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| 12 Jul 06 |
Triple Fantasy finished today to bring to a close the Shetland Round Britain & Ireland Race of 2006.
They were credited with a finish time of 21:01:06 on 10 July, an allowance of about 40 hours in recognition of the time they lost in saving a windsurfer off Beachy Head.
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| 11 Jul 06 |
Palletline, sailed by Tony Van Hee and Angus Pridie finished the Race in time for breakfast today. They had spent an uncomfortable twenty-four hours in fog and rain, and were unable to make up the time spent earlier at Holy Island, Northumbria when seeking treatment for Angus' injured hand. They were nevertheless rewarded with third place in class.
We now await the final act. Triple Fantasy should finish tomorrow and will be counted as their life-saving efforts off Beachy Head will give a suitable time allowance. Prepare the Fat Lady!
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| 10 Jul 06 |
Four more finishers in the early hours of the morning - Ruffian, Chimp, Knights Challenge, and Kenmore.
This leaves just Palletline and Triple Fantasy to complete the course.
In view of the unusually light winds experienced over much of the race this year, the Race Committee has extended the time limit by two days to Tuesday.
Triple Fantasy also has a time allowance for her rescue of a windsurfer.
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| 08/09 Jul 06 |
Overnight Gales spoil it for the remainder of the Class 3 and 6 fleet which is still at sea, battling down channel against strong winds. Conditions turned nasty on Saturday evening as the day’s moderate Southwesterly turned into a gale with rain as darkness closed in. Plymouth brothers Tony and Tim Bale made the finish in Rush in the twilight, roaring to the finish under tiny rig in the driving rain. They were the lucky ones, to be in before winds increased to a full gale. By three am on Sunday the little Trimaran Kenmore reported to be hove-to seventeen miles east of Start Point in heavy breaking seas and winds of up to fifty knots.
This is the second time for Nick Bubb, skipper of Kenmore. Last time they were dismasted near St. Kilda in similar conditions. Now, nursing the repaired mast home he was taking no chances, and ran for the shelter of Torbay. Happily reached Brixham by morning.
Soon after three-thirty little Tusitala, smallest boat in the Race at 29' in length, turned bravely into Plymouth Sound and was soon hurrying past the finish line, barely discernable in the blackness of the screaming night. Great Sailing by Jon Coleman and Simon Ellyatt, both Devon boys.
In the dim morning twilight of Sunday, Guy Warner and Nicki Crutchfield brought Blue Demon in while the gale raged on, more lucky people to be home at last.
Meanwhile, those still left at sea, Ruffian, Knights Challenge, Chimp, Kenmore, Palletline and Triple Fantasy are left to push their way westward down channel. Over the course of Sunday the wind has moderated a little, but it will be a hard finish. Triple Fantasy will have some time allowed as she has rescued a windsurfer at sea off Beachy Head, and is now in Brighton as a result. Well done Mike Millerchip and Mike Barnsley for that - a life saved!.
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| 07 Jul 06 |
Battles for places continued - this time for second and third in Class 3 Monos.
William Mumford and Malcolm Dickinson in Flair 2, reported at mid morning to be off the Erme River, only twelve miles from the finish, and had "lost" their long time rivals Tim Whittle and Peter Watson in Malkin.
Malkin however was first to appear round the breakwater to finish ahead of Flair 2, but not by enough, the positions being reversed when handicaps were applied.
Meanwhile the last boats left Lowestoft in the early hours of the morning making nine now on the final leg working their way back to Plymouth.
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| 06 Jul 06 |
More happy finishers arrived this evening after experiencing difficult light conditions in the Channel.
The multihulls of Class 6, in the usual fashion for this race, had two in contact all the way from Lowestoft, exchanging places as the fickle windshifts shared out their favours.
