Less than a Fastnet Race to go!!

The realisation has dawned today for both our teams that they have less than a Fastnet Race to go to the finish line, in terms of distance and time on the water. This puts everything into perspective for them, and has given them renewed energy.

We have heard 3 times today from Peter, Skipper of Playing Around. Perhaps he has run out of things to say to his crew, or maybe he is just so excited to be able to use his mobile phone again! Whatever the reason it is very plainly obvious that he, and his intrepid team are loving every single second of this race. They had a great night and made up some good mileage after been able to get some up to date weather data, and then the wind freed them off and they were making 8 knots of boat speed in 17 knots of breeze. This afternoon they had a reef in the main and the No 2 up, and the bowman, Iain, had been given the privilege of coming off the foredeck and having a go on the helm! Watch leader Roger was banished to the rail much to his chagrin! They all have been hanging on every hourly schedule coming from the Race HQ website and know that the race is going to go down to the wire. They are currently 32 miles behind Encore and have been taking a little mileage out of them all day bit by bit.

Meanwhile, Visit Malta Puma has been making steady progress today and are now back to less than 52 miles behind Cheeki Rafiki. They are having their own private battle all over again with Beluga, Winsome and Selene, whom they thought they had well and truly passed some days ago. The weather seems to have picked up a little and they actually now have breeze. Philippe has confirmed today that the weather has been superb, with sunshine and great visibility, although a little chilly. At least on this race Philippe remembered to take his foulies, boots and thermals – he very famously forgot these vital tools of his trade on an offshore race last year…..it was very funny!

Looking at the forecast, it is looking very likely that the yachts will have to beat through the Irish Sea/Western Approaches and most probably also the English Channel before heading up the Solent to the finish. If the wind direction stays the same this will mean that the yachts cannot sail a direct course and have to tack along the rhumb line, making their time to the finish a little longer than they would want.

ETA for the yachts at the moment is: Playing Around Saturday late afternoon, and Puma Sunday morning.

Keep those messages coming!!