Alone on the ocean

Chris Sayer has already tasted success in solo races, and now he has even bigger plans, writes ROBIN BAILEY.

A sailing dream has been driving Chris Sayer's life since he began building a tiny yacht just before Christmas 1995.

The boat was Navman and Chris campaigned it in a series of local ocean races, both two-handed and solo, before his third placing out of a fleet of 70 in the 1999 mini-transatlantic race. He was the first non-Frenchman to step on the podium in the 20-year history of the race.

This was a fantastic result, particularly as the French regard single-handed sailing as something uniquely their own.

Sayer sees that performance as the first step in his dream to contest first the Around Alone solo circumnavigation, then take a step up to the Vende Globe, the pinnacle of the sport.

He sold Navman in Europe and returned to New Zealand to campaign for sponsorship to contest the 2002-2003 Around Alone in a New Zealand designed and built Open 50 yacht.

Time ran out before the sponsorship dollars were in place, so Sayer stepped back to Plan B: to contest the mini-transat again this year and win the race.

He is again using a yacht designed in New Zealand, this time by Brett Bakewell-White, with valuable input from John Wellsford, who designed Navman.

As he did with Navman, Sayer built the new 6.5m yacht himself. He did it working nights and weekends while holding down a full-time job with Vaudrey-Miller boatbuilders in Henderson. He gives full marks to his employers for granting him the space to build the yacht in their yard.

Launched on February 8, NZL 430 (the name will change once a sponsor is signed up) was fine-tuned in time to contest the Peter Blake Memorial two-handed Round-North-Island race that finished last weekend. Sayer had Rob Neeley aboard.

The pair had contested the race twice in Navman (1996 and 1999) and this year proved an excellent test of the boat's handling and performance.

"Rob is a great sailor with a background in dinghies," says Sayer.

"Most of my sailing has been in keelboats, so we complement one another. In fact, I was so knackered at the start of the race he did most of the helming. We finished about the middle of the fleet, which is what I had hoped for.

"The yacht came through a real test racing from Wellington up the Wairarapa coast. From Cape Kidnappers to Napier the weather was right on the nose and we were reduced to a fully reefed main and storm jib. Closing on the port we were passed by four Division 3 boats, the Ross 30 Blackout, the Elliott 40 Bullrush and the Davidson 42s Outlaw and Eleanor.

"To have been passed on the last 10 miles by four big boats was a blow."

NZL 430 finished in 11th place overall, ahead of the Young 88s and Young 11s, including Young Nicholson, and Fineline. It was a performance that assures Sayer his new boat has the legs to do what he wants.

The race showed up a few things that need sorting out, one being chafing in the rig that meant going up the mast for remedial work in rough conditions. Sayer will also have to work on the balance of the rudders.

They made helming difficult, which will have to be rectified so the autohelm can do its job on the solo sailing challenges ahead.

These include Auckland to Sydney for the start of the two-handed race back to Auckland on April 27 with another dinghy sailor, Jonathan Gravit, as his crew. Then it's single-handed New Plymouth to Mooloolaba and home again.

After that it's back to work boatbuilding to raise some dollars for a second rig before the yacht is shipped to Europe in early 2003.

By that time Sayer will have spent around $150,000, plus more than 2000 hours of his time, on Stage 2 of his dream.

That's a lot of money and a lot of work, but he is confident the new boat will help him to improve two places on his 1999 effort.

He is also confident it will give him a solid performance platform on which to campaign for the Around Alone in 2006.