Dutchman Leon Bart in Houd Van Hout - winner of the 2005 OSTAR, was first past the Club at 1912, but alas this was not enough to hold off Brian and Graham Wikinson (no relations) sailing ENB Consulting who clocked in at 2138. Victory this time to the Wilkinsons.
The remaining multihulls of Class 6, still sailing, are not able to change this result.
Oojah, the J110 yacht sailed by Peter Tanner and Philip Kirk, crossed the line between the two multihulls, securing an unassailable winning position in the Class 3 monohull Race.
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| 06 Jul 06 |
Class 2 monohulls concluded their battle for first place last evening.
The two leaders ran into Plymouth under spinnakers on the easing sea breeze. Sunbeat III finished at 1743, and then waited tensely for Jager to appear at the breakwater. This she did, to finish at the RWYC line by 2006, saving her time allowance to win the class.
Zelda followed very early on Thursday 6th to take third place.
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| 05 Jul 06 |
The last two yachts to reach Lowestoft, Triple Fantasy and Kenmore, arrived in the early hours of the morning.
The leaders of class 2 monohulls, Sunbeat and Jager, reported to be in the area of Start Point while the competitors in the English Channel are experiencing light winds as they struggle westwards towards the finish line at Plymouth.
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| 04 Jul 06 |
The ladies of Knights Challenge reached Lowestoft safely in spite of having suffered a shroud breakage.
Kenmore is expected in Lowestoft shortly while Triple Fantasy and Palletline continue to make their way southwards.
On the south coast Jager, Sunbeat and Zelda are approximately 100 miles from the finish.
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| 03 Jul 06 |
Jager has departed from Dover with Andrew Wood as coskipper replacing Dick Koopmans who injured himself falling down the forehatch.
Jalfrezi finished in the early hours of the morning to take second place in class 1. Cheetah of Plymouth finished 9 hours later.
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| 02 Jul 06 |
The engineering skills of Ed Broadway & Ian White were called upon off Selsey Bill when Hooligan running with the kite up suffered a mast collapse. The forestay detached from the mast causing the foot to jump forward & punch a hole in the deck with the whole mast falling back 60 degrees dumping the boom in the water and knocking a stanchion base through the deck.
With the aid of a harness, barber haulers, guidance from Ian & winching by Ed they were able to get the base back in position and then re-erect it, albeit in a somewhat rakish position.
The temporary repair enabled the spinnaker to be flown again and proved adequate to sail close hauled across Plymouth Sound to cross the finish line early on Sunday morning.
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| 02 Jul 06 |
Sunday dawned loudly and most spectactularly with severe thunder and lightning which made Hooligan's crew, Ed. Broadway & Ian White, who were first over the line in Class 1, think the welcome back to Plymouth was a little over done besides being a tad frightning.
Cornwall Playing for Success should cross the finish line around midday having overtaken Jalfrazi and Cheetah of Plymouth.
Iroquis has retired to Aberdeen with serious hull damage following the jamming & breaking of a daggerboard. Both Michael & Peter Ellison are well.
As ever the back end of the fleet is finding life more of a struggle than the leaders; Ruffian, having had a delayed restart from Castlebay to repair rudder damage, is now being confronted with strong headwinds.
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| 01 Jul 06 |
Paradox paddles to victory in the fast multihull Class 5!
Paradox finished Saturday at 07:00:45 to beat Alacrity into second place on corrected time by just under 45 minutes. Matt Baker and Rob Husbands put in much hard work paddling in the light winds to take first place in class on each of the last two legs so securing their victory.
Hayai completed the Open class finishers arriving at 10:39.
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| 30 Jun 06 |
Following Alacrity's finish in time for a champagne welcome and lunch in the Royal Western on Friday, it was the turn of the Open 40s and the Plymouth based trimaran Waverider in time to provide the spectacle for the early evening visitors to the Clubhouse.
Wafted in on the last of the afternoon sea-breeze came Immo BIB (Roaring Forty) to consolidate his lead and win the Open 40 Class. Expertly driven by Michel Kleinjans and Mick Liddy, she made a fine sight under huge asymetric headsail. Finishing to the first evening cannon salute to mark a truely magnificent all round performance.
Hardly had the reverberating gunfire faded when Nigel Passmore and Angus McPhie steered their beautiful trimaran past the Club to the cheers of the Friday evening regulars, lately escaped from their hot offices to enjoy the cooling breeze. Nigel and Angus could have done with a little more of the air pressure in the channel, and commented that it was a pity that all the wind chose to be concentrated in one huge gale off Shetland, with very little available over the majority of the British Isles.
Evening arrivals soon included two more Open 40s, La Promesse and Roaring Again, both under the Dutch Flag. By eight pm the day's wind was spent, and so those left out in the channel will have another difficult night in glassy calms. We fear the Plymouth trimaran Paradox will be out at sea for longer than her handicap will allow, thus probably handing victory in the fast multihull class to Rex Conn and Etienne Giroire who steered Alacrity in for that lunch party today.
Tonight we also hear that back in the North Sea, where the majority of the Class 2 and 3 monohulls are still weaving their way to the third stopover at Lowestoft, the RAF sailing entry Red Arrow has put into Grimsby for rig repairs. We hope they will be in action again soon.
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| 30 Jun 06 |
Alacrity finished at 10:58:30 to take line honours with an elapsed time of 18 days 22 hrs 58 min for the 2006 Shetland Round Britain & Ireland Race.
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| 30 Jun 06 |
Alacrity spent yesterday drifting slowly past Start Point in little or no wind.
They were within 5 miles of the finish at 0800 today, but still no wind. The onshore breeze should help them in later this morning.
The Open 40s and Waverider have 40 - 50 miles to go.
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| 29 Jun 06 |
Light winds continue to delay the fleet.
Alacrity, the Open 40s (La Promesse, Immo BIB and Roaring Again) and Waverider are making slow progress towards the RWYC finish line in Plymouth.
Unfortunately for the following boats, the winds on the east coast are no better! The Class 1 leaders leave Lowestoft tomorrow while the rest have yet to arrive there.
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| 28 Jun 06 |
Another day of light winds for the pack while those in front extend their lead.
Alacrity leads overall and should finish Thursday morning. Waverider and Paradox follow on the last leg, but Cornwall Playing for Success suffered in the light winds and foul tide and failed to catch up.
The Open 40s are having an exciting race. Just a few miles separate La Promesse, Immo BIB and Roaring Again - it is going to be a close finish!. Hayai cut back their lead considerably on leg 4 and has left Lowestoft in pursuit.
The Class 1 leaders are enjoying a break in Lowestoft. Hooligan V has a clear lead with Jalfrezi and Cheetah fighting it out for second.
The remainder of the fleet are suffering from a lack of wind as they make their way from Lerwick to Lowestoft. Ruffian leaves Lerwick early Thursday morning ahead of Kenmore who are trying to recover some of the time lost in repairing their mast.
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| 27 Jun 06 |
The fleet is now spread over three legs.
Alacrity has departed on the final leg to Plymouth.
Waverider and Paradox follow tomorrow along with the Open 40s.
The Class 1 leaders should be in Lowestoft shortly, followed by Cornwall Playing for Success making a great effort to recover the time lost in repairs.
The leaders of the 'Castlebay group' have left Lerwick and at the back Kenmore is playing catch-up after repairing the mast.
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| 27 Jun 06 |
As everyone else was enjoying a convivial get together on Monday evening Hayai arrived much earlier than expected to join the party. Nico and John estimated that they had hand steered for 90% of the leg as they felt this would achieve a better performance than possible under the autohelm. This proved to be true as they gained eight hours over other competitors in their class.
Paradox also had an unexpectedly swift and uneventful passage owing to favourable following winds and finished just before midnight. They arrived in Lowestoft with little battery power owing to these following winds proving insufficient for Paradox's wind generator to keep the batteries fully charged to meet the demands of her instruments.
