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2010 Blogs
Crew member on GBR9357 Hull and Humber
Written by Crew member on GBR9357 Hull and Humber Tuesday, 24 August 2010 19:08
Hull & Humber Blog Day 2 By Janet Flynn, Clipper 07/08 Crew
Its been quite a busy first 24 hours on board Hull & Humber, with theexcitement of the start over, we quickly settled into our watch system 6 hours on, 6 hours off during the night and then 2 shifts of 4 hoursand 2 shifts of 2 hours, and we start all over again.
Surfing down waves in the English Channel, with the sun out and a poledout Yankee 2 headsail, life doesnt get much better than this. Headingthrough the shipping lanes at Dover is always a challenge, so we have toensure we keep a vigilant eye out for the traffic. Were followingGrahams route as far as Lowestoft, where we pick up a route devised byPeter. The course has been divided up into 4 areas with 4 crew memberseach taking it in turn to plan our route, making best use of the tidesand avoiding any navigational hazards, such as oil rigs in the NorthSea. All has gone according to plan so far, in fact we were 6 hoursahead of schedule at Lowestoft such was the good time made in theChannel so no pressure Peter!
Earlier today we passed by the mouth of the Humber, so we made sure togive a little wave! At the moment the mothers are preparing dinner Thai Green Curry tonight I believe, which given the angle were heeledover at could be quiet a challenge, but Im sure theyll rise to it.
Day 1 Blog By Joey O'Hare
This morning was a grey one in Cowes. The final preparations on boardHull and Humber were undertaken in very grizzly conditions. A distinctmixture of excitment and apprehension was in the air, and even thoughthe race route had been reversed to avoid boat-shattering conditions,the forcast promised some big winds. After feuling her up, and a warmingluch of soup on the deck we set sail around one o'clock.The start was very exciting. Not fifteen minuets in we'd already seentwo shredded spinnakers and two snapped masts... Nerves were entirelydispelled with the competion and excitment - the race start was one ofthe most exciting things I've ever experienced. The picture of the vastfleet racing out of Cowes is one I shan't ever forget.
Edinbugh has been in sight thus far. The downwil, sailing has beenwonderful, and the smile on Patrick's face at the helm quite somethingas he surfed Hull and Humber down the waves at 15.5 knots.We arecurrently having our first dinner of the race, gazing at the beautifulwhite cliffs of Beachy Head with a glorious sunset. Mild seaskicknessaside, I couldn't be more delighted to have decided to partake in thesevenstar race - this is going to be a great 10 days!
Josephine O'Hare, 22, London, Student
Crew member on GBR9793T Cheeki Rafiki
Written by Crew member on GBR9793T Cheeki Rafiki Tuesday, 24 August 2010 17:55
The 6pm watch change has just finished. This got busy with the number 3 coming down for repairs and the nr4 going up.
This was a heavy 6 hours trying to gain on encore, now insight. Heavy squalls, with beam on seas, beating into over 30knots as we pass the lincolnshire coast.
Hadn't realised the scale of the gas rigs.
No time for the joke book this time, pot noodles and cup-a-soup, very nice with light sea water.
So Gareth, Brett, Gary. And Ken are off till 10. Stephen, Nick, John and Martin are on for the first of the 4hour stints overnight.
Ken
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device
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It's 615 and we're off the Thames having changed watches at 6. Nick's now on helm with John on main. Steven on Nav with Martin in the cockpit. Gareths brewing up with Brett, Gary and me already off for a kip.
The night went well with the Jibtop doing its job. Wind on the beam around 15knots, building to low 20's from 430am. Gary did lots of helming, and being a tiller man, he is quickly sorting his nemesis otherwise known as 'the wheel'. Gary also handled the Nav getting us through the tricky stuff after the huge spooky windfarm.
Gareth's huge joke book came out at 5. Its a cheap one and not for sensitve types. There's a scottish section for later in the week. Like the one about........
Now for a snooze while Nick, Steve, John and Martin reach us up the Anglian coastline. The big questions for today are 'do we go to the number 3'?, 'can we be bothered to catch Encore!'. And 'will the joke book survive?'
Ken Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device
-----Original Message----- From: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:36:23 To: RBI RORC BLOG; My hotmail Reply-To: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Subject: GBR9793T Cheeki Rafiki
Well we are 2 miles from Ramsgate. Now on the two watch system, 66444hrs.
Nick, Steven, Martin and John having a snooze.
Brett's on the helm with Gary on the main. Gareth getting the weather update and doing the nav(thank fully) and Ken (me) doing the blog.
