Gale force winds force crew back to dry land

Although Team NHS pulled out of the Rolex Fastnet race without reaching the finishing line, they still took on the most severe weather they had ever experienced to complete 24 hours at sea.

But, after coping with gale-force winds, waves that engulfed the cockpit, and several bouts of seasickness, skipper Ian Carey decided to pull the wind from the sails.

Ian, a nurse and commissioning manager for Barnsley Primary Care Trust, said: “Usually with such a dire weather forecast, any sane sailor would choose to stay in the port, but racing sailors are not always of sound mind!

“For Team NHS there was a mixture of excitement, anticipation, and worry as we got going down the West Solent and out towards the English Channel knowing we were going to experience some of the worst sailing conditions any of us had previously seen.

“I decided the conditions and forecast were too extreme and, if progress continued, there was a high risk of the crew becoming exhausted - this could have led to more problems with potentially devastating consequences.

“Clearly we are all disappointed at not finishing as we had put a lot of effort into the Fastnet campaign, but for us retiring was the sensible decision - and we were not the only ones. Out of 271 yachts that started, 220 retired.”

But Team NHS - which included Ian’s sister Alison, a midwife in the Jessop Wing in Sheffield, Tony Ward, a nurse and senior ward manager on the renal unit for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, and Richard Lomas, whose wife and daughter work for the Trust - are already planning their campaign for 2009.

Ian said: “We have some unfinished business!”