Rex and Etienne on Alacrity are making preparations i.e. shopping and sleeping, prior to their departure later this afternoon on the final leg to Plymouth.
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| 27 Jun 06 |
Kenmore rejoins race.
Kenmore left Castlebay at midnight last night to restart leg 3 after completing repairs to her mast.
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| 26 Jun 06 |
ALACRITY was the first competitor to nudge her way through the very narrow marina entrance at Lowestoft following a day of little or no wind.
A damp Monday morning saw LA PROMESSE, IMMO B.I.B, ROARING AGAIN and WAVERIDER finishing within three hours of each other.
Tales from the Lerwick to Lowestoft leg included the pleasure at seeing so many dolphins and the amazement at the number of oil rigs dotted around. During one of the lulls WAVE RIDER received a visit from a rib from one of these inquiring about their intentions. The reply was 'that depends on the wind.'
The wind conditions varied from calm to periods of 30 knots plus during one of which LA PROMESSE blew out a spinnaker.
HAYAI is expected to be the next finisher, sometime on Tuesday.
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| Week Two |
The second week has been very different to the first, as fine sunny days with light breezes have given way to unseasonal storms..
The Round Britain is regaining it's true reputation.
A deep low moved in very slowly, hanging over-long in north Scotland. This hit our fleet as they moved into and beyond Barra, the second stopover port.
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| 25 Jun 06 |
... and then a busy day with 14 of the boats that rode out the storm in Castlebay arriving in Lerwick to join the festivities.
This leaves the 10 remaining boats still working the light and contrary winds to make Lerwick.
However the northerly winds have been enough for those on leg 4 to Lowestoft. Alacrity arrived just before 1800 having made 300 miles one day and little more than 60 the next! 150 miles behind are Waverider and the Open 40s. Paradox and the Class 1 boats started overnight and early this morning.
Finally, apologies for the loss of service for much of the day - our Service Provider suffered a failure that proved beyond their capabilities to fix quickly.
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| 24 Jun 06 |
A quiet day, with the wind not helping much either.
Cornwall Playing for Success made great progress and arrived in twelth place at 10am, not long after Jager.
Hayai left just after noon in pursuit of the other Open 40s.
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| Lerwick noon Friday 23th June |
The Class 1 leaders arrived in Lerwick in a tight group. Hooligan V lead Jalfrezi and Cheetah over the line, but on corrected time Jalfrezi came first (despite a knockdown soon after starting) with Cheetah second.
Those that delayed their start from Castlebay are now 'enjoying' the calms off St Kilda.
Alacrity started leg 4 at 0400 and Waverider and the Open 40s follow this evening.
Cornwall Playing for Success is benefitting from the light airs and is back in the race with less than 120 miles to go to Lerwick.
Ruffian started after retrieving her sunken rudder. Meanwhile Kenmore still hope to repair her mast and continue in the next couple of days.
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| Lerwick noon Thursday 22th June |
Hayai joins the other Open 40s in Lerwick, while Paradox has just a few hours to go to arrival.
Meanwhile most of the boats that were in Castlebay have now started leg 3. Cornwall PfS has also restarted after completing repairs.
Still left in Castlebay are Knights Challenge (waiting for their start time of 1400), Kenmore (repairing their mast), and Ruffian (rudder damage). Vijaya (mast damage) and Suroma (sail damage) have decided to retire.
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| 21 Jun 06 |
10 days into the race, the fleet have experienced everything from flat calm to gale force winds.
The fast multihull class have taken advantage of the enforced absence of Cornwall Playing for Success and Kenmore, with Alacrity taking first place in Lerwick followed by Waverider with Paradox still to finish in third.
The Open 40s still have the closest race with Immo BIB finishing just 4 minutes ahead of La Promesse after 10 days of racing! Roaring Again finished just 1 hour behind and Hayai has still to finish.
