As well as a change of season, September also brought a change of boat for me. I once again joined the team onboard Tilakkhana II, the Wally Cento, for the final two regattas of the 2025 season. We were treated with the most beautiful locations for both.
The first was the stunning backdrop of Porto Cervo, Sardinia, where we initially experienced beautiful sailing which was then followed by challenging conditions. Two days delivered big winds that resulted in either the race committee or us choosing not to compete. The week consisted of a mixture of windward leeward courses and coastal courses, as a team, we progressed across all aspects of our logistics and performance.
A short week between events allowed me to return home and sleep in my own bed, which made a pleasant change as I have been away almost continuously since March. I always enjoy being back and it was a great opportunity to catch up on personal admin. During the week I had a whistle stop day trip to Paris to attend the crew announcement of The Famous Project CIC. Despite being challenged by Paris traffic and flight delays I made it to the Maritime Museum just in time for the announcement. This venue in Paris was specially selected as it houses the coveted Jules Verne Trophy – our ultimate goal. Selecting and announcing our crew is another fundamental step towards the start of our endeavour, which is getting closer by the day.
Being home was perfect timing to be able to attend the Southampton International Boat Show. In my capacity as ambassador for Sunsail, I had the wonderful task of presenting the cheque to the winning establishments of the ‘Funding the Future’ Award. This year saw Otley Sailing Club from West Yorkshire take the top honour, securing the grand prize of £6,000. Wilsonian Sailing Club and Henley Sailing Club were celebrated as runners-up, each being awarded £2,000. The funding will help the clubs bring their ambitions to life, from improving facilities and launching new initiatives to opening up sailing to wider communities.
At end of the month Tilakkhana II beckoned once again and, for our final race of the 2025 season, we headed to the beautiful St Tropez. The week was plagued by light winds albeit just enough for a mix of windward leeward courses and coastal races. We had mixed results but there has been clear improvement which was reflected in our 4th place position. It was an exciting place to end our first season and, with a great many lessons learnt along the way, we have the confidence to set ambitious goals for next year.
IDEC Sport, our 100′ trimaran for The Famous Project CIC, has been on the receiving end of some love from our wonderful shore team. She is now back in the water and, although the jobs list never seems to end as we prepare for our trip around the world, we will now be able to spend valuable time training. Hopefully we will see conditions that are colder and windier out in the Atlantic over the coming weeks.