Words & Pictures - Mark Deane
In the cold windy January of 2004 Dave Dean
the harbour master at Lower Town Fishguard phoned up and asked if Celtic
Diving would be willing to volunteer our dive boat for safety/press boat
cover for a week long boating event in July.
“This is the middle of our diving season !
“ I protested “you’ll ruin us !”. “Yeah, I know” he said “but it’s for
a good cause.”
Intrigued, I
decided to do a bit of research on this Atlantic Challenge.
It turns out
that Atlantic Challenge International sponsors a friendly contest of
seamanship in Bantry Bay gigs, held in a different host country every
other year.
The aim is to
build trust among nations and form a community of youth and adults from
different countries, while encouraging the practice of traditional
maritime skills.
The origins of
the Atlantic Challenge movement are firmly rooted in the teachings of
Kurt Hahn, who is widely recognised as one of the 20th. century’s
greatest educators.
Reflecting
Hahn's belief that self-discovery comes through challenge, American
Lance Lee and Frenchman Bernard Cadoret inaugurated the Atlantic
Challenge, when the first races took place in New York harbour.
This first
challenge was held between the USA and France at the Centennial
Celebrations of the Statue of Liberty in 1986. Since then the
competition has grown to fourteen nations, and sixty Bantry Bay gigs
have been built worldwide.
The boats are
replicas of an 18th century captain’s “gig”, captured from a French man
o’ war in Bantry Bay 1796. The original gig is now on display in the
Dublin National Maritime Museum.
The 38ft gigs
are carvel built, ie; with the hull planks lying flush or edge to edge
rather than overlapping.
A gig has three
masts with dipping lugsails. The two main masts require a crew of five,
with the remaining crew attending to the third, smaller sail and helming
the vessel.
The length of
the gigs, combined with their narrow width and large sail area, means
they are capable of great speed under sail. Gigs can easily reach speeds
of 12 knots, requiring supreme skill, teamwork and concentration on the
part of the crew.
The simplicity
of the rig allows for the masts to be lowered quickly and the gig can be
rowed with ten oars, the longest of which are 18’6” (5.6m). The gig is
tremendously manoeuvrable under oars, but is also swift, allowing a crew
to maintain a speed of 5 knots over several miles.
These boats are
well suited to their purpose; they have undeniable beauty, exhilarating
performance and complexity of operation. Many have been built as
community projects with young people and adults working side by side.
During the
contests teams are housed and fed together in a local school or
campground. Besides their daily efforts on the water, team members from
different countries have ample time to spend together, and many form
lifetime friendships with their international peers.
The Atlantic
Challenge competitions and races include the following events:
L'Esprit:
A cooperative event with mixed crews, sharing knowledge and meeting a
challenge together. A variety of skills are tested, including rudderless
slalom and man-over-board under sail.
Rowing Race:
Race over a 2 nautical mile straight course.
Jackstay
Transfer: A sack is transferred
from a pier to the gig and then rowed to a destination.
Sail & Oars:
Twice around a 3 nautical mile triangular course using sails and oars
alternatively.
Captain's
Gig: Transfer of a "very
important person" from the pier to a vessel. This is a style event and
is not judged on speed.
Navigation:
This event is based on the water and tests knowledge of compass course,
speed, time and distance calculations, plotting, latitude and longitude,
dead reckoning and tides.
Towing Race:
Under sail and oar featuring pairs of boats and emphasizing cooperation
between two gigs.
Rowing
Slalom: Boat handling contest
around buoys without the use of a rudder.
Having delved
into the history of the Atlantic Challenge, I thought; “This all sounds
very exciting”. Especially as this was to be the first time for the
Atlantic Challenge to be held in the UK.
Two hundred and
eighty crew members from ten participating countries were to be housed
in a “tented village” in Goodwick, our home town !
Fishguard
harbour forms a natural amphitheatre enabling visiting spectators to
view the events from several different venues. The photo opportunities
were going to be enormous.
So I rang Dave
Fletcher the main organizer and co-coordinator and not only donated the
use of “Ivy May” our dive boat for the week but also offered to be
official photographer!
I was granted
the concession; kept that week free from bookings, ordered a new camera
to celebrate and looked forward to what promised to be a memorable
competition.
As the weeks
drew closer we had fine weather in June and at the beginning of July,
the posters and advertising started appearing around the place, the
tented village sprang up.
Dave Dean was
working tirelessly around the clock arranging things including the
impressive pontoons, donated by Roy Harries of Stena Line, which were
set in place on the eastern breakwater.
Just days
before the event was due to take place and the competitors were
arriving, a force eight gale started to blow in.
I had to rescue
our boat on the deep water mooring out in the harbour while Dave Dean
and Roy Harries battled to save the pontoons that threatened to break
loose and wreak havoc!
Throughout the
night the winds blew in from the north and we all had to hope that
nothing would get totally destroyed. The whole event hung in the
balance !
Morning came
and with it better weather, the gale subsided and everyone pulled
together to make the necessary repairs and get on with the last minute
preparations. There was a bustling hive of activity at Goodwick Parrog.
The tented
village started to fill up with residents, the gigs arrived, the harbour
office was opened up, impromptu car parks materialized, unfamiliar out
of town visitors wandered around lost, barrels were rolled into the beer
tent - the scene was set for the Tenth International Atlantic Challenge.
