Phesheya-Racing Qualification Nick Leggatt 16 Apr Phesheya-Racing set sail on her qualification passage on 07 April with a moderate northerly wind blowing and a forecast of high pressure for the coming days. We reached out of the Solