Simples - XP44

22/08/2026

Holidays…..

29/07/2026

JOG Yacht Racing Cowes - Dartmouth race

Our second race of the season was over night to Dartmouth starting last Friday evening. Simples started well off the line and split from everyone in class early opting for similar tactics to RTI, opting for the mainland shore against adverse tide. This time tacking up the coast line in 10 - 15knts. Once settled on the mainland shore we made quick gains on the early starters and by the time we reached Hurst we were leading the fleet and had just under a mile lead on the next boat in our class. Hurst was the first checkpoint on the course and the Nautical Cloud system had Simples in 1st place, 2mins & 10 seconds ahead.

After beating out the Needles channel we headed slightly further offshore searching for better pressure whilst slowly getting lifted more and more on Starboard tack. At Anvil point we had a 2.7mile lead in class but slipped to 2nd overall by just 6 seconds.

By the leg to Portland we were now in our watch system and it was dark. We had slightly eased sheets and having been lifted earlier were now sailing at Dartmouth and planning for the shutdown that was forecast at the finish. By Portland there was 3.5 miles of separation between us and second place on the water however their more inshore route had certainly made gains on us. At Portland we’d slipped to 3rd overall 5mins 17 seconds off 1st.

The long leg across Lyme bay was busy. Constant active trimming with 2 crew on deck. We were pointing just south of Dartmouth in preparation for the wind hole and trimming for speed. With just 6 miles to go and still doing 8knts SOG we had to abandon our wind hole strategy and turn towards the finish. With just 3.5 miles to go we sailed into the hole. Working hard the 5 of us kept the boat moving in tricky 3-5knts of wind against the tide to slowly tack towards the finish, all while the fleet got bigger and bigger from the horizon. With 6nm to go we had a lead on the water of 3.7nm, with 1.5nm to go the lead was less than a mile.

Simples slid over the finish line 1st on the water, finishing 8th on corrected just 5mins off first place and left think what could have been if the wind hole had applied to everyone.

28/07/2026

First race of the 2026 Season for us was the Round the Island Race

We have been slow starting this season with work commitments and crew weddings getting in the way of racing and planning however we hit the ground running with RTI. Starting off in the first start with the TP52 and Admirals Cup teams was certainly full on. We pushed our down wind start and opted for the main land shore. This initially looked ugly however paid well compared to those on the Island Shore. Come Hurst we were in a very competitive position.

The second leg was a straight forward drag to St Catherine’s on a fetch. Here we mostly held position on the fleet.

The third leg was a tough one. Short tacking around the back of the island from St Catherine’s to Ventor. Short tacking has never been a strength of ours, coupled with the restricted draft we lost a fair number of positions on some of the lighter and slightly smaller boats. Once at Ventnor it was spotted that there was a hole ahead and we opted to go further offshore to pick up breeze and a more favourable layline to Bembridge.

Once at Bembridge it was a quick smooth hoist and then downwind run back to the finish.

22/10/2025

Day 2 of Nationals

There was some anticipation in the morning as we headed out to the race course with forecast strong winds for 20-30knts. As we arrived to the race area, we were welcomed by 8-10knts which built gradually to 15knts by the end of the first race. This stayed for the second round the cans race building to 20 at the end of the race apart from a light upwind to the finish along Cowes beach against strong tide.
Simples finished 2nd on the water behind Luna in race 5 and 3rd on the water in race 6 behind who went on to be deserving Champions and Luna.

Once again the crew worked incredibly well having not raced inshore like this for almost 3 years.

20/10/2025

What a way to finish off the season!

Day 1 of the National Championship saw us racing in 16-24knts with 3 short sharp windward leewards and then a round the cans race. The team performed well together as we haven’t raced inshore like this in over two years with some podium results.

Many thanks to for covering the event and the fantastic images

02/10/2025

16/07/2025

The team had one last weekend of preparation and training on the water before they set off on the Fastnet race on the 26th. The weekend was filled with safety and maintenance checks with a visit from to go over the boat. We then got out on the water going through the sail wardrobe and testing setups with time for a swim in the beautiful weather.

29/05/2025

Snapped on the Squadron line starting the 2025 Myth of Malham. 6th IRC 1 & 28th overall out of 130.

05/05/2025

First race of the year, Cervantes Trophy.

Simples started well and got off down the Solent to the East under Code 0 and quickly began to catch the earlier starters in the light patchy breeze as we got towards the forts taking a more Northerly route East. The team worked hard keeping the boat moving and rounded the Nab Tower 3rd on the water. Simples was now in a group of five progressing towards Owers and some 3 miles ahead of the fleet working hard to keep moving forwards. Unfortunately the closer we came to the Owers turning mark the lighter the wind became and progress came to a halt. The fleet got larger and larger as the 3 mile lead became 0 and the 5 of us including & Darkwood got swallowed up with the race restarting 6hrs later.

It was then a tight reach across the Channel towards Caen with the wind building to 25-30knts in the middle of the night. Once turning at the mark off Caen we headed upwind to Le Havre. Unfortunately the upwind leg was not long enough to gain more than a couple of places before the finish.

Certainly some positives to take but plenty to work on going forward for our next race the Myth of Malham in a few weekends time.

📸 - RORC

13/04/2025

First weekend out on the water for Simples this season.

We entered the Cowes - Weymouth as a good opportunity for the team to shake the boat down and get some training miles in there and back. Simples got off to a flying start with a spinnaker hoist on the line we soon lead our class down the Solent jibing to avoid wind holes. The exit of the Solent through Hurst narrows to the needles was tricky with a big hole and transition from kite to jib. Once round bridge the Code 0 went up and powered us along catching the classes ahead as we passed Anvil point we had positioned ourselves further offshore to a majority of the fleet and the wind got lighter and lighter. By St Aldhelms we were in another large transition with the rest of the fleet. By this point we had caught right up to the lead boat. They then split from us and sailed a very bold and clever inshore course along the coastline as we opted to continue on our more offshore and rhum line course. Many holes and transitions later we crossed the line second 2 minutes behind who sailed a blinding race along the Jurassic coastline. Hats off to the Tony & Nathan for that result.

Unfortunately in the transition between Hurst and the Needles we were forced to start the engine and motor to deeper water to avoid running aground on the Shingles when the depth read 0.1m. There was no wind and we were drifting on a strong spring tide. We did this and declared it to the race officers who upon or finish advised us that we were to require due to this. Last year we became too familiar with the Shingles bank and we have learnt our lesson hence our decision to motor to safer water this time around.

Our next race is the Cervantes Trophy Cowes - Le Havre on the 3rd May.