Bearing 20degrees ish.
Wind has dropped to 11 knots, clear starry sky with the full moon behind us.
The run along the south coast was great with 30+ winds and some good surfing.
Were all suprised to hear leopard has retired, it's one less to beat!
Ken Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device
Crew member on GBR1R ICAP Leopard
Written by Crew member on GBR1R ICAP Leopard Tuesday, 24 August 2010 16:48
Yesterdays story from SAM!
At 14.00 on Monday the 23rd of August I set off on ICAP Leopard to race theSevenstar Round Britain and Ireland race.
We had met on board at 10am to go through the race strategy, weather andsafety procedures. Just before leaving the dock, Mike Slade and skipperChris Sherlock presented me with a birthday cake and a birthday cup of EarlGrey tea which we all devoured pretty quickly everyone was going to needthe energy!
The race start was pretty hectic as we had only one hour to pass through asafety gate with our storm jib and trysail set, then get them packed up andour race sails up which, in those conditions (30 knots of wind,) was a bittight for a 105 maxi!
However we had a great start first boat over the line in the best position with Mike at the helm wearing a huge grin! We shot out the solent, despitethe adverse tide, and soon found ourselves in huge seas once out of theshelter of the Isle of Wight.
After 40 minutes or so, Guillermo took the helm. The wind and waves werebuilding and so was our boatspeed which was frequently above 30 knots! Itwas a wet and wild ride but everyone was enjoying it and ICAP Leopard was inher element! The wettest spots were the trimming position (to leeward, inorder to see the sails) and the bow. The bowmen had a tough job on theirhands as we had to change from the R2 to the A5 as we rounded the Owers andbore away. At one point I saw Louis surf a wave from the stem all the way tothe mast, passing Freddy who was hanging on for dear life to the innerforestay!
After the sail change at the Owers we discovered that one of the upperbattens in the mainsail had popped off the batten car, so Louis was sent upthe rig to lash it in to prevent eventual damage to the rig. He did a greatjob, whilst Guillermo tried to keep the boat stable to help him as he was40m above the deck!
My job for this first, busy, day (before we got into our watch system) wasto back up Hugh Agnew on the nav, and collect as much weather information aspossible to help us make our decisions on sail choices and our immediateroute strategy. I spent a fair amount of time at the nav station downloadingweather files, but I did manage to spend enough time on deck (tucked away atthe back trying to avoid the huge waves crashing over the deck!) to enjoythe ride! We were FLYING along, but totally in control.
We were running deep and we had the traffic separation zone coming upquickly. Maritime law states that everyone must keep clear of these shippinglanes (unless crossing at 90) so to comply to this we had to put in severalgybes to pass between the coast and the Northern limit of the west-goinglane.
As we headed into the first gybe I was down below getting in the forecast.The gybe felt great totally in control and smooth (surprisingly for thesepretty full-on conditions). As I felt the boat pass through the wind therewas a bang and then I felt the power come off and immediately knew somethingwas wrong. The boom had broken just aft of the gooseneck. We now had a bigjob on we were heading towards the cliffs at Beachy Head with ICAP Leoparddisabled. We had to find a way to get the main down without damaging the rigor the sails and without risking injuring anyone if the boom broke loose. Wehad 20 minutes before we hit the shore and the conditions were worsening.
Quick thinking from Chris Sherlock and his crew followed by good teamworkgot the situation under control and within 10 minutes the mainsail wassafely down and lashed into the boom, with the boom secured solid.
We turned around and limped back to Southampton upwind under headsail only.A disappointed crew, not only is it frustrating to have gear failure, wewere saying goodbye to our chance to get the record and what is turning outto be an epic and exhilarating race.
However, we must look on the positive side. Nobody was hurt and we saved thesails and rig from further damage. We were also not far from home it wouldhave been worse had that happened north of the Shetland Isles!
So, I think that Dee, Miranda, Alex and I will be saying goodbye to ourrecord in a couple of days time Groupama and Telefonica should beat it.Wed kept it for a year which isnt too bad! I HOPE that Mike has got ataste for that record as ICAP Leopard is certainly capable of beating it andif he does decide to have an attempt on breaking the record I will be thefirst to volunteer as crew!
I had a great time on board. It is strange being one of 20 when I am used tosailing alone. I think it is valuable learning for a solo sailor to go outand race with top-level crew like that as it keeps us on our toes. TheLeopard crew are a great bunch and I was really looking forward to spending6 days together on that amazing yacht!