In Class 1 Hooligan V has the lead from Jalfrezi, Cheetah and Jager with the others in the class still to leave Castlebay.
Class 2, Class 3 and the multihull Class 6 boats remain in Castlebay awaiting either a lull in the weather or their restart time. All are expected to restart on Thursday as the weather abates.
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| 21 Jun 06 |
Strong winds continue to take their toll
Vijaya suffered damage, but no injuries, and is returning to Barra under storm foresail. They are being escorted back in by the Barra lifeboat and expect to make harbour around 1400.
Jager has stopped in Village Bay in St Kilda to "tidy up and have a rest".
Meanwhile those remaining in Castlebay have to decide when to restart. There appears to be a lull today, and Friday is forecast to have little wind at all!
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| 21 Jun 06 |
Alacrity first to Lerwick.
Alacrity crossed the line at Lerwick at 0406hrs.
After losing Kenwood north of Barra in a squall they were becalmed off St Kilda for 9 hours.
At 2100hrs Tuesday the wind picked up and they reached to Muckle Flugga making 16-20 knots. Rounded MF into a strong 40 knot headwind from the SE. The headsail exploded between 2nd and 3rd reefs North of Skerries after which they snapped their bowsprit in a 15ft wave.
They are now in the good hands of the Lerwick Boating Club while the Race Office will contact sailmakers and welders to fix their problems.
Meanwhile Waverider has stayed to the north, avoiding the weather experienced by Alacrity, and is now headed for Lerwick.
The Open 40s continue their contest for class honours. They are still just miles apart approaching Muckle Flugga and look set to catch Waverider returning from the north east.
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| 20 Jun 06 |
Ruffian drags anchor in gale.
The Barra Lifeboat responded in minutes to Ruffian's call for assistance when she dragged her anchor and was blown on to the shore. The Lifeboat left Knights Challenge which she had been escorting and went to pull Ruffian off the shore. Pete Goss & Paul Larsen, who happened to be in the RNLI Boathouse at the time, joined the crew of the RNLI RIB and helped to put line aboard and to re anchor Ruffian. The time from the initial call for assistance to being towed off the shore was 7 minutes!
A very big thank you Barra RNLI.
The wind has now veered to the west and the anchorage is again calm.
Some of those due to leave today have decided to enjoy again the hospitality of Barra and review the weather chart, which predicts another force 9, again tomorrow before making a decision when to leave. Zelda, Chikara, Wolfies Toy, Octavus, Tzigane & Psipsina are in this group.
Crews are enjoying each others company and supporting each other and will probably make a joint decision on when to re-start.
The race really does start at Barra for these competitors.
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| 20 Jun 06 |
Open 40s racing close together.
Immo BIB (Roaring Forty), Roaring Again and La Promesse are having an exciting race!
JanKees Lampe on La Promesse reported that passing Sula Sgeir at 1400 he had Roaring Again on his beam and Immo BIB less than 2 miles ahead.
At 1800 the distance between Promesse and Immo remains 2 miles - great racing!
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| Castlebay noon Tuesday 20th June |
Castlebay has lived up to its reputation; at 2200 last evening the setting sun highlighted the golden beaches of Vatersay and the green brown slopes of the surrounding highland and everyone was admiring the serene beauty of the bay.
This morning a force 7/8 gale accommpanied by heavy rain is forcing crews to think about the safety of their moorings.
Some boats have moved nearer to Vatersay in an attemp to gain more sheltered water. Unfortunately Castlebay is most exposed to a southerly wind and today's gale is from the south east and has occurred at a time when there is the greatest number of boats at anchor or moored.
The Castlebay Lifeboat has responded to a "pan pan" from Knights Challenge when off Barra Head and accompanied the yacht to Castlebay where they finished without damage or injury.
The wind, which is expected to last for a couple of days, has not prevented four boats leaving for Lerwick this morning, Carole & Bob Begg's Cheetah among them.
