt on Level 1. Eureka. After a week at  home going through my notes and with the drills practiced in Level 2 the penny has dropped. I can recite the principal evolutions. I feel I can lead an evolution. This is very assuring. I have progressed. At the end of the week I really feel I have learned a lot. I am much more familiar with life aboard. Simple things like using the bunks and the toilet, storing gear, cooking, rope handling - and moving around are not straight forward on a Clipper yacht but I am adjusting. It is not simple for anyone. That is evident. Team work and considering others is really essential. Interdependence is greater on a large Clipper yacht than in any other situation I have ever experienced.

Another feature of the week was experiencing the normal "watch" system. The crew is divided into watches. 4 hours on 4 hours off. This is tough if you like your sleep - but the sea at night is beautiful

At the end of the week I have moved on and put together with the earlier Crew Allocation - things are now very real. I am going to sail the Pacific. I also have to say I have learnt a lot already that will be generally helpful in the coastal sailing on my own little boat that I plan to do in the next few years. Clipper is dominating my thoughts. I am on a course to do something that will be quite special I think.

Here is a link showing a bit more about the actual boats - the Clipper 70

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ffpRY0VwsA

Abandon ship practice

Scenes from the week

#Clipperroundtheworld Part 3 (CREW ALLOCATION) to the Pacific leg of the 2017/18 round the world race.

Last Saturday was a mega day for those participating in  the 2017/18 Clipper race. It is the day where you find out for the first time who your Skipper will be - which boat you will be on - and of course who your crew members will be. All this is so important because with this boat and these people you will be endeavoring to complete a huge challenge as a collective. There is no doubt there will be dangers - from the huge seas to be encountered - from being on a pitching boat set at all angles while trying to move around and function - and from handling such a powerful yacht with heavy equipment under huge strain. Your boat, your skipper and your team will be focused on safe racing over 40000 miles - so they can hardly be more important to you and you to them.

Each Clipper race requires a total crew of over 700. About 50% will be full circumnavigators and the rest (like me and brother Mike) will be leggers (as explained in earlier blogs). For the first time more than 50% of the crews are non UK nationals - so truly international.

On Crew Allocation day held at Portsmouth Guildhall there are 450 attending. The drama of the day will be live streamed to those unable to attend. There is a massive buzz in the air. Some one likened it to a first day at school atmosphere. We are all in our red Clipper jackets to add to the drama.

We are sat in the main hall. A short speech from Sir Robin Knox-Johnson - the first man to do a single handed circumnavigation of the world and the Clipper driver. He emphasizes the challenge - the hugeness of it - the likely life changing effect of it. He stresses safety and looking after each other. He underlines it.

Then the route is graphically described. Wow. It is really comes alive. Leg 6. Pictures of our Pacific leg come up. For Mike and I a special interest. Our start city - the Chinese sailing city of Qingdao. We can expect a massive welcome. Seattle our destination port the same. It is so exciting. The Pacific crossing is described as the "big one". Remote - massive distance across the world's biggest ocean. Expect storms and huge seas. The North Pacific will be cold too - maybe even some snow around the China east coast and as you skirt under the coast of Japan. The Clipper boat speed record was set here. 35 knots down a rolling wave taller than a house! Scary stuff - but what an opportunity!

And then the moment we are all really waiting for. The 12 Skippers are introduced and called onto the stage. Who are we going to get? (Clipper strive to balance crews in terms of gender, age and experience). We all have preferences I think. I do. Clipper are rightly adamant whoever you are with will be who you sail with - there will be no options to swop. In turn each skipper read out the names of half their crew. Lots of whoops of delight come from the audience. Mike's and my name to come out in the 2nd run so the tension even higher. ( Clipper do allow you to indicate a preference of Skipper - but there are no guarantees.). Mike is delighted to get Lance Shepherd. I am waiting still. And out my name comes. I am with Rick Powell. I feel like punching the air. I am so pleased and delighted and reassured. Rick was the mate on my Level 1 training so I know him better than any of the other skippers. I had previously asked Clipper if I could possibly be on his boat (or Roy Taylor's our skipper on Level 1). Rick is not flash. He is very experienced. He has skippered a leg on a clipper race before. I like him a lot so a really good start.

