Tell Tales
Classic Boat’s address: Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TQ cb@classicboat.co.uk
Images: Matteo Richiardi
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OFFSHORE
1959 Vertue takes on modern fleet in Round Britain & Ireland Race Competing in this summer’s Round Britain & Ireland Race against a fleet of cutting-edge race boats will be this 1959 Vertue. The 25ft Laurent Giles design is below the minimum length for the race and has been given a wildcard entry for the race, run by the Royal Western Yacht Club. Owner Matteo Richiardi will be sailing double-handed with a
He estimates the trip could take between 20 days and a month, while the first boats will be finished in a week or less: “I have created two scenarios: a low speed scenario, with an average speed of 3 knots, and a high speed scenario, with an average speed of 5 knots.” He added: “Let’s not overestimate the whole endeavour. This is not the Vendée Globe, it is not the Golden Globe and it is not even the
mate, having been inspired by the offshore
other Round Britain & Ireland Race [non-stop,
reputation of Vertues, as told in classic
organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club].
books such as Humphrey Barton’s Vertue
“Our race is a relatively long one, true, and
XXXV, David Lewis’ The Ship Would Not
you are pretty sure you’ll find some rough
Travel Due West, and Peter Woolas’ Stelda,
weather – which I don’t like. But you can
George and I.
replenish supply at the three stops, you can even
The Round Britain and Ireland Race
get a warm shower and a cold beer, and perhaps
starts on 29 May, open to double-handed
a decent sleep if you do not exaggerate with the
and short-handed monohulls and multihulls
beer. So I won’t make too much of a fuss of it.
of between 27ft (8.23m) and 70ft (21.34m),
“But I want to make a point: I can do this,
starting and finishing in Plymouth, Devon,
with little means, and a little boat, without
with 48-hour stopovers at Galway on the
sacrificing my life, my job, my family, my other
west coast of Ireland, Lerwick in the Shetland Islands and Blyth on England’s north east coast. Mea (meaning “beauty and grace” in Chinese) is an Ocean Vertue, built in Hong Kong by Cheoy Lee of teak planks on ipol frames. Matteo, 50, a Professor of Economics at the University of Essex,
present and past, with the wood that grew in Asia decades ago and was cut and shaped into the idea of a ship by craftsmen long gone, with the sailors that sailed Mea through time, temporarily handing her
said: “Why? Because if not now, when? It’s time to stop dreaming
to me. Sailing through history, and through culture, if you wish. Sailing
about things I might not do. I want to give my sailing a purpose, test
to the edge of time, as John Kretschmer put it in what I consider one
myself a little bit. I’m going because every time I went on a sailing
of the best sailing books ever written. The competition is just an
adventure, it enriched me.”
excuse, an opportunity. But having said that, we won’t be there for
He has a team of four, among whom to select one or two mates, given that one crew change is allowed in Lerwick.
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interests. And I would like to do it my way, connecting with the geography of the sea and the land, with people
CLASSIC BOAT MAY 2022
tourism.” Follow Mea’s progress via Matteo’s blog measailing.wordpress.com
