It wasn’t long after our race had finished, at some point during the second or third beer. We were on board Dazcat 1495 Hissy Fit, 2019 Round the Island Race’s 1^st Multihull overall and in MOCRA, winner of The Trifle Trophy and Golden Miler Challenge Cup.

We were discussing the strong element of luck involved. It had been a particularly tough and long race with winds varying from 20 knot gusts to 0. After a reasonably breezy start boats soon started falling into massive wind holes and tidal streams. These seemed to be randomly distributed in little micro-systems so the boat right next to you might suddenly catch a lift and start gliding off while you remained stationary. Many retired as a result of one wind hole too many…

On board Hissy Fit we felt lucky as we only fell into four significant holes, the last being perhaps the worst when we found ourselves going backwards just a few 100 metres from the finish line! I pointed out that although there was without doubt luck involved the thing that struck me most on Hissy Fit was the non-stop discussion that took place. Simon looked at me in some surprise and said simply “I demand input”. The more I thought about this the more I realised how very true it was. Throughout the race everybody on board is expected to contribute to the on-going conversation, offering their opinions on when to put in a tack or gybe, where the next pressure might be coming from (or hole), what the tide and other boats are doing and so on.

Simon, at the wheel, was primarily looking at the wind and sails while Robin was clearly focused on the tides. These two strong perspectives generated a lot of tactical discussions, usually with more input from other crew as well while Simon processed all the info, sometimes calling the change and sometimes following someone else’s call.

I realised that it’s not just when racing that input is demanded, it’s a philosophy that is almost a prerequisite for anyone involved in any part of Dazcat or Multimarine. The yard, build and office teams work ‘with’ the business, not ‘for’ the business. Customers also work with the design and build teams, their involvement and suggestions an essential ingredient in the Dazcat mix…it struck me how unusual it is to ‘demand input’ from all parties at all stages of the boat’s life and how skilfully that came together to combat luck and create a winning boat and team, this year at least!

Simon, apart from very brief breaks, had remained on the helm for the entire race which for us was a grand total of 11h:25min:13secs. That’s not necessarily because he wanted to, but because we all politely declined his offer for someone else to take the helm. We all recognised that the challenging conditions required his skill, familiarity with the boat and ability to process the constant stream of information coming at him. Our crew was far from anything that could be described as a ‘pro-crew’ and was made up of friends of Simon and work colleagues; Steve Matthews, a sailing friend from Simon’s early days as a Cherub racer. They’d lost touch but fairly recently reconnected and Steve has now been sailing on Hissy Fit maybe four or five times, though this was his first RTI. Robin Russell and Richard Bickford, also friends, sail fairly regularly on board and were part of the winning team at the recent MOCRA Nationals, as was Brendan Seaward project manager at Multimarine, also with us on the RTI. Brendan had taken on Hissy Fit as skipper for the first time just the previous weekend in the Yealm – Trebeurden race but for the RTI was key foredeck crew, being the youngest on board by some many years, was pretty much all about. Finally myself, Oriel Butcher (aka Dazcat Media), there primarily to record events but also expected to take part in the sailing of the boat.

Although the crew worked incredibly hard Hissy Fit provided a superbly comfortable ride. We lost count of how many tacks and gybes were put in, how many sail changes, sometimes one almost immediately following another, and then another…but in between each the crew were kept constantly supplied with sweet and savoury snacks, water, cups of tea or coffee. Obviously, the day had also started first with bowls of cereal for the early

6.30 departure from our berth at the Folly ready for a 7.40 start, shortly followed by sausage and bacon sandwiches to set us up for the day.

My media duties prevent me from putting my concentrated focus into the sailing and as an ex yacht chef I’m comfortable filling the quieter moments with making sure the crew are well watered and fed, Simon is good at getting the right supplies in. On this blisteringly hot day it felt essential, so after the double breakfast we enjoyed a stream of ham hock and cheddar twirls, beetroot and feta pastries, camembert crackers, millionaires shortcake, chocolate biscuits, pitta bread stuffed with salad, ham, cheese & salt n vinegar crisps (!), guacamole crackers…and so it went on, and on…

it was of course also necessary to empty the fridge early in order to make room for the case of beer. A rare direct order from the skipper shortly after the start – make sure the beer will be cold for the finish, get it in there now (there was still a good bit of breeze around at that point)!