Video will be ASAP on my official Facebook fan page
And Youtube
Sam Davies
www.samdavies.com
+33 (0)6 73 05 45 05
Objective Vendee Globe 2012
My Samantha Company
www.mysamanthacompany.com
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Crew member on GBR93 Concise 2
Written by Crew member on GBR93 Concise 2 Tuesday, 24 August 2010 16:22
I had hoped to get some great pictures of Concise at the start of the 1,800mile Seven Stars Round Britain and Ireland Race but to quote Robbie Burnsthe best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.
Prior to departure I had given the crew one of my now famous pep talks.Famous that is for my brevity and their lack of attention. I reminded themthat it was safety first at all times, to look out for each other and thatthe race was 1,800 miles, be cautious, but there was a record up for grabs.
It was blowing 25 knots, gusting 30+, with some really nasty short seas asthe boats crossed the line off the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes. I foundmyself struggling to get anything out of my trusty Nikon, too many saltwater soakings over the last few years had finally done for it.
By the time I got the reserve camera out, Concise 2 was charging down thenorth side of the course under spinnaker, heading for the eastern exit ofthe Solent, surfing past boats left, right and centre. I chased after herfor about 35 minutes but realised that this wasnt exactly Smartboatconditions and it was going to be hell getting back. Reluctantly, I turnedround and headed for the Hamble. Looking over my shoulder I could just makethem out, spray flying high. It left me thinking that over the next 9 daysor so there was going to be some buttock clenching moments.
Tony Lawson
Crew member on GBR9357T CV8 Hull & Humber
Written by GBR9357T CV8 Hull & Humber Tuesday, 24 August 2010 15:05
This morning was a grey one in Cowes. The final preparations on boardHull and Humber were undertaken in very grizzly conditions. A distinctmixture of excitement and apprehension was in the air, and even thoughthe race route had been reversed to avoid boat-shattering conditions,the forecast promised some big winds. After fuelling her up and awarming lunch of soup on the deck we set sail around one o'clock.
The start was very exciting. Not fifteen minutes in we'd already seentwo shredded spinnakers and two snapped masts. Nerves were entirelydispelled with the competition and excitement - the race start was oneof the most exciting things I've ever experienced. The picture of thevast fleet racing out of Cowes is one I shan't ever forget.
Edinburgh Inspiring Capital has been in sight thus far. The downhill,sailing has been wonderful and the smile on Patrick's face at the helmquite something as he surfed Hull & Humber down the waves at 15.5 knots.We are currently having our first dinner of the race, gazing at thebeautiful white cliffs of Beachy Head with a glorious sunset. Mildseasickness aside, I couldn't be more delighted to have decided topartake in the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Yacht Race - this isgoing to be a great ten days!
Josephine O'Hare, 22, London, Student
Crew member on GBR100 Artemis Ocean Racing
Written by Crew member on GBR100 Artemis Ocean Racing Tuesday, 24 August 2010 13:09
We have certainly had an epic first day of this edition of the 7stars RBI.
It seems like the wind has not been down below 30 for the whole trip so far!we have 30-34 at the moment with boat speed sat in the low 20's.
We are due east of the Flamborough head and making great progress to thenorth. Its very hard to type as the boat bucking around so much. The seastate is appalling, as we have been in very shallow water, so hopefully itwill get a little bit more pleasant soon.
We had a fantastic full moon last night which helped things as we rompedthrough the sandbanks off Kent. This morning bought with it wind farms, oilrigs and plenty of ships to contend with, we have been fairly busy!
I think we are all looking forward to an ESE in the conditions, howeverthis doesnt look very likely for at least 24 hours.
Ok, better go, wind just has hit 37!!
Cheers, from Jonny and the boys on AOR2
Crew member on GBR8407R Encore
Written by Crew member on GBR8407R Encore Tuesday, 24 August 2010 11:32
Encore Blog Tuesday 24 August
Comming up for our first 24 hour run reaching fast under JT in 20knts of breeze and feeling very grateful for the change to anticlockwise!Stress levels now down after a frantic day and a half prepaaring follwoing the Commodores Cup. Some great efforts from the team - particularly Guilaume who replaced our steering strop just before the start. We are all settling into the race and making up for our staggering over the start line just about prepared.Navigation uncompromised by skipper insisting on staying in mobilephone range until the GCE results are available. Looking for 200nm for the fist 24hour run.
