Issuu

OPUS • Issue 4 • Spring 2011

Portsmouth Grammar School • www.pgs.org.uk

Move Over Grace Darling! Former pupils Alice (1999-2007) and Jillian Darling (1996-2010) and their mum Trycha are enjoying a unique gap year together by undertaking their first ever trans Atlantic crossing at the helm of their 42ft Southerly yacht, appropriately named ‘Triple D ’ . eventful. There was the thrill and spectacle of being one of the 239 entries as the starting gun sounded and feeling a sense of togetherness at seeing a long line of mast lights as the flotilla of boats stayed close to one another on the first few nights.

Then came drama as the boat’s generator failed and the girls dodged a succession of powerful sea squalls. “We did get a rip in the mainsail, which I mended with tape one day when the winds had calmed, and the halyard in our spinnaker pole broke one night – luckily when I was just poling out the jib – but other than this, the boat has held up very well”, said Jilli.

Three Women on a Boat: Alice, Trycha and Jillian Darling

The trio’s epic adventure has already made waves in yachting circles as Alice, Jilli and Trycha are the first ever mother-anddaughter team to compete in the 25-year history of the ARC, the world’s largest annual trans-ocean rally and the boat is also the first in the event’s history to comprise an all-female crew. Their marathon journey of 2,700 miles saw them set sail from home in Hayling Island in November on a route that will take them to the Canary Islands, across the Atlantic, through the Caribbean and back across the Atlantic, stopping off at Bermuda and the Azores along the way. ‘We are trying to raise money for the charity Centrepoint which helps homeless young people in London as we feel extremely lucky to be able to undertake

such an adventure as a close-knit family. We would like to help those who don’t have this fundamental, loving support,’ said Alice, who graduated from Cambridge in the summer. Sister Jilli left PGS last July and is taking a year out before starting university in 2011 while mum Trycha has temporarily rented out their home and left behind her job as a vet and her two dogs. The finish line of the ARC will not herald the end of their adventure:’ We aren’t planning to return until next June, as the plan is to sail north through the Caribbean and then home, via Bermuda and the Azores. I didn’t quite realise at first what a big deal it was for three women to do it alone, but everyone seems to be talking about us .’ The journey so far has certainly been

The last leg of the race proved to be the most emotional. “As we approached St Lucia the winds died completely and so we motored through our last night, timing our arrival with the rising sun”, remarked Alice. “We were all a little bit sad as we watched the sun go down on our last night at sea. On arrival at St Lucia, we created typical Triple D pandemonium…Jilli has now taken to re-naming the boat ‘Triple Disaster! First, we almost missed the bay we were aiming for, sailing right on past the marina in the darkness. We had to do a sharp right-turn when we finally gathered our bearings in order to stop motoring straight past St Lucia! Then we almost collided with the Committee boat which was displaying an orange light, as were most of the buildings on shore, making navigation very difficult!” Alice concluded: “The next few days passed in a haze of relief, exhaustion, boat repairs and celebration. We all attended

the ARC Prizegiving ceremony and were totally surprised to be awarded a special award for being the only all-female crew. Mum got a beautiful double string of freshwater pearls and Jilli and I were given a massage each. Bliss!”

The History Boys

There’s still time to support the Darlings’ epic maiden voyage by donating to their chosen charity Centrepoint at www.justgiving.co.uk/TripleD

No luxury voyage

Excerpts from Jili and Alice’s Triple D blog highlight some of the perilous situations that they have been forced to contend with during their unforgettable adventure on the High Seas…

TUESDAY

Tuesday brought with it some seasickness for me. I spent the entire day in bed asleep or dozing. I have been wearing an ear patch as a remedy and applied a new one at around 4.30. This seemed to bring on hallucinations, crazy dreams and ruined my eyesight! It was as if I was reading with 3-D specs with the words jumping off the page at me….all very frightening, but I still managed to get up for the night watch.

THURSDAY

Again… no wind. Mum on deck spotted a pod of whales, slightly too close for comfort so she gave a blast on the horn to scare them away. As soon as they had gone Alice and I went below deck to be greeted by an overpowering smell of burning. As we brought Mum down we all saw a plume of grey smoke coming from the engine compartment. Thus began a day full of very expensive satellite phone conversations and Mum exploring every single bilge she could find. We later discovered that the generator is no longer working either… a worrying night for us all.

MONDAY

Lots of broken metal pieces came out of the generator and we are pretty sure that it is completely kaput. So we will boldly venture forth without it… we now have no washing machine or water maker… but have ample bottled water and clothes, so should be just fine. Hopefully you won’t hear from us now until St Lucia…. I don’t think that there is any form of land now ‘til we reach there anyhow, so there is nowhere for us to stop!

Former Senior Prefect and former Portsmouth News crime reporter, Mark Wingham OP (1967-1977), has teamed up with School Archivist John Sadden to produce a new book, Portsmouth – Then and Now which compares views of the city in the past with a similar scene today. Pupils Ethan Creamer, David Simmonds and Jack Ross who are members of the school’s lunchtime Local History Club helped with the project, taking several of the ‘now’ photos. Tim Runnacles, OP, an avid photographer when he was at PGS in the early 1960s, also contributed several images. As well as booksigning sessions, Mark has also appeared on local television and radio promoting the book which proved a Waterstone’s bestseller over the Christmas period and had to be reprinted within three months of its launch. ““Being involved in a book about Portsmouth is a privilege when you have blue blood running through your veins,” said Mark when he visited the school library at the time of the re-launch. ”Just posing for this photo brought back so many personal memories for me. It was the first time I had sat in the library since the day I left PGS in 1977 - and for me, school days really were some of the best of my life.” Portsmouth – Then and Now (ISBN: 9780752456584) by John Sadden and Mark Wingham is published by The History Press and is available to buy on Amazon and at all good bookshops. Below: One of the images from Mark’s postcard collection shows Empire Day at Portsmouth Grammar School in 1912. The Commander of the South Coast Defences, Major-General Blewitt (right), addressed the boys, saying that “hard work, pluck and unselfish duty” would help maintain the British Empire.