In the quieter moments all the crew enjoyed the spectacle of the 1300 boats against the spectacular backdrop of stunning blue skies and the Island’s famous geographical features. Almost all the fleet were behind us (too far behind to catch any really great photos of them all) but some of the other faster boats criss-crossing our path and little match races going on between us.

Those of us who were free to do so would take some brief moments to relax on the net or deck to take it all in. Between the tactical discussions conversation occasionally flitted to talking about the other boats, especially multihulls of course; their innovations or design features of interest, strengths and weaknesses in the conditions and so on. There was also a certain amount of banter and joking but this was more limited and mostly the attention stayed in race focus.

Eleven hours is a pretty long time to maintain that level of concentration and physical activity. By 11.30 pm we’d put the boat away, had a beer on board, gone ashore for more drinks and a delicious curry and were back on board ready for our bunks, young Brendan in particular totally broken by the day’s exertions. Although the whole team had put their 100% in, he had definitely done the bulk of the heavy physical work.

No alarms were set and we went to bed with a new plan hatching for our journey home. Racing logistics isn’t just about the race itself. There are numerous other considerations. Plans had been made initially for all the crew to sail Hissy Fit up to Cowes ready for the start on Thursday night. However, as the forecast looked worse and worse, with winds up to 50 knots, Simon had a last-minute change of plan. He had enlisted a friend and owner of trimaran The Edge, Chris Briggs, to help him to sail her up on Tuesday night instead. This gave Brendan, myself and Richard extra time at work but also left us with the question of how to get to the boat. Luckily, Andy Sinclair of Highwater Sails, one of our suppliers, was driving up Friday lunchtime to join another boat so we were able to Hitch a ride with him. Unluckily we hit what felt like the world’s biggest traffic jam and it was five and a half hours later when we finally arrived at the Hamble. From here Robin picked us up in his rib and we had a joyride at super high speed over to the Island then up to the Folly where we quickly decamped to the pub for dinner. It was a real pleasure to meet up with the crew of Dazcat 1295 Slinky Malinki, permanently based at the Folly and also racing. Sadly for them, they fell into one of the unlucky wind holes and found themselves frustrated at their result of sixth place, though this is still pretty good out of 12 finishers in MOCRA…

Originally the plan had been to sail Hissy Fit back to Plymouth after the race but the forecast was on the nose and Simon and Brendan had work commitments early on Monday. We would be taking part in the RORC Cowes – Dinard/ St. Malo race in just under two-weeks time and needed to be back up here for that…So, after much discussion the decision was made to take the boat back over to the mainland after the prizegiving and leave her there. Robin very kindly lent us his car, we enjoyed a smooth ride home and Robin got his car back 10 days later! A real team effort had to go into every aspect of being able to take part in this race.

For me, one of the highlights was that including us and Slinky Malinki we saw a total of five Dazcats over the weekend. Belladonna (D10) was in the Bridgedeck class so not officially part of the race although going around. This is because although recently she has become a seriously competitive race boat, for this day she had (so I was told) seven inexperienced members of family and friends on board. They were there to just enjoy the occasion. Also, to our surprise, parked opposite us at the Folly was Dazcat 1195 (kit boat) Spirit of Freedom. She also appeared to be there in cruising mode and just for the spectacle.

As we returned up the Hamble to get Robin’s car, we spotted Dazzla (D1395 kit) on her mooring and paid her a special visit. Dazzla is owned by MOCRA founder and President Mike Butterfield. took part in the Cowes-Dinard on July 12^th, just two weeks before Mike’s 88^th birthday. He’d invited me to join them for it as we’d gelled well on last year’s RORC Caribbean 600 but sadly I had to turn down the invite as Hissy Fit was using the race as her Fastnet qualifier. All the crew would meet and sail together for the first time and much as I’d have loved to join Mike it was essential training for our Fastnet…

Seeing so many other Dazcats out really  brought the team thing home. It’s not just limited to what happens on individual boats, or at the yard. We’re a family and although we’re often competing against each other we’re also there to support and cheer each other on!