Alone at sea with whooping cough
What could be safer than being alone in the middle of the ocean during a pandemic? This has been a frequent response to the news that this year’s Original Singlehanded TransAtlantic Race (OSTAR) has been postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I think people are just trying to be funny, but as someone who once spent nine days alone at sea with a respiratory infection, I can tell you it’s no laughing matter.
In 2015, I took part in the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club’s Azores and Back Race (AZAB) on Zest, my 1992 Humphreys 36 custom racer/cruiser. This iconic quadrennial British ocean race consists of two 1,200-mile legs from Falmouth to Ponta Delgada and back, and has traditionally been open to solo and double-handed crews (fully-crewed entries will be permitted in the next edition).
I decided to race out double-handed with my partner Rupert Holmes and then return solo as a qualifier for the 2017 OSTAR.
Our outbound leg was a lively seven-day downwind romp in which we claimed line honours for our class, but disappointingly ended up third on handicap after
