HIHO 2009 Jeannie sailing to the finish

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Comment by Jeannie Driscoll on April 9, 2010 at 2:42pm

It is a great challenge and something you have to do at least once, just to say you did it...and it is a really neat way to experience the BVI. However, it is a lot more stressful than you would expect. During the day the schedule is tight...get in the dingy and rush to the shore for a skipper's meeting every day at 8:30 AM to learn about the race course..then you have about an hour to rush back to the boat untie your stuff load it into the dingy get it to shore rig it ( in the hot sand) sail out to the starting line...then after the race you have to derig load your gear back in the dingy, back up on the boat, tie it all down...there is a lot of hassle of lugging, hoisting, rigging and derigging...and you are usually in a rush to do this because the boat needs to sail on to the next destination. it seems like you spend a lot more time rigging and derigging than you do sailing... Sometimes there is more than one race in a day. The other challenge is that you really need to be familiar with the local geography in order to sail the course... you are often sailing toward a small bouy that is a good 5 miles away... you can't see it until you get close...you need to know what landmarks to aim for..if you are not familiar with the islands, they kind of all look alike.. people get lost on the way...the courses are long 18 miles, 25 miles...sometimes it is hard to remember the route! There is a lot of tacking up wind and downwinders...very few easy beam reaches along the courses...so it i far different from your normal back and forth sailing that you are used to on other Carribean vacations or when sailing back and forth here in MI. It is a big gear race...everyone who can handle it sails with a 10.0 ( not me I was the smallest adult in the race) and everyone is on a Bic 142 L...my big board at home is only 102L so this was like sailing a barge. The boats are nice but have tight quarters - 3 out of our 4 heads ( bathrooms) went out for several days on the trip ( it was very hot and humid, you can imagine how great our boat smelled with 3 heads clogged!)) The food is great (much better than you would expect!), and the parties at night are a lot of fun. Meeting the other windsurfers from around the world is a lot of fun. We will probably do it again one of these years. Good luck with it if you decide to give it a try!

Comment by bob pratt on April 9, 2010 at 1:42pm

SWEET!! i've always wanted to do the HIHO. What did you think about it?