Intsail is an annual Intelligence Corps Adventurous Sail Training Exercise open to all Corps personnel as well as non Int Corps personnel working alongside the G2 community. Training objectives are essentially those set out in the RYA Competent Crew and Day Skipper syllabus, so the exercise provides an excellent opportunity for novice or recently qualified Crew or Skippers to expand their skills and experience on larger boats in overseas waters.
This year the exercise took place along the Croatian coast starting and ending in Dubrovnik with a turnaround and crew change on the island of Korcula. 54 Military Intelligence Coy, 5 MI Bn (V) provided 8 crew members and 1 skipper for the exercise, 4 of whom stayed on for both weeks.
Expedition members varied massively in experience ranging from RYA Yacht Master Ocean to many who had never set foot on a yacht before. It promised to be an interesting 2 weeks.
To the relief of the exercise OIC, all skippers and crew RV’d at the scheduled time at Gatwick’s North Terminal on the Saturday morning. The wait for the flight proved an excellent opportunity for crews to get to know each other and for old friends to catch up. Conversation soon turned to Afghanistan and it soon became apparent that many of the TA and Regular JNCO’s would soon be serving along side each other in support of future Op Herrick’s. The forming of these early friendships in more benign circumstances should prove of great value throughout their stay in theatre.
In stark contrast to the UK, the crews arrived in Dubrovnik to glorious sunshine. So, while the skippers went through the lengthy handover procedures with the yacht charterer, the crews relaxed in the sun outside the marina café. Soon the yachts were ready and crew members were dispatched to the supermarket to victual the boats. Lesson one: never send three single blokes to do this task.
The weather in week one proved to be near perfect sailing weather with good winds and plenty of sun. The first few days were spent getting the crews used to the boat and introducing them to the various tasks needed to sail a modern yacht. By day 3 the wind had increased and some fantastic sailing was had by all. By now the crew were becoming very proficient at tacking and gybing drills so some of the boats began “racing” each other at the end of the days sailing, allowing the crews to further hone their skills.
The sight of a strange “tunnel” on the island of Lastovo led to one of the boats setting off early in the morning in order to investigate further. The tunnel turned out to be one of three submarine pens built when the island was a strategically important military facility during Socialist times. Encouraged by this find, the crew set off to explore inland, returning with pictures of ammo bunkers, pill boxes and accommodation blocks now all overgrown and falling into disrepair.
The weather in week two proved to be rather different. After only a day the wind died off significantly and the rain came in. The shorts and t-shirts of week one were quickly replaced by full waterproofs and boots! Nonetheless, some great sailing was had against the backdrop of the spectacular scenery of the Croatian islands as the yachts island hopped back to Dubrovnik.
Intsail 2010 was a huge success. Despite the current operational pressures (54 MI Coy (V) generally has at least 2 members deployed at any one time and an additional 2 on FTRS), it was good to see significant support from TA personnel on this Corps level exercise. Many crew members have been enthused to pursue either yacht or dinghy sailing as a result of their attendance and those who hold qualifications have been provided with the opportunity to widen their experience.
54 Coy (V) would like to thank The Ulysses Trust for their generous financial support which has contributed greatly to so many of the Coy in being able to attend this year.