Crewed racing at the Fastnet competition

Some of the 300 boats taking part in this year’s Fastnet race

Emerging from the mist, the clay-slate rock, with its white stalk of a lighthouse, is not much to look at. For thousands of US-bound emigrants catching a last glimpse of home, it used to be known as “Ireland’s teardrop”. Today it is better known among sailors worldwide as Fastnet rock – the farthest point of a 608-mile biennial sailing race.

This year’s competition, held earlier this month, marked the 30th anniversary of the Fastnet disaster, in which 21 sailors lost their lives to a ferocious, fleet-ravaging storm. Many of those who passed the teardrop will have spared a thought for the victims.

My own rounding of the rock was indeed a moving experience, not least because a few boats had come from the mainland to cheer us along. It was also a humbling one, as I was in peerless sailing company, with the crew of Hugo Boss, an Open 60 yacht skippered by Alex Thomson, one of Britain’s best young ocean racers.

“With seven of you in a single-handed boat, you won’t have much to do,” a friend said. The assumption was understandable, given that Thomson can sail the boat alone if he needs to.

Crewed racing, however, is about full-on sailing, and for Fastnet, Thomson had recruited some of the best in the business, including helm and tactician Rob Greenhalgh and navigator Andrew Cape, both fresh from crewing second-placed Puma in the Volvo Ocean race.

It was clear I wouldn’t be helming or navigating, nor would I be working the foredeck. That task had been handed to Thomson’s younger brother, Dave, himself a round-the-world sailor. My job, as a lowly guest, was to operate the pedestal grinder. For company I had former UK skiing champion, Graham Bell. And making sure we knew the ropes was Ross Daniel, Thomson’s regular boat captain.

By the end of our practice session ahead of the race, my role had become deckhand, bordering on galley slave. This is one of the best things about sailing: it’s a great leveller. Bell may have been one of the best skiers of his generation but here he was reduced to the status of deckhand. Nor do the professionals shirk the meaner duties of the boat. Every one of them, Thomson included, was willing to jump on the grinder when needed.

It’s difficult to describe the workload on these boats, but before every tack or gybe there’s below-deck toil in “stacking”, shifting four heavy sails from one side to the other. Upwind, dagger boards must be raised and lowered; there may be a sail change or a spinnaker hoist. When the spinnaker comes down, it has to be stowed and bagged, ready for the next hoist.

It is just one of many rituals that exist on board. We take a break to make bacon sandwiches – one at a time on a tiny gas burner. Halfway through the job, a tack is called. Bread, butter, bacon, knife, scissors are stowed away to undertake the move. By the time the last sandwich has been made, the whole process has taken an hour.

Then there are the toilet arrangements. For most of the 300 or so yachts in the race, the crews can take advantage of the “head” – the on-board toilet. Hugo Boss has a bucket. The grim routine involves lining the bucket with a biodegradable bag, then perching precariously in the “cuddy”, an enclosed part of the cockpit. We’re at sea for three nights, so there is no avoiding these rituals.

The crew soon settles into a rhythm, but by the first night we realise that we are not going to be among the front runners. Thomson is disappointed not to catch Team Pindar, whose skipper, Mike Sanderson, had helmed in light winds to second place in the Cowes week Artemis Challenge.

The Pindar team are currently sharing offices with Hugo Boss. Though they are friends off the water, the rivalry was fierce as we crossed the start line off Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

“Of all the Open 60s, Pindar is the one I want to beat,” said Thomson. “I wouldn’t mind coming second-to-last as long as it was ahead of them.”

The powerful Pindar is up for sale. A good performance in the Fastnet could enhance her price, so Sanderson has every incentive to do well. (It finished fourth in its class, three places ahead of Hugo Boss.) A number of Open 60 skippers are also positioning themselves with sponsors, including Thomson, who is hoping to extend his six-year sponsorship with Hugo Boss.

The black-hulled, black-sailed boat has become a familiar competitor on the Open 60 circuit where its fashion-company sponsor rarely misses a branding opportunity. At the recent Open Golf championship at Turnberry on the West coast of Scotland, Hugo Boss could be seen sailing offshore, often coming into camera shot.

The BBC commentators were curious. “What’s it doing now?” asked one. “Is it gybing or tacking?”

“I think it’s called advertising,” quipped his colleague.

Yvonne Fletcher, who handles the team’s public relations, said: “We totted up the air time gained in the international coverage of that event and reckoned we secured about £1m worth of brand exposure for the company simply by taking the boat up there.”

Hugo Boss is one of those boats that simply oozes cool. On good days it’s fast, too. Coming out of the Solent we’re well placed behind Seb Josse on BT. But we take a gamble on finding better winds near the shore. Almost every other boat opts to head out to sea, a choice that pays off. At Portland Bill we miss a wind shift by just three miles. As the leading Open 60s catch the wind, we find ourselves sailing backwards on the tide.

The race is over, but we push on, setting some good speeds on the down-wind run back to the Plymouth finish. Both Bell and myself agree it’s been a privilege to sail with such a professional crew. It’s only when you see this kind of sailing at close hand that you begin to understand its complexity.

Weston Martyr, who helped establish the first Fastnet race in 1925, said the event displays the “hallmarks of a true sportsman: skill, courage and endurance”. In that respect, little has changed.

pursuits@ft.com

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The details

Alex Thomson is at www.alexthomsonracing.com ; for details of the Fastnet race see www.fastnet.rorc.org