The next thing is to break out into rooms to meet Rick and the Team Rick crew (our boat does not have a sponsor name yet but that will come in the next 2 weeks) - my crew for a 4 hour preliminary meeting. Rick is not a natural in the limelight and he is has decided not to be too corporate clichéd. A good thing. Rick outlines his ideas and things that have to be considered. He places great emphasis on the fact he wants to reflect the crew goals and objectives and wants to try and meet everyone's needs ands aspirations. Much emphasis is placed on the discussion about our competiveness as a crew. How much do we want to win the race. What are we prepared to put in. Safety is paramount. It is easy to say we will give it 110% but what does that mean? Consensus seems to be podium finishes would consider to be real success. There will be much more to come on this. We quickly agreed a team building weekend in June - walking on the South Downs. This was a very positive outcome.

Later after the big photo opportunity on the steps outside the Guildhall we broke out to pubs at Gunwharf for a more informal get to know. Of course about a 3rd of the total crew where unable to attend - mainly because they were international. The meeting was interesting. As you would expect with this type of aspirational event there were some strong personalities evident. One or two I didn't initially take to but I will reserve judgement and an open mind. In my trekking experience jarring corners gradually get rounded and there were some really nice people making up our crew.

From now on we will be working to build an effective team and establish the boats character. I come away highly motivated and positive. It is going to be epic.

Level 2 training to come next. There is some real momentum building.

The skippers and Sir Robin Knox-Johnson in the front. I am somewhere in the back left corner - not sure where Mike is!

#GE2017 the problems with Corbyn's socialism - it will not work

Back from an early morning bike ride. Have been thinking about our General Election - my mind is fuelled by the heightened political debate and release of the leading parties manifestos. It is exasperating. I could spend hours writing about it but I do not really have the time and actually what would be the point? I am writing this short blog for my own sanity - based on my life's experience - ha!

First of all a bit of an old chestnut. Was it Churchill who said - someone did " if you are not a socialist when you are 20 you have no heart - if you are not a capitalist (Conservative) by the time you are 40 you have no head. This is my experience. It would be lovely to believe everything in life can be rosy and the nature of human kind - fair minded, reasonable, positively motivated and decent. In reality that is not the case. Many people take advantage. Many people are lazy or feckless. People need to be motivated and the best way is by personal reward and the ability to build a secure and brighter future for themselves and their loved ones.

Here are a couple of truisms. They are not mine - but they make the point I want to make because they reflect REAL life :

When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

A parable: The ant worked hard all summer collecting food and preparing his home for winter. The grasshopper played all summer not doing any work. When winter came the grasshopper had no food. No worries, the grasshopper elected a socialist leader that took away 40 percent of the ants food and gave it to the grasshopper. The next year the ant thought what is the point of working hard if the government is going to take it off me. He decided that the new government would have to take care of him the same way so he played all summer too, as did all the other hard working producing ants. When winter came, there was no food and they all starved to death.

My sincere conclusion is the only thing that works and is sustainable is capitalism but I do not support totally unbridled capitalism because some regulation IS required to curb the likely excesses of  a deregulated market environment. I am a "caring" capitalist. I acknowledge in any society there will be vulnerable people who need help and it is morally right to help them. However as Maggie Thatcher said (and socialists appear to have never learned) "compassion is rarely enough - you have to earn it first before you can give it away.

You earn it first by facilitating business activity. You have to encourage self help - reward entrepreneurship - allow people to accumulate wealth to secure the future of themselves and their families. If you deny them this motivation by taxing them to the hilt in order to live out the socialist dream of a wider society it will end in tears. It always has before and it always will because you CANNOT buck human nature.

#Socialism GE2017 UK politics

Back from an early morning bike ride. Have been thinking about our General Election - my mind is fuelled by the heightened political debate and release of the leading parties manifestos. It is exasperating. I could spend hours writing about it but I do not really have the time and actually what would be the point? I am writing this short blog for my own sanity - based on my life's experience - ha!

First of all a bit of an old chestnut. Was it Churchill who said - someone did " if you are not a socialist when you are 20 you have no heart - if you are not a capitalist (Conservative) by the time you are 40 you have no head. This is my experience. It would be lovely to believe everything in life can be rosy and the nature of human kind - fair minded, reasonable, positively motivated and decent. In reality that is not the case. Many people take advantage. Many people are lazy or feckless. People need to be motivated and the best way is by personal reward and the ability to build a secure and brighter future for themselves and their loved ones.