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| 20 Jun 06 |
Leading multihulls half-way to Lerwick.
With Cornwall PfS and Kenmore out for repairs, the remaining fast multihulls are enjoying their new positions.
With about 220 miles to go to Lerwick, Alacrity leads with Waverider and Paradox following.
The Open 40s are also doing well. La Promesse reported the wind as south force 7 as they enjoyed their breakfast while rounding St Kilda at 0515 this morning. Roaring Again leads the group with Immo BIB in second place.
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| 20 Jun 06 |
A busy night in Castlebay.
Kenmore arrived safely to join Cornwall PfS on the "put in for repairs" list.
Nine boats completed their second leg from Kinsale. This leaves only Knight's Challenge to arrive.
The later arrivals will be quite happy to shelter in Castlebay while the stronger winds forecast for the next 24 hours to the south of Barra blow themselves out.
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| Castlebay 2000 Monday 19th June |
The twenty boats now moored in Castlebay are enjoying the first sunshine the island has seen for a week.
Pete Goss and Paul Larson are carrying out their repairs having sailed in at great speed during the afternoon; the other crews are drying out in the sunshine enjoying "Happy Hour".
Kenmore is close to Barra Head and should be able to berth this evening near Cornwall Playing for Success and get some moral support.
Sadly, the clouds are already building to the North and crews due to leave tomorrow are looking at various weather forecasts to see if they can find one that they like, but all seem to indicate a strong blow for Wednesday.
William Mumford and Malcolm Dickinson with Flair II have just finished bringing the total up twenty-one, not including Cornwall PfS.
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| 19 Jun 06 |
Cornwall PfS in Castlebay..
Cornwall PfS has made it back to Barra.
Pete and Paul have the makers flying out to assist in the repairs which they hope will only be minor.
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| 19 Jun 06 |
Kenmore dismasted.
Nick Bubb and Pete Cumming in Kenmore lost their rig this morning while about 45 miles south west of St Kilda.
The broken mast has been recovered without injury or further damage and they are now proceeding under jury rig to harbour.
Kenmore is making 4-5 kts under a combination of sail and outboard and they hope to be in Barra in about 10 hours.
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| 19 Jun 06 |
Cornwall Playing for Success puts in for repairs
Pete and Paul experienced a problem with their main bulkhead early this morning. In view of the forecast weather conditions they decided to head for land and check the situation. They have made good time and are now running south inside the Outer Hebrides.
They hope to make the necessary repairs and return to the race.
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| 18 Jun 06 |
Cornwall Playing for Success starts late
Cornwall PfS crossed the Castlebay start line 38 minutes late having missed her 1115 start time because of water in the outboard engine.
Although leaving in good time from the mooring, the two miles to the start line in little to no wind proved difficult.
Skippers of other multihulls due to leave Castlebay around midnight smiled saying "Oh, that was a pity!", and looked forward to an increase in wind strength tonight.
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| 18 Jun 06 |
Cheetah of Plymouth and Jalfrezi finish leg 2
Carole & Bob Beggs sailing Cheetah are enjoying a very quiet start to the second week of their honeymoon as they make their way, in the company of Jalfrezi, over the last five miles towards the Castlebay finish line.
A suggestion from the Castlebay Race Officers to Garath Thomas in Jalfrezi that a little exercise with the paddles would help progress was greeted with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.
The very light easterly wind is also frustrating for Pete Goss & Paul Larsen going the other way to the line to start the third leg at 1115.
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| 17 Jun 06 |
Roaring Again, ImmoBIB and La Promesse in Castlebay
Roaring Again, Hans Plas & Bart Boosman, crossed the Castlebay finish line at 1503 after enjoying an afternoon's sailing at 24 knots to establish their position at the front of the monohull fleet, ahead of the other two Open 40s, Immo Bib. and La Promesse. Only two hours six minutes separate these three boats on corrected time.
