The double-handed offshore scene sees amateur sailors take on the pros. Rupert Holmes chats to Christina and Justin Wolfe to find out the secrets of their success
Three years ago a Sun Fast 3300 called Red Ruby, whose American owners come from the Pacific North West, popped up in UK double-handed races. It immediately notched up a string of impressive results in a very competitive fleet.
Red Ruby went from 2nd in the 2022 and 2023 UK Double-Handed Offshore Series; to 1st in class – and very nearly 1st overall – in the 2023 Rolex Middle Sea Race; also winning the 2023 ORC Double-Handed World Championships in Barcelona, and the 2024 IRC Double-Handed European Championship.
For her achievements, including being first female skipper in the 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race, Christina (Chris) was awarded the 2023 US Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year. “I don’t sail for a living, but when I do sail, it’s the most alive that I feel,” she told a room full of sailing luminaries on accepting the award.
So how did two non-pro sailors achieve such good results in an unfamiliar fleet – and a sailing area on the opposite side of the Atlantic? First of all, “based on our experience, I really recommend buying a good used boat versus a new boat,” says Justin.
The couple competing in the RORC De Guingand Bowl in 2022. Photo: Paul Wyeth/pwpictures/RORC
Red Ruby was formerly Gentoo and had been previously campaigned by James Harayda and Dee Caffari.
“So much of the detail had already been figured out and it would have taken us much longer to get a new boat set up from a distance,” he adds.
“Maybe that was the lucky, serendipitous piece,” Chris adds. “James Harayda is amazing, and we got really lucky that we picked that boat, because he had it really well set up and he shared everything with us.”
“When we showed up to sail it for the first time, he went out with us for two days just in the Solent; that was a really big deal for us,” says Justin. “James had figured out so many little details. We know for sure that had we picked any other Sun Fast 3300, any other brand, or any other model, it would have taken us years to figure out.”
Of course not everyone can plan to buy a boat that’s been raced by top IMOCA 60 skippers, but in any class there will be boats that have been very well set up by sailors achieving consistent results. Acquiring one of those, with things like polars and sail crossover charts already well developed, is often a much faster way to the head of the fleet than buying a new boat that has to be set up from scratch.
Another key aspect is that the Wolfes shared Red Ruby with American pro sailor and former Olympian Jonathan McKee, who co-skippered with Alyosha Strum-Palerm (and sometimes others, including America’s Cup and meteorologist legend Pete Isler), giving a roster of four core sailors to race two-up.
“Jonathan has done a Mini Transat campaign and is just a phenomenal sailor,” says Chris. “This partnership approach has meant that we have four brains working on everything instead of just two.
“That helps with all of the thought that goes into the optimisation and setup. The four of us also do a pre-race and a post-race discussion for every single race. That really helps us learn more quickly as each time Jonathan and Alyosha go sailing we’re learning from that. Our boat actually races quite a lot, so the total knowledge gained through sharing is really good.”
Justin and Chris celebrate crossing the Atlantic double-handed in the 2024 Cap Martinique race. Photo: Marc Marsillon/Disobey/Cap Martinique
European approach
To get a better understanding of racing in Europe, the couple first went to the 2021 Double-Handed World Championship in Italy, raced in one-design Beneteau Figaro 3s. UK-based double-handed skipper Gavin Howe then introduced them to the Solent Sun Fast 3300 fleet and double-handed racer Nigel Colley of Sea Ventures.
“We specifically picked the UK because it has the biggest double-handed distance racing fleet, and found a boat that seemed promising with lots of the same design in the fleet,” says Justin. “It worked out really well because we were immediately sailing next to other 3300s and could tell if we were sailing reasonably well or not. It was as close to the one-design racing we experienced on the Figaro 3 as possible.”
Chris points out the double-handed community is close and mutually supportive. “Being a part of the UK Double-Handed Offshore Series, with the people we’ve met and communicated with through WhatsApp, has been really helpful. Most people know how the French are doing so well, as they have a sharing community that trains together. What the UK double-handed group is doing seems to be modelling that and it’s very effective.”
Light airs for an early morning start in the Solent. Photo: John Green
Technical tweaks
The couple made few big modifications to Red Ruby, other than adding Fourth Cape’s electric E-Bar toe-in adjuster for the twin rudder system and a Cyclops load cell for the forestay. The latter was added primarily to give a reliable and repeatable reference for backstay tension in different conditions “rather than trying to figure it out each time we come to the boat.”
Aside from that, Justin says: “The biggest single thing we did was changing the mast rake, just doing what we felt was right, rather than following what everyone else was doing.”
In preparation for the 3,800-mile Cap Martinique race from the Breton port of La Trinité-sur-mer to Martinique, they added a through-hull camera 25cm in front of the keel. This is interfaced with the boat’s computer and allows quick checks to see if there’s weed or debris snagged on the keel.
They made small improvements to the electrical system as well as spending time to ensure they fully understand the charging systems. “We also keep the sails pretty fresh so they don’t have a real opportunity to wear out. We worked hard with our sailmaker on the inventory and all the sails have been replaced since we bought the boat,” Justin adds.
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