Grapevine: Patrick Head's great adventure

Head, an avid sailing fan, had a custom-made Hylas 66 yacht built for him in Taiwan, and shortly after the final race of the 2005 season, the Williams co-owner entered the ARC event - a race across the Atlantic, from Las Palmas to St. Lucia.

"I landed back from Shanghai, the last Grand Prix, at 5:30am on the morning of Monday, and by noon I was pulling out of Cowes, sailing down the [English] Channel," Head told Autosport's Nigel Roebuck, in an exclusive interview to be published next week.

Head's boat, named Fica Fria, was one of 235 boats taking part in the ARC, and his yacht had two professional crew-members and five friends of Head - "none of them from motor racing," he clarified.

The group was held back after one of the Hylas sails blew up, leaving them on shore for three days for repairs.

"Once we set off again, we had a really good sail across the Atlantic," Head said. "And despite losing those three days, we finished 62nd overall, so we overtook 170-odd boats - although we only saw five of them, which rather reminded you of how big the ocean actually is."

However, Head's boat was classified second overall in their category, since boats are given a handicap for the amount of time they have run their engines.

Ironically, the rule requires the boat owners to report back the amount of time - relying entirely on the competitor's integrity. "I'm not sure how well that would work in Formula One," Head grinned.

But Head and his group didn't leave without a trophy, as they won the Eric Jean Memorial Trophy, which is awarded for "services to the environment".

"We came across a turtle," Head explained, "and the poor thing was trapped in a big piece of discarded fishing net. We cut it free, whereupon it took one look at us, and swam away. This was reported on the ARC site, and won us the award."

"It was a wonderful experience, and I'll do it again some time," Head concluded. "We'd been alcohol-free on the trip, but when we got into St. Lucia we were presented with a basket of fruit and some extremely strong rum punch.

"That was at 9:30 in the morning. By lunchtime, we were not in a good state..."

• Nigel Roebuck's full interview with Patrick Head will appear in next week's edition of Autosport magazine, on sale February 2nd.