Mostly Harmless, sail number GBR 3111N, is a J105, raced by Natalie Jobling and Tom Hayhoe and dry-sailed from Hamble Yacht Services on the Solent. Launched in 2002, she was originally called J’Adore and in the hands of her previous owner won the French J105 championship several times.
This is the third boat Tom and Natalie have owned with this name, the first being a Laser 5000 they raced in the early 1990s and second being a Prima 38 that they campaigned between 2002 and 2009. (Connoisseurs of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy will recognise the reference and not be surprised that the National 12 Tom and Natalie raced between 1983 and 1998 was called 42 – the answer to the ultimate question of life the universe and everything. Mostly Harmless shares its sail number with this boat).
The second Mostly Harmless is now based in La Coruna in northern Spain and sailed by Andrés Soto Núñez.
After selling the Prima 38, Tom and Natalie campaigned a Class 40 called Orca during 2009 and 2010. Their background is in racing small dinghies, especially National 12s, before serving an 11 year apprenticeship for the Prima in the Solent Sigma 33 fleet. They also race an SB20, Heart of Gold, which is kept at Datchet Water Sailing Club. Their other sailing club memberships are Ranelagh SC, Castaways, JOG, RORC (Tom is a former vice commodore) and Emsworth Sailing Club. Natalie is a former trustee of the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy.
Outside sailing, Tom chairs an NHS Trust and Natalie, a former lawyer, is retraining to become a physiotherapist. Tom’s professional blog appears at http://escondidoframework.com/.