Here are a couple of truisms. They are not mine - but they make the point I want to make because they reflect REAL life :

When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

A parable: The ant worked hard all summer collecting food and preparing his home for winter. The grasshopper played all summer not doing any work. When winter came the grasshopper had no food. No worries, the grasshopper elected a socialist leader that took away 40 percent of the ants food and gave it to the grasshopper. The next year the ant thought what is the point of working hard if the government is going to take it off me. He decided that the new government would have to take care of him the same way so he played all summer too, as did all the other hard working producing ants. When winter came, there was no food and they all starved to death.

My sincere conclusion is the only thing that works and is sustainable is capitalism but I do not support totally unbridled capitalism because some regulation IS required to curb the likely excesses of  a deregulated market environment. I am a "caring" capitalist. I acknowledge in any society there will be vulnerable people who need help and it is morally right to help them. However as Maggie Thatcher said (and socialists appear to have never learned) "compassion is rarely enough - you have to earn it first before you can give it away.

You earn it first by facilitating business activity. You have to encourage self help - reward entrepreneurship - allow people to accumulate wealth to secure the future of themselves and their families. If you deny them this motivation by taxing them to the hilt in order to live out the socialist dream of a wider society it will end in tears. It always has before and it always will because you CANNOT buck human nature.

#Clipperroundtheworld Part 2 (WEEK ONE LEVEL 1 TRAINING) to the Pacific leg of the 2017/18 round the world race.

I am just back from my compulsory first week (Level 1) Clipper training starting from Gosport Marina - home of Clipper HQ.

The objectives of Level 1 is to introduce the basic principles of sailing, how the boat functions and teaches personal safety along with the principles of good seamanship.

Clipper require no initial boat experience to join the program although they do make available a training manual which you would be wise to have a good look at in advance. Of course many people do have boating experience - some are very experienced. However Clipper maintain there is a "Clipper way" and everyone has to learn it. Their rationale is integrated teamwork is essential and it will be hindered by different methods being used. There is also the scale of the Clipper boats to be taken into account. Few would have sailed on such massive and powerful yachts (with such heavy gear). On small boats you maybe be able to get away with bad practice. On a Clipper yacht you will not.

Level 1 courses are run throughout the prior year. I have left mine relatively late. It is a personal choice. Crews are made up randomly. Unusually there were 7 guys on my course plus our skipper for the week and his mate for the week. (both Skipper Roy and mate Rick are skippers in the forth coming race.)

As it turned out our crew were very experienced - 3 were Americans - all boat owners, there were 2 other Brits - one of whom was a yacht master - the youngest (early 40's) a guy from Slovenia ex Army (but had done no sailing)  plus myself. (I have done some small boat coastal sailing). Our training was on one of the earlier Clipper round the world boats - a 68 - but essentially the same in layout as the actual 70's.

Thereafter everything we did was planned and team based although the massively experienced skippers were able to personalize it too by being amazingly quick in seeing when individual support was needed or difficulty was arising. They were there with friendly, caring and supportive advice often before we were aware of it's necessity. One certain thing I took away from the week - Clipper is a very professional organization - and the skippers are exceptional seamen.

Here are some observations and information about the Level 1 week. they are personal to me but might be of use to you :

• very little can be done on a Clipper boat without teamwork - because of size. Sails are very heavy and have to be manhandled in numbers. Sheets and halyards have to be ground on with powerful winches. Tensions are enormous (and potentially dangerous).
• much of the first week is about EVOLUTIONS. Evolutions are raising and lowering sails, reefing the main, changing foresails and tacking and gybing. Clipper refer to each action as an evolution. Raising the main is an evolution, tacking is an evolution. Each evolution requires the hand of 4 - maybe 6 or even 8 team members working together.
• learning and understanding each evolution is the challenge - and there is a lot to learn. On reflection I have come up with the following. There are 3 aspects to an evolution 1) understand what to do, 2) understand when to do it & 3) how to carry it our efficiently and safely ie which rope to pull, when to pull it and then how to pull it and grind it on a winch without losing your fingers! Completing a evolution efficiently and safely requires individual competence and excellent teamwork. This is the test.
• Everyone will get things wrong. At times my brain felt like mush because the learning curve is steep. We each put ourselves under pressure - it happens when you are performing in a group. No one wants to make a fool of themselves. (you will experience a pressure bowline - ha!) You just have to weather it. The skippers are great. They are so supportive. (having some very experienced crew mates can have an obvious down and up side initially. You can easily feel the pressure of their competence but you benefit from it too. Clipper Skippers are used to this. There is a place for everyone and I am confident that by the time we get to the actual race everyone will be up to speed and competent - so keep the faith and do not be intimidated. Ask if you are not sure - and remember making mistakes is part of the learning process and you are there to learn!) 
• Safety is reassuringly a massive issue with Clipper. Clipping on the jack stays is something everyone has to learn to work with despite the inconvenience on the face of it. My advice is embrace all the safety stuff (hopefully it will become second nature) - it will reduce injury and loss of life. (a lot of time spent on Man over board drills.) 
• For myself it was not until I finished the course (when I could go back to my training manual in my own time) that I could piece together the evolutions. Now everything makes sense. I am glad I have some time to prepare for the Level 2 course to come.
• Personal gear. You will likely take too much. That is fine. My advice is find out for yourself what works and then you can distill it down over time. There is a lot of good information from the week about personal kit you might need to buy to make your sailing more comfortable or safer. Be warned these things can come at a cost. For instance I am now sure I need a dry suit to complete leg 6 - and they are expensive but not something I understood at the outset.

