Volvo - Cowes Week 2013

“I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying”

John Masefield

Worthy of any James Bond

Like John I adore sailing on the sea and have enjoyed watching Cowes week since I was knee high. This year I had the opportunity to visit with Volvo. Not only do they make fabulous cars (mine has pulled me many times out of muddy fields) but they also have the best of the best in the world of sailing as their ambassadors. From Olympic gold medallists Helena Lucas, Ben Ainslie, Shirley Robertson & Paul Goodison through to Nick Dempsey & the Macgregor Sisters, they also incorporate under this around the world solo sailor Alex Thomson. Just amazing hey?

This year Volvo has decided to spice up Cowes week with a charity showdown of Sailing Speed Challenge. 

“Three of sailing’s most talented, competitive, fun personalities, together with a kitesurfing world record breaker, will put their speed to the test and go head to head”

“The ‘fantastic four’ challengers;

2008 Olympic Laser gold medallist, Paul Goodison - testing his speed onboard a foiling Moth.
Double Olympic windsurfing medallist, Nick Dempsey.
Alex Thomson, who in January became only the third Briton to achieve a podium finish at round-the-world yacht race.
The ‘Vendee Globe’and extreme kitesurfer, Sam Lutman-Pauc, who broke the world record kitesurfing across the English Channel last October.
Each be vying to cross the Royal Yacht Squadron finish line first, to claim £1,000 in prize money for a charity of their choice”

A head of the event you could bet on which you thought might win. Firm favourite with 38% of the vote with a top speed record of 55.65 Knots was kitesurfer Sam. Having seen him out on the water on Monday morning I was amazed not only by his muscle power but his speed! I definitely believed he would walk the event! Needless to say in last place with just 11% of the vote was Alex Thomson in his huge boat Huge Boss (which by the way is pure unadulterated perfection) with a top speed of 22.72 knots. So who do you reckon won? Watch it here first if you don’t want a spoiler!

Helena Lucas

The whole day was an incredible amount of fun from watching Paralympic Helena Lucas speed up to finish in second place in her class. From being taken out on a racing cruiser Elan 450 and getting the chance to sail her in the pouring rain (I’m fairly certain the rain was only over our boat!) and getting drenched to the skin the day was just amazing but wow what a finish. The Speed challenge was the highlight of the day! 

All day among the crowds you could hear people discussing the merits of each and who would speed ahead under the clouds and wind. As they pulled up to their respective start lines at 6pm I was still rooting for Sam far out on the solent with his kite up high. Needless to say firm favourite Sam struggled with conditions and by mid way was out of the race being rescued by his support team. Nick on his windsurfer stormed ahead closely followed by Paul (goody) in his Moth. Alex seemingly struggled till he reached his half way mark when he hit the wind and tide and stormed just stormed to victory over them all! Last place in the public choice and the heaviest vessel he walked (or rather sailed) in to first place.

Hugo Boss in the back there with Goody flying his Moth

I have been totally astounded by Volvo this week. The cream of the crop in the sailing world injecting a ton of fun into a wonderful week! Amazing cars, amazing boats and amazing ambassadors! 

The Test Drive:

 Along with this fabulous day I was sent one of Volvos new cars, the S80, to test drive and arrive in style in. I’ve had volvo’s pretty much all my life be in my parents or my lovely little gold V40 (the one of the mud fields) and since I knew what to expect I drove it up at the last minute through London to Heathrow at rush hour. Hmm not realising it was an automatic. 

Thankfully I didn’t bunny hop up the m3 in fact its one of the few automatics I have got in and just driven without thinking about. It had incredible safety devices built in in the guise of lights to make you aware when someone is lingering in your blind spot. Fabulous for the motorway and another great thing was the speed control. While you can set the speed control in most cars these days this also slows the car or speeds it back up depending on the distant of the car in front.

Beautiful no?

I think my favourite bit though was the mileage. It’s a stop start engine and incredibly quick to pull away but I managed to head up from West Sussex, through Hampshire & Surrey to London and back again, down to Southampton & back and a variety of smaller trips all in all about 300 miles and only touched half way on the fuel tank! The s80 in my opinion is an incredibly stylish, elegant, fun and safe (it practically thinks for you) car to drive.