Do you get lonely sailing solo?

Not usually. Whilst I would probably get lonely if if was out cruising by myself for weeks at a time, racing is quite different. The level of focus you have to have on sailing the boat to 100% of its potential means that you usually don’t have time to be lonely. Between helming, trimming sails, doing sail changes, thinking about weather, eating and sleeping there is just not time for thinking about being lonely.

How do you go to the toilet?

I would nomarlly avoid answering this question but since EVERYONE asks I might as well have a go at crafting a civilsed answer.

I use a couple of techniques; “bucket and chuck-it” and off the transom. I think “bucket and chuck-it” is probably fairly self-explanatory but it carries the risk of the bucket tipping over where it shouldn’t. It’s probably the safer rough weather option. The other option is to go off the transom (the rear of the boat) which is pretty easy to do since the traveller forms a reasonable (but not comfortable) seat. The trick here is avoiding the rudders and the tangled web of string that holds the solar panels in place.

My hats off to the ladies who obviously do it a lot tougher than the guys!

What is the boat’s name?

The boats offical name is Rafiki – which means Friend in Swahili. Rafiki was also the name of the mandril (the baboon like monkey) who was the shaman in the Lion King.

The boat is also known by its sail number – GBR419. Each boat is allocated a number by Classe Mini, the French-based governing body of the Mini Class of boats.

What sort of food do you eat while racing?

Usually main meals consist of either freeze dried food or already hydrated food such as “Boil-in-the-Bag”. For the freeze dried, I just add boiling water and leave for 10-15 minutes. The “Boil-in-the-Bag” comes in silver foil packets which are just dropped into hot water to warm through.

For cooking I use this neat Jetboil stove. It’s super efficient and can boil 500mL (almost 1 pint) in 3 minutes. You can eat straight out of the cup so removing need for any other eating container.

I also carry stacks of museli and power bars to snack on plus the occasional treat such as chocolate. The snacks are great for those times when you can’t leave the helm such as when it’s breezy and downwind and the autopilot can’t manage.

How many crew sail a Mini?

The boats are deisgned to be sailed solo however a number of the races in the Mini calendar are double-handed races. Probably the most famous of the double-handed races is the Mini Fastnet.