At the end of the first week I felt drained - both physically and mentally. The physical side - you have to be fit - heaving heavy sails around the boat - grinding winches - including the coffee grinder and generally just moving around a Clipper under sail. Its hard on your hands - knocks are common place as you move around trying to work at 45 degrees! Safety need becomes very apparent. The mental side - the learning curve - but also the intensity of being in close proximity with a group of other strong minded people and making it work in common cause. Tough - because we all have different "norms" and different excesses. This is a massive part of the challenge - how to integrate - how to bring positivity without being disruptive. How to take responsibility without being overbearing - and not everyone gets it right.

My overriding feeling now is an incredible positivity. I have already learnt so much. I really enjoyed the first week although it was not always apparent to me at the time. It is tough. I cannot wait for the next training bout. It is all coming alive now. In a near time I will be meeting my actual skipper and my actual crew mates for the race itself. The big crew allocation day is soon. I have made the right decision - I really want to do this. I feel a deep and quiet joy at the prospect and very fortunate to have been able to make sailing the Pacific a possibility. Fingers crossed. Thank you Clipper.

Here are a few pictures (unfortunately they do not include my ascent of the 90 foot mast on a winch) -  :  

The deck of the older Clipper 68's used for L1 training.

the boat middle left is a 38 footer so you can get a sense of the size of a Clipper yacht.

A view of the snake pit. A lot to get your head around - and no sails are hanked on here.

More shots of the 68's

6 of the 12 Clipper 70's. Each will be fully badged up with the sponsor names.

Hard to grasp the size of the Clipper 70's but they dwarf most other boats in the marina.

#Clipperroundtheworld Part 1 (INTRODUCTION TO THE RACE) to the Pacific leg of the 2017/18 round the world race.

This is the first of a series of blogs I intend to write about my preparation and attempt to race sail the Pacific in April 2018.

I am doing so with CLIPPER. http://clipperroundtheworld.com/ (please use this site - it provides masses of information about Clipper and the race as well as some fantastic video footage and testimony.)

(both myself and my brother Mike have signed up - we will be on different boats.)

My blogs will be a personal account only and will serve as a record for me and hopefully provide an insight for anyone else that reads them.

Here is some basic information as a starting point.

• Clipper is the name of a business - which happens to be based at Portsmouth. (see the web link above).
• It owns a fleet of 12 identical yachts called Clipper 70's - 70 feet long and weigh about 35 tons. These boats have been around the world twice before.
• Every two years Clipper stage a round the world race for their 12 matched yachts. The race is made up of 8 legs (from one port to another with short stopovers to make crew changes , essential maintenance and revictual). Each leg is a separate race and the overall winner is the boat that does best over the 8 legs that make up the full world circumnavigation. The race has worldwide interest.
• The race takes about 10 months.
• It is a truly international and cosmopolitan event with crew recruited from all over the world.
• Mike and I are on the 2017/18 race which starts from Liverpool on August 20th.
• Some people sign up to do the whole circumnavigation. Some do one or more legs.
• Mike and I are doing leg 6 - the Pacific crossing from Qingdao on the east coast of China to Seattle on the west coast of the USA. The Pacific is the world's biggest ocean. Our crossing route is in the north Pacific. It is over 6600 miles (twice the Atlantic). It will be cold and of course like any ocean - stormy at times.
• The crossing time for leg 6 is likely to be between 30 & 35 days + we have to get to China and back from America under our own steam. We will pick up the boat to start leg 6 in April 2018.
• Leading up to the race every crew member has to do the same 4 week comprehensive training program.
• Each boat needs a crew of about 20 people to sail a leg. Half of the crew will be made up of people who are doing the whole race and the other half will be made up of "leggers"  like Mike and I.
• Clipper try to balance each crew so they roughly have the same gender, age and experience mix.