Crew member on GBR1429L British Soldier
Written by Crew member on GBR1429L British Soldier Tuesday, 24 August 2010 10:21
Day 2 - Tue 24 Aug 10, 0920 hrs
Having a great blast up the east coast with one reef and the No 3. Wind'sjust forward of the beam so not quite kite weather. Should be off Lowestoftjust before midday. A good first night last night - not too uncomfortableand now it's just a case of slipping into the routine. Much fun to be hadlistening to the irrate Dover coastgurd dishing out COLREGs b*ll*ckings tovarious straying yachts! Shame about Leopard as it would have been great tosee them smash the record.
Fantastic weather today - blue skies and great beeze (20 knots+). ORP againfor breakfast. A couple of yachts aound - 2 off to starboard a couple ofmiles and slightly forward (no AIS?) and a few more on the horizon behind.So far we've done 172 NM on the log, with GPS showing 1622 NM left to runout of a total of 1802 NM (180 NM along the track complete).
Will celebrates his 29th Birthday today and unbknownest to him, Port Watchhas already hidden his secret stash of champagne!
Skip
P.S. Don't ever buy a rubber keyboard - invest in a decent cockpit hatchinstead!
Crew member on GBR8308T Playing Around Logic
Written by Crew member on GBR8308T Playing Around Logic Tuesday, 24 August 2010 09:50
Rock n Roll!
Well , what an eventful start. We watched Tonnerre sail into (moored) Groupama while heading out for the ID gate. Whoops! Looked bad as T's bowsprit punctured the bow of Groupama. Good to see both boats able to make the start.
We we're without drama. The jib halyard let go the top of the jib. All safely gathered in and Iain valiantly climbed the mast to retrieve halyard - as we surfed down the mid solent....
we watched the big boats zip past, some with heavy Asails flying, Groupama in a ball of spray, no wonder they can't see anything. We decided to follow them and go for out Heavy Asail. 10 very hairy minutes later, a near broach on a big gust and the sheet flew off. Ahhh! Sadly the clew snapped around and gashed 2metre rip out of the sail. It will have to stay in its bag now for the rest of the race.
30mins later, Celox's mast collapsed. Poor sods. At least it didn't happen further out, like in the North Sea.
Now we're happy sailing in champagne conditions, 30-40kts wind poled out Jibtop and boat speed averaging 10kts. Graeme holds the record surf at 14.2kts. This will be one fast race, records will surely fall if boats can get round.
Soon the tide will turn fair and hopefully the sea will settle a bit. We can see Puma on our starboard side and the other 40.7s a bit behind them. Looks like we were the only boat in class to attempt spinnaker. Well, now we know why they didn't.
Pete
Crew member on GBR9350T CV1 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital
Written by Crew member on GBR9350T CV1 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital Tuesday, 24 August 2010 09:24
Edinburgh Inspiring Capital off to a good start
The start went to schedule at 14.00 hours. Strong South Westerlies werethe order of the day with winds varying between 20 -35knts and 1.5 hoursfoul tide below us.
It was a 'downhill' start which always presents a challenge as ourhelmsman, first mate Jimbo had to balance the power and speed of theyacht against the proximity to the line. Being over the line at thestart would have been disastrous as we would have had to have beat ourway back to restart. However timing was spot on and the No 2 Yankee washoisted on the gun and we shot off the line in the top third of thefleet. We powered down the Solent on a broad reach to see what thechannel can offer us.
The crew are in great spirits and looking forward to the challenges thatlie ahead and I think I can speak for most of the crew when I say it isgood to get started!
Calum Macaskill
Crew member on 14 Groupama 70
Written by Crew member on 14 Groupama 70 Tuesday, 24 August 2010 08:52
Hi
Everything is ok.
Nice downwind sailing in the channel.
Right now we are sitting in a shaker.
Best regards
Crew member on GBR100 Artemis Ocean Racing
Written by Crew member on GBR100 Artemis Ocean Racing Tuesday, 24 August 2010 06:20
COOKING NOW - DIFFICULT TO TYPE SO I SEND A FILM. 22 KNOTS BOAT SPEED, NICE.
WILL SEND MORE TMORROW JONNY
Crew member on GBR9793T Cheeki Rafiki
Written by Crew member on GBR9793T Cheeki Rafiki Tuesday, 24 August 2010 05:48
It's 615 and we're off the Thames having changed watches at 6. Nick's now on helm with John on main. Steven on Nav with Martin in the cockpit. Gareths brewing up with Brett, Gary and me already off for a kip.
