“Don’t be frightened to be out of your comfort zone, as the rewards you will get from pushing yourself can be tremendous.”
Gaining recognition after spending three and a half months sailing with Team Henri Lloyd during part of the Clipper Round the World Race, Bragg Creek amateur sailor Fiona Garforth-Bles’ words are an inspiration.
Clipper Round the World is a 10-month around the world sailing competition, where a dozen teams made up of 19 amateur sailors and led by professional skippers race against each other in a fleet of 12 stripped down 70-foot racing yachts. The eight-leg race began in September 2013 in London, England, and finished there July 12, 2014, with Team Henri Lloyd, led by Canadian skipper Eric Holden, placing first.
The team finished the race at St. Katherine’s Docks located at the mouth of the River Thames.
“The finish of the race was amazing because we were the winning boat,” said Garforth-Bles. “The reception was incredible, with thousands of people lining the Thames.”
Garforth-Bles, James Dick, Michael Jauncey, Morgen Watson and Phil Driver, the five Canadian crew members of the international Team Henri Lloyd, were recently awarded Sail Canada’s Gerry Roufs Trophy due in part to winning the race.
The Gerry Roufs Trophy recognizes achievement in international offshore racing, especially for people who have had significant impact on raising awareness of sailing in Canada. This award was established in 1998 by the Canadian Yachting Association to honour the memory of Gerry Roufs, an internationally renowned Canadian sailor and single-handed offshore racer, who was lost at sea in 1997.
Besides the team win, Team Henri Lloyd skipper Eric Holden is also being considered for the Sailor of the Year award.
“We won the race due to Eric, who is a very talented skipper,” said Garforth-Bles.
The awards will be presented at the Sail Canada Rolex Sailor of the Year Awards ceremony Feb. 6 in Toronto.
During her three legs of the competition, Garforth-Bles and her team travelled south down the West Coast of North America, east through the Panama Canal and then up the East Coast of North America, before heading across the North Atlantic to Europe and finishing in London, England.
Before leaving Bragg Creek for her race, Garforth-Bles, an oncology nurse at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in the outpatient chemotherapy department, said that while competing in the race would be the hardest task she would ever accomplish, she also hoped to raise awareness and funds for clinical cancer trials, because she felt empathy for her cancer patients and the suffering they experience.
The living conditions on the boat were tough, according to Garforth-Bles, especially during her first leg of the race, in which the weather conditions were extremely hot.
Constant sleep deprivation was a challenge, as the amateur sailors could only sleep in shifts of three to four hours before returning on deck to help navigate the boat.
Safety was also a critical concern, said Garforth-Bles, who added that the yachts were dangerous when they tilted at 90-degree angles.
“It was a very tough, but an incredible experience, and at times I thought to myself, ‘What the heck am I doing?’” said Garforth-Bles. “In retrospect, I now say to myself, ‘Wow I did that!’”
“I learned what a person can cope with and that your determination and will can get you through a lot of challenges.”
To Garforth-Bles, the race was about more than challenging herself both physically and emotionally.
As part of the race, Garforth-Bles asked for donations and she raised $11,000 for the Alberta Cancer Foundation Clinical Trials Research Unit at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre.
Carol Baumgarten, director of cancer care at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, said the donation is indicative of the dedication of Garforth-Bles as a frontline nurse, who found another way she could help her patients.
“Fiona felt the need to highlight the significant contribution clinical trials have made to cancer patients, and her contribution will help bring about future innovative cancer treatments,” said Baumgarten.
According to Baumgarten, the Tom Baker Cancer Centre is a leading edge facility because it offers clinical trials as a method of cancer treatment to its patients.
Clinical trials are research studies that test new ways to prevent, detect, treat, or manage cancers, according to the Canadian Cancer Society.
The Canadian Cancer Society website states that many people with cancer are now living longer because of progress made through clinical trials.
For more information or to donate visit albertacancer.ca.