WHY HAVE I DECIDED TO DO THIS?

Making a personal decision to invest quite a lot of money, certainly a lot of time - and to some extent put your life on the line is a big decision. My personal reasons are quite simple.

• I have used this quote before when describing the need to run a marathon. " the rewards for those who persevere far outweigh the pain that must precede victory " (Ted W Engstrom). There is nothing like the feeling you get at the end when you know to your core you have been tested and acquitted yourself well. It is a highly personal feeling and can be quite wonderful and certainly deeply emotional. Sailing the Pacific offers such an opportunity because it will be tough - maybe the hardest thing I have done.
• I love planning something like a trek from the comfort of my home - and then actually doing it. There is a lot to think about - a lot of preparation to be done.
• I like competition and team sport. The race format offers that and it also offers a real opportunity to work with some great people in a very meaningful way.
• In my retirement - ha! I plan to make recreational sailing one of my main activities. The Clipper training and completing the leg will vastly increase my sailing knowledge and experience.

WHY THE MIGHTY PACIFIC LEG ?

To do the whole circumnavigation would be amazing of course but it would mean almost 12 months away from home and cost about £55k. In both respects this is too much for me at this time.

Any leg would be wonderful and a fantastic achievement. However I have chosen the Pacific leg. To me it is the most defined leg - maybe the most romantic leg (to sail across the Pacific). The Pacific seems in another world and as the Clipper description says below - actually race sailing across the Pacific is still restricted to a relatively small number of people. It will also be a ferocious test because of weather, sea conditions and scale. There is not much bigger - so something amazing to achieve. I have in mind "swansong" and finally putting my feet up - ha!

Here is some prose from the Clipper site about The Mighty Pacific Leg - leg 6 :-

As you depart China, expect to be treated like a superhero as the media and spectators snap away, video, cheer and applaud as you walk down to your racing yacht.

The first few days when snow fell on a grey sea will be long forgotten as you work your boat to the maximum and reach the first waypoint at the southern tip of Japan. It might be a bit early to smile at the memory of the huge Pacific rollers that picked up your 70-foot yacht and allowed it to surf at 30 knots down into the trough ahead, save that for your first cold beer ashore.

After more than a month at sea, crossing the International Date Line and with nearly 6,000 miles left in your wake, you will be preparing to make one of the most momentous landfalls of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

If you are on watch, it could be your shout that alerts your team that the west coast of America has been spotted. By then, the incredible start spectacle put on by the Chinese sailing city of Qingdao will be distant memory but one that will live with you forever.

Knowing that you are one of the few people that will ever race a yacht across the planets greatest ocean makes the cold, wet and exhausting race completely worth while. You lived team work, not just talked about it. You stayed safe, raced fast and looked after yourself and your crew mates. The only thing better than living one of lifes greatest challenges, is sharing it with an amazing team.

ABOUT THE CLIPPER 70's

The third generation of one-design Clipper Race yachts debuted in the Clipper 2013-14 Race, proving to be faster and more dynamic than previous Clipper Race yachts, breaking speed records of 35 knots [One DLL, Leg 6].

The twelve 70-foot yachts make up world’s largest matched fleet of ocean racing yachts. Designed by renowned naval architect Tony Castro, they are the shining jewel in the Clipper Race crown, perfectly adapted to this grueling sailing challenge.

As with all lean, mean ocean racing yachts, the Clipper 70s are not for the faint hearted. They are by design stripped of all luxuries. Crew must become experts at living in a confined space, managing all their kit and belongings as they settle into their new home.

The Clipper 70s feature twin helms, twin rudders and a six-foot bowsprit, which allows the inclusion of three large asymmetric spinnakers and a suite of Yankee headsails, which combine to increase performance and boat speed. The new hull design produces better performance and control, especially in the light winds encountered near the Equator or between weather systems when crossing oceans. The design provides total control in the heaviest of conditions, ensuring not only high speeds, but safety too.

Today’s fleet is in stark comparison to the one which began the very first Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in 1996. Development ideas have been taken from both previous yacht designs: the Clipper 60s and Clipper 68s.

#GE17 Dianne Abbot - Labour Party - Competence / Incompetence

Of course I have my own political beliefs and they are not socialist ones. However I respect that people form their own views and we each have one democratic vote to cast and each vote is worth the same.