“West Wales
centre stage as the Atlantic Challenge blows in the winds of
international harmony”
Celebrating the
honour of being selected as the venue for the 2004 event, the UK gig 'Integritie'
was paraded through streets of Fishguard before the official contest
preview was launched by Sir David Mansel Lewis, former Lord Lieutenant
of the county of Pembrokeshire and Chairman of the local Atlantic
Challenge committee.
Reflecting on
over 200 years of history, the procession was led by the historic local
heroine Jemima Nicholas - famous for helping defeat the failed French
invasion force that used boats like the Bantry Bay gig when they landed
near Fishguard in 1797.
Competing teams
for 2004 were; Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France (with two
teams), Ireland, International, Italy, Norway, Russia, UK and the USA
The newest gig
in the Atlantic Challenge was the Finnish Gig. She took to the water in
May to begin her preparations.
Thursday
8th.July, the accommodation was officially open and a celebratory meal
was held in the evening.
Friday and the
weather improving, the orientation and safety briefings were held and
there was an evening welcome in the “Entertainments” (beer) tent.
Saturday saw
the safety inspections of the gigs, then the beaching. This was followed
by the opening ceremony, very grand and then the launching and mooring
of the boats at the pontoons.
The first
events were the rowing heats, a supreme test of strength, speed and
stamina. Sweat, heave-ho-ing and shouts of encouragement from the
spectators.
A large results
table, keeping a tally of the positions and scores, was conveniently
positioned on the wall of the harbour office so that it was always
possible to find out how the various teams were doing.
We had “Ivy
May” moored at the pontoons and were busy taking photographs and
ferrying officials, television and press people to and fro.
Sunday morning
saw the Esprit event with mixed crews, albeit a bit confusing at first,
probably because of the language barriers. But the willingness to
cooperate was very apparent and as things progressed the skills seemed
to come together more smoothly.
Sunday
afternoon saw the exciting Sail and Oar races - very energetic and
visual events which really give you an idea of the seamanship and
teamwork the crews have to master to get that edge - gripping stuff !
Monday morning
heralded the slalom event which saw tricky rowing coordination carried
as fast as possible, making you feel exhausted just watching !
Crew members
also demonstrated their rope work abilities by knowing the function and
method of tying a selection of knots, whippings and splices.
The first
sailing heats were held in the afternoon and as we were out on the water
with the boats we did have some of the best views, up close and
personal.
Tuesday morning
the gigs navigated a course while rowing. Testing knowledge of the use
of the magnetic compass, including the determination of compass error
and variation, steering a compass course, speed, time and distance
calculations. In addition crews had to focus on plotting, latitude and
longitude, depths and tides.
In the
afternoon was the Jackstay Transfer - without doubt a complicated and
fascinating event which is based on the old method of bringing supplies
onto a vessel, without coming into port.
The teams have
to row like crazy towards the breakwater, throw out an anchor at the
last minute to swing the boat round so the stern comes in closest, cast
a weighted line ashore to establish the jackstay between shore and boat,
and heave the mast up to haul their load. Once on board immediately
half the crew start rowing for the finish line while the others got the
mast back down.
Wednesday
morning we were treated to the Captain’s Gig, in which Jemima Nicholas
was rowed in style more times than I could remember from the pontoon to
the Fishguard Lifeboat moored in the middle of the Harbour.
The afternoon
saw the sailing run off and final. To the crowd’s amusement a pod of
about fourteen dolphin appeared in the bay to join in the event!
Thursday was
the rest day and we all needed it after not only the past days’ events
but the late evening/early morning shift in the “Entertainments” tent !
Friday morning
witnessed the “man overboard” event, with the teams working together to
retrieve a hapless crew member, usually the smallest/youngest, who has
to jump from the moving gig into the water. The team to retrieve the
casualty fastest and then cross the finish line wins.
In the
afternoon we had the towing row and sail exercise, which must have
finished off what little energy the crews had after a week of strenuous
competitions. This event features pairs of boats competing together and
emphasizes cooperation between two gigs. Boats are towed upwind under
oars before swapping roles for a tow downwind under sail. The course is
then run again with boats swapping roles. The transitional phases are
crucial to a successful outcome.
Saturday came
round and it was time for the boats to come out of the water. The crews
had the chance for a last sail around to enjoy the views and relax, in
contrast to the competitive sailing during the events.
The awards
ceremony and prize giving took place in the afternoon. For the first
time since 1998 a new name will go on The Atlantic Challenge perpetual
trophy. The team from the UK came home in first place with 90 points,
followed by Belgium with 87 points and the USA in third place with 79
points.
This is the
first time that the UK has won the International Contest of Seamanship
and the first time that a newly entered country has won since Canada at
Roskilde, Denmark in 1998. The UK victory was based on being the most
consistent performers throughout the contest, scoring second place in
over half of the races.
The Belgian
team, based in Ghent, were competing in only their second contest.
Finishing so highly underlines the fine way in which they handled their
gig during the contest.
Then there was
the closing party that evening, what a bash !
The Italian
city of Genoa will host the next Atlantic Challenge contest in the
summer of 2006. Genoa was chosen after presenting an impressive bid to
the international trustees.
The contest in
West Wales was the first time that the Italian Gig had competed. Even
more impressive considering launching took place only 6 weeks before the
start of the contest.
For further
information or to contact Atlantic Challenge International please refer
to;
www.atlantic-challenge.com
To get in
touch with us please use our Contact/Enquiry form, alternatively the numbers or email below:
Tel : 01348 871938
Mob: 07816 640684
