The 2024 MR Sailex was once again at full capacity with 37 reservists from across the maritime reserve taking part with ranks and rates from AB to commander in attendance, 14 units were represented. This was the fifth time the event has been run and its capacity has only been limited by the amount of assets available. There were 84 expressions of interest for the 37 spaces. Once again the event simply couldn’t happen without the continued support of the Ulysses trust.
Aims
Maritime reserves Sailex has a number of aims, primarily it looks to strengthen maritime skills within the Reserve targeting Junior Officers and Ratings, these skills are in direct support of the sailor first initiative, which in itself sets out to ensure that every sailor has an underlying knowledge of seamanship. Sailex also tries to give individuals and teams the opportunity to operate in a challenging environment. On top of this we also look to build connections and relationships throughout the Maritime Reserve and create points of contact that wouldn’t normally exist through normal operations.
Planning
The event now follows a well established planning routine which made early planning and preparation a relatively simple task. However due to the self staffed nature of the event, meaning that the required sailing, medical and communications competencies have to be provided by the attendees, later stage planning and coordination remains a considerable effort on behalf of the committee. Balancing off making as many places available for the unskilled target audience as possible against the requirement to have sufficient skills and experience in reserve so that each vessel can be safely staffed. Once again the health and safety requirements for this course have directly benefited the maritime reserve by bringing people up to date in their core competences.
Attendees
As previously stated a wide cross-section Maritime reserve was represented, 52% of which constituted our target demographic, this was slightly down on previous years but is a necessity of taking fewer boats and having sufficient qualifications in reserve. 38% of attendees contributed a qualification required to make the course run safely, this was a significant reduction in previous years, partly due to more experienced skippers being available and partly to the reduction in boats.
Expedition
Day one was once again ‘shakedown day’ where those who are new to sailing are put through their paces in the form of a series of standard and emergency drills everything from raising and lowering sales and basic steering to man overboards and reporting emergencies. This was conducted in very calm still conditions. Although later in the day a sea breeze allowed the crews to put their newfound sailing knowledge to the test in more favourable conditions.
The same calm conditions extended into day two which saw individual skippers given the freedom to explore the Solent area and conduct whatever sailing serials they felt best benefited their crew. The calm conditions didn’t make for challenging sailing but did allow crews to try and conduct some different serials not normally exercised on Sailex. The wind and tide situation also provided a tricky planning test for the more inexperienced skippers.
Once again a late developing sea breeze allowed for some excellent sailing in the latter part of the day with a number of crews choosing to take on some of the more challenging evolutions that they’d practised in the light airs of the morning.
With spinnakers flying the fleet sailed into Cowes for an overnight stay and social occasion. The course was treated to a Dinner in the island sailing club with exceptional views over Cowes Harbor and the Solent.
Day three sadly dawned with absolutely no wind, the fleet was forced to motor back to Portsmouth but took the opportunity to challenge themselves with some formation sailing and replenishment at sea evolutions. The return trip was without incident and the yachts were refuelled and return safely to joint services.
Feedback
The feedback for Sailex 24 was once again overwhelmingly positive. Key themes around this year’s feedback were again around: the speed and quality of the team building; the dedication and support of the individual skippers and, despite the favourable weather conditions, the physical and mental challenge of the weekend.
‘Learnt loads, laughed loads, loved it’
‘great skipper really patient with my stupid questions’
‘I didn’t know anybody on my boat but the team came together really quickly’
‘best team building experience ever’
‘physically and mentally exhausted but had the most epic time’
Future plans
Sailex transitions to new leadership for next year’s event which will come with new innovative ideas and objectives. It remains a key event in the maritime reserve long cast and its value to the maritime reserve’s core objectives remains undiminished. As we have developed skills and experience over the last five events next year, we will be looking at opportunities to provide a more challenging environment for less experienced sailors, such as having less experienced sailors become the skipper and supporting them with a more experienced crew member.
Conclusion
This event is fun, engaging, challenging and valuable. The execution an ethos of this sort of adventurous training in the maritime environment is incredibly valuable to the maritime reserve. Not only does it contribute in terms of the admin and planning bringing people in line with mandatory training, but it also gives people a real life experience of being part of a team out on the water. It gives people responsibility, accountability and a real team ethic which can be seen developing within hours of the crew arriving. This year it was particularly impressive to see that crews continue to push themselves despite the benign conditions and take on different challenges than those offered previously by the wind and the waves.