The night went well with the Jibtop doing its job. Wind on the beam around 15knots, building to low 20's from 430am. Gary did lots of helming, and being a tiller man, he is quickly sorting his nemesis otherwise known as 'the wheel'. Gary also handled the Nav getting us through the tricky stuff after the huge spooky windfarm.
Gareth's huge joke book came out at 5. Its a cheap one and not for sensitve types. There's a scottish section for later in the week. Like the one about........
Now for a snooze while Nick, Steve, John and Martin reach us up the Anglian coastline. The big questions for today are 'do we go to the number 3'?, 'can we be bothered to catch Encore!'. And 'will the joke book survive?'
KenSent from my BlackBerry wireless device
-----Original Message-----From: kenjallison@hotmail.comDate: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:36:23 To: RBI RORC BLOG; My hotmailReply-To: kenjallison@hotmail.comSubject: GBR9793T Cheeki Rafiki
Well we are 2 miles from Ramsgate. Now on the two watch system, 66444hrs.
Nick, Steven, Martin and John having a snooze.
Brett's on the helm with Gary on the main. Gareth getting the weather update and doing the nav(thank fully) and Ken (me) doing the blog.
Bearing 20degrees ish.
Wind has dropped to 11 knots, clear starry sky with the full moon behind us.
The run along the south coast was great with 30+ winds and some good surfing.
Were all suprised to hear leopard has retired, it's one less to beat!
KenSent from my BlackBerry wireless device
Crew member on GBR9793T Cheeki Rafiki
Written by Crew member on GBR9793T Cheeki Rafiki Tuesday, 24 August 2010 02:36
Well we are 2 miles from Ramsgate. Now on the two watch system, 66444hrs.
Nick, Steven, Martin and John having a snooze.
Brett's on the helm with Gary on the main. Gareth getting the weather update and doing the nav(thank fully) and Ken (me) doing the blog.
Bearing 20degrees ish.
Wind has dropped to 11 knots, clear starry sky with the full moon behind us.
The run along the south coast was great with 30+ winds and some good surfing.
Were all suprised to hear leopard has retired, it's one less to beat!
KenSent from my BlackBerry wireless device
Crew member on GBR1429L British Soldier
Written by Crew member on GBR1429L British Soldier Tuesday, 24 August 2010 01:35
Day 2 - Tue 24 Aug 10, 0225 hrs
Just cut the corner of Goodwin Sands with 1.5m under the keel - plenty! Great sailing so far; all downwind and not much below 10 knots. Max speed so far 15.2 knots. Mostly reaching and poled out jib downwind. Have just taken down the kite which was good stuff going past Dover. In the past 12 hrs we sailed 116 miles at an average speed of approx 9.6 knots. Hoping to do about 230 miles in the 24 hrs. Boil in the bag for supper - thank heavens for Army ORP! Everyone well and enjoying the sleigh ride. Slightly concerned when I noticed that starboard watch had cornered someone from port in the aft cabin...
Next update off Lowestoft.
Skip
Crew member on GBR1429L British Soldier
Written by Crew member on GBR1429L British Soldier Monday, 23 August 2010 13:51
Day 1 - Mon 23 Aug 10, 1451 hrs
We're finally off! A great downwind start in 30 knots of breeze, with full Main and No 3. Surfing along at 12 - 13 knots. Grouparama (Volvo 70) surfed past doing 25 knots+. Watched a Class 40 drop her rig after 5 mins of kite - it's a long way to go and pity for them. Puma (our closest rival) tried their kite but too breezy - thanks for the experiment guys! Got to dash, just coming round the corner of the IoW out through the Forts and time for a reef...
Happy Skip
Crew member on GBR9793T Cheeki Rafiki
Written by Crew member on GBR9793T Cheeki Rafiki Monday, 23 August 2010 11:52
GBR9793T CHEEKI RAFIKI 230810 1225 and we're in the Solent and its lessthan 2 hours till we start
We had a relaxing evening and morning in Cowes with the obligatory trip toEgons for breakfast. We've even picked up an Egons certificate for finishingone of their bonanza breakfasts (all part of the training).
Gareth made sure we did our safety briefings and final checks before we leftthe berth and we had a team photo with the posh Stormforce shirts on.
We're now sailing around the Solent 'getting the wind angles'
John on the Helm. Gary, Martin, Greg and Stephen in the cockpit. Nick andKen on the bow. Gareth taking us through a few tacks to get us tuned inagain.
Great conditions, had 33knots when we came out, now dropping. Lots of chatabout sails, and what to start with.
Good feeling on board, cupboards full of so much food!
Looking forward to Muckle Flugga!
Ken
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