In the earlier hours of the morning the 30ft Kenmore sailed through the thick fog to finish ahead of Rex Conn's Alacrity which was hindered by a split spinnaker.
Nigel Passmore & Angus McPhie's Waverider, which had been keeping pace with Kenmore as they gybed downwind off the coast of Northern Ireland, lagging a little after ripping a headsail in a gybe, became the fourth multihull to arrive.
At the happy hour enjoyed at the Castlebay Hotel all agreed that the SRB&I was the best of races; being both more enjoyable and more demanding than transocean events.
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| Castlebay noon Saturday 17th June |
The First Week, a tale of three fleets and two races.
The "Round Britain" of 2006 has been blessed, and cursed, by light and variable winds - sent to delight some and horrify others.
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| 17 Jun 06 |
Kenmore, Alacrity and Waverider arrive in Castlebay
Kenmore arrived just 9 minutes ahead of Alacrity having overtaken them on leg 2.
Waverider completed the early morning arrivals two hours later; but have they done enough to hold off Paradox on corrected time?
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| 16 Jun 06 |
Knight's Challenge restarts
Knights Challenge left Kinsale this evening, to complete the fleet departure from Ireland. Sailed by the intrepid ladies, Janet Sainsbury and Carole Sunter, the Sigma 33 OD yacht crossed the re-start line at the Bulman Rock buoy and was soon on her way to the west. Just after nine pm they put in a "Goodnight call" to Peter Taylor, Race Director in Plymouth and reported a westerly wind of twenty-one knots. "We are going well at six knots, but it is a beat again" said Janet. Both are members of the Channel Sailing Club in Epsom, Surrey. We wish them a fast safe passage to Barra in the Western Isles.
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| 16 Jun 06 |
Races within a race
As winds increase to give better sailing off the west coast of Ireland there are some interesting "races within a race" developing.
Two J109s, Zelda (Michael Ewart-Smith and Ben Richards) and Red Arrow (Marcus Wilson/Richard Steel) battle it out for the lead in Class 2. ChillOut, the third J109, was over 5 hrs behind these two before her retirement.
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| 16 Jun 06 |
ChillOut! retires
Race Control at the Royal Western Yacht Club in Plymouth received the first message of a retirement at 1450 BST today.
ChillOut, a Dutch J109 class yacht sailed by Henk Bulthuis and Danny Kronenburg telephoned to confirm their retirement. One day after leaving Kinsale for Barra in the Outer Hebrides, and having experienced fickle light winds for yet another day, the decision was taken to abandon the race. Henk did not report any mishap or damage to the boat, and said that their plan would be to turn for the English Channel again and sail directly to Holland.
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| Castlebay noon Friday 16th June |
Pete Goss & Paul Larsen sailed Cornwall Sailing for Success into Castlebay at 1115 on Friday to claim line honours for the second leg of the race.
The Castlebay Lifeboat exercising in the area of the finish line had difficulty in locating them in the the thick sea mist which had reduced visibility to 1/4 mile, but found them & escorted them in.
After sailing on to a mooring & checking the boat they swam ashore towing their dinghy containing their kit, to deliver a soggy declaration form to the Race Office based at the Castlebay Hotel. They were still wearing their dry suits!
The three chasing multihulls, Alacrity, Kenmore & Waverider are off Northern Ireland & some 100 miles astern. This should enable Pete & Paul to further extend their lead of 7 hours established in the first leg.
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| 15 Jun 06 |
Cornwall Playing for Success increases lead
By 8:00pm Pete Goss and Paul Larsen were about 80 miles ahead of the chasing group of Alacrity, Waverider and Kenmore.
All were increasing speed in the strengthening southwesterly breeze leaving those yet to pass Fastnet well behind.
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| Kinsale noon Thursday 15th June |
The leading boats are experiencing better winds to the west of Ireland while those starting this morning have been sailing out into almost calm conditions.