However the point of this short blog is to highlight competence - something we should be able to expect from our senior politicians whatever their political party.

The Home Secretary in our government system is one of the great offices of state - in charge of the internal affairs of England and Wales and for immigration and citizenship of the UK. Responsibilities of the Home Secretary includes policing and national security - MI5 - GCHQ etc. It is widely held as one of the toughest ministerial positions and was the job Theresa May held before she became prime minister.

Here below is a link to an interview Dianne Abbot the Shadow Home Secretary completed today. If the Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn wins the election on June 8th - she would be THE Home Secretary.

http://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/nick-ferrari/diane-abbotts-agonising-interview-over-policy-cost/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39775693

It is quite terrifying that Dianne Abbot has this shadow role - and quite terrifying that she is regarded as one of Labour's most senior MP's and one of Jeremey Corbyn's most prominent leadership team members.

I cannot resist winding up this blog by observing - as so often is the case with Corbyn and his team - they are big on rhetoric but light on substance and detail. Abbot is a shining example here.

While I have your attention - ha! I also would like to squeeze in something Margaret Thatcher said about the Labour Party which is just as relevant now as it was when she said it. She said "compassion is rarely enough - you have to earn it first before you can give it away." The Labour Party / socialists need to understand we need a strong and vibrant economy through business, hard work and entrepreneurship to produce the tax revenues needed in order to be able to help the vulnerable and needy. Socialists too often portray businesses as capitalist loathsome enemies of the poor whereas the taxes they generate are actually the lifeblood of our public services and they should be supported and encouraged.

#IsleofWightRandonee2017

I have written a blog about the annual Isle of Wight Randonee before. (Please see my IOW Randonee blog dated 3/5/2016 on this site for a more comprehensive report).

My primary purpose for writing this one is simply to promote the event and acknowledge the kind and unsung work of the people behind its organsisation. Last year I wrote this :

This Sunday past was the Isle of Wight Randonee organised by The Wayfarers Cycling Club. They have been organising it brilliantly for years as a gift to cycling and to encourage people to get involved. Their organisation is quiet and low key. It is a free event. It is not a race. It is something anyone with a bike can have a go at.

Apparently it is the 32nd Randonee - and while I have not done every year maybe I have done half of them or more. The great thing is it has hardly changed at all over the years. It still showcases the Isle of Wight wonderfully - especially the back of the Wight - Whitwell, Niton, Chale, Brighstone, Mottistone, Hulverstone and back on to the Military Road for the climb and then fast descent into Freshwater Bay.

What does change is the weather. It was not a vintage year this year but we have been around in far worse. This year there was a strongish wind from the SE - overcast and some showers but the rain never really came. It was great to be out there.

One thing that has changed over the years I think is the equipment - better faster, lighter bikes - more pelotons' and lycra and perhaps fewer "fun" riders like ourselves as a result - but there remains a lovely atmosphere - and it is NOT a race. It is a long way around the Island and a lot of hills - but even on our mountain bikes it is readily doable with some decent effort and I would encourage anyone to have a go. Many visitors make a full weekend of it and it is great to see.

Thanks again to all the organisors - to all the nice people at the 6 check points and to the route marshalls. Thanks to the PTA at Yarmouth Primary School that always do such a great job providing lovely fuel in the form of hot soup, rolls and cakes etc!

This year the route was slightly different because of problems with the chain ferry across the Medina. We were rerouted around Gurnard, West and East Cowes and had to go to Newport instead. This is not quite so picturesque and would have been a shame on a finer weather day but as it was it hardly detracted at all. I am sure it will be back to the normal route next year.

This year we breezed around and Jo enjoyed her first Randonee and coped easily (even on her trusty mountain bike!). I didn't take any photos as evidence - ha! - mainly because the day before I washed my mob! and also because the weather was not ideal. See last years blog mentioned above for more of an idea. Better still put it on your list for next year - certainly a recommended must if you have never done it before. Thank you once again Wayfarers Cycling Club and everyone involved for all your fantastic efforts - they are very much appreciated.

Distances Between Checkpoints (PS Official randomness route is always clockwise now)

From	To	Distance (Miles)
Bembridge	Wootton	10.5
Wootton	East Cowes	4.8
East Cowes	Yarmouth	16
Yarmouth	Whitwell	19.16
Whitwell	Alverstone	9.9
Alverstone	Bembridge	5.7
	Total	66