Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Fastnet Finish Video FootageTom Frame from Charter Haus has put some video footage from the finish of the Rolex Fastent Race up on uTube. You can view it here.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Celebrations in PlymouthThe teams from our three yachts in the Rolex Fastnet Race joined together to celebrate a fantastic race in Plymouth on Friday night. As you can see from the photograph the camaraderie amongst our team is amazing and three extremely close knit teams have developed throughout the season.
Puma Logic was presented with the Roger Justice Memorial Cup for the 'best sailing school boat' in the Rolex Fastnet race. Skipper, Philippe Falle, was presented the trophy by Andrew McIrvine, the Commodore of RORC. Andrew is also this season’s arch rival to Puma Logic, as he skippers Quokka which is now just ahead of Puma Logic on points in the RORC championships.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Puma Logic finishes Rolex Fastnet Race
Fantastic news from Plymouth. Puma Logic has completed the Rolex Fastnet Race, after a very slow and tortuous last few miles with little wind and a turning tide.
They crossed the line at 1.30 am this morning, with Philippe's Mum and Dad in their own yacht guiding them back to port, after finishing.
A very tired but jubilant crew were met by friends and family on the dock side and their first words were - where's the beer tent?!!
Puma Logic came a very creditable 10th in IRC Class1 overall and second in Division 1A, which is marvellous. The only yacht to be ahead of them in this division was Quokka, a Corby 36.
Meanwhile, still out on the race track, Playing Around Logic have the finish in their sights but have no wind, in fact, absolutely nothing. It is a glass-like sea at the moment, without a ripple to be seen anywhere. However, there is wind coming in from the South-west which means that all the yachts still racing someway behind them have now got breeze and are scooting along. Peter and his crew have only 6 miles to go, so hopefully they can ghost across the line in the next couple of hours before the rest of the fleet start to catch them up. Everyone is willing them on down here in Plymouth and the Puma crew have already gone and got the beers in - I am sure they can probably smell it!
Jaguar Logic has had another very slow night due to the lack of wind, but they now have breeze and are moving again. They are coming up to the Lizard and are moving at nearly 7 knots which is great. It will certainly put a smile on the crews faces this morning. They have moved up to 26th place and have quite a few yachts around them which is good for getting maximum boat speed!
The latest eta we have for Jaguar at present is 3pm this afternoon.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Sailing is like a Crystal Maze.....
or so says Max Gill, crew member on Jaguar Logic. He describes Sailing is like a crystal maze: a physical challenge one day, a mental challenge the next!
Jaguar Logic are just round the tip of the Scillies at the moment, neck and neck with Bare Knuckles a Prima 38. They seem very happy crew this afternoon but are praying for wind.
Jaguar is travelling at 2.9 knots with just under a 100 miles to go now. The good news is that the leading boats in Class 1 already around the Lizard seem to have speeded up, showing that there is some wind somewhere, at last!
Puma Logic has been having a difficult time passing the Lizard but have now gone round to great relief to everyone onbpard. On handicap, positions are very close at the top of the class so it is really anyones race until the finish line now. Puma has 47 miles to go and is travelling at 5 knots. This means her eta is at present is 11pm tonight. However, as soon as night falls, it is likely that the wind will die completely as it did last night so yet again, there are too many variables at the moment to determine exact eta's.
Playing Around meanwhile, having taken the southerly option seem to be moving and may have just tactically done very well. Time will tell but it seems that Peter maybe able to get past The Lizard on the same course without having to gybe which emans that if the other yachts are haivng to, it will make them slower.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Where has the wind gone!
When you go sailing. it is always the 6 million dollar question: where is the wind, how strong is it and what direction is it coming from. Well on this Fastnet, the questions are: where is the wind, we're not quite sure, and oh dear, its coming from every direction!
When the breeze dies and becomes light, it generally decides it doesn't know from which direction it wants to come from. When this happens, it is just a lottery as to which yachts get some useful breeze, and which don't.
Both Playing Around and Puma Logic are in very light wind conditions at the moment and it is really a question of keeping the yachts moving and sometimes that this might not be in exactly the right direction! Puma Logic's course is keeping her close inshore at the moment, whilst Peter Robson on Playing Around has gybed south after passing Bishop's Rock at The Scillies. He is chasing more breeze out there, and hopefully then getting a better wind angle to come in at, going into Plymouth Sound.
Meanwhile, Jaguar Logic is still moving quicker than the other 2, and is 22 miles from Bishop's Rock at 9am this morning.
The weather in Plymouth today is warm, humid with a little wind. The forecast for the rest of the day is similar conditions, 5-7 knots breeze from west-south-west. Hopefully, as it is a warm day there will be a sea breeze effect coming into play this afternoon which means if Puma Logic continues as she is, she may feel the benefit of this, but obviously so will the others around her. Whoever plays the wind strategy the best, will reap the benefits.
There have been 44 yachts finish the race so far. There is lots of activity here is the race village at Sutton Harbour, Plymouth. These who have come in during the night are busy tidying up their yachts and drinking the odd beer or two, naturally. I am not quite sure in which order this goes, but I am sure you can imagine!
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