Vijaya has adopted Pete Goss' tactics and by rowing for over two hours managed to pass Red Arrow who started 34 minutes earlier!
Those still waiting to start can only hope for an increase in winds to save them the necessity of rowing.
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| 15 Jun 06 |
Cornwall Playing for Success rounds the SW of Ireland
At 8:00am Pete Goss and Paul Larsen are headed north along the west coast of Ireland with Alacrity, Waverider and Kenmore in pursuit but not so far making any impression on Cornwall PfS lead.
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| 14 Jun 06 |
Knight's Challenge finishes leg 1
Knight's Challenge (Janet Sainsbury and Carol Sunter) arrived in Kinsale at 7:30 on Wednesday evening to complete the finishers of leg 1.
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| 14 Jun 06 |
Alacrity, Waverider and Kenmore start leg 2
The rest of the fast multihull class are leaving the festivities and rejoining the chase with Pete and Paul now 30 miles into the second leg.
Only Knight's Challenge remains to complete leg 1.
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| Kinsale noon Wednesday 14th June |
While thirtytwo boat crews enjoy the break in Kinsale, Cornwall Playing for Success is already one hour into the second leg and the last seven still work the light winds to complete the first leg.
General consensus amongst the crews was that the first leg was slow but enjoyable and better wind strength/direction would bring a change in fortunes.
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| 14 Jun 06 |
Cornwall Playing for Success starts leg 2
Pete Goss and Paul Larsen started leg 2 at 11am this morning after their compulsory 48-hour stopover in Kinsale.
As they left the last seven boats in the fleet were still making their way to Kinsale to finish leg 1.
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| Kinsale noon Tuesday 13th June |
This has been a slow race so far with fourteen boats of the forty strong fleet now in Kinsale.
One exception was the amazingly quick arrival of Pete Goss and Paul Larsen sailing 'Cornwall Playing for Success' which crossed the finish line at 11:00 am on Monday with an elapsed time of 23 hours.
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| 13 Jun 06 |
Cheetah of Plymouth arrives in Kinsale
Cheetah (Carole and Bob Beggs) became the fourteenth finisher of the first leg when they arrived in Kinsale at 10:51 this morning.
Over half the Shetland Round Britain and Ireland fleet are still struggling against light headwinds to complete the last few miles to port.
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| 12 Jun 06 |
Three more multihulls arrive at Kinsale
Alacrity, Waverider and Kenmore have joined Cornwall Playing for Success in Kinsale.
Rex Conn and Etiene Giroire in Alacrity came in second, some seven hours after Pete Goss.
Waverider (Nigel Passmore and Angus McPhie) crossed the line third but were displaced into fourth place on corrected time by Nick Bubb and Pete Cumming on Kenmore who finished 20 minutes later.
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| 12 Jun 06 |
Cornwall Playing for Success arrives at Kinsale
Pete Goss and Paul Larsen arrived at Kinsale at 1059 on Monday morning!
They have established a considerable lead over the leaders of the rest of the fleet who are expected to arrive Monday evening.
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| 11 Jun 06 |
Shetland RB&I 2006 started today.
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston fired his own cannon to start the Royal Western Yacht Club's Shetland Round Britain and Ireland Race; the 2006 race being the 40th anniversary of the event.
The early morning mist lifted and the race started in ideal conditions with a southerly 10kt breeze in bright sunshine.
Spectators saw Waverider, a local boat, crewed by Nigel Passmore and Angus McPhie lead the multihull fleet at the start closely followed by Pete Goss' Cornwall Playing for Success.
Looking alert after celebrating their marriage the previous day and starting their honeymoon, Carole and Bob Beggs raised a loud cheer from the spectators on board the start vessel HMS Bangor.
After clearing Plymouth breakwater Pete Goss' Cornwall PfS took a ommanding lead towards the Eddystone Lighthouse on the first leg of their passage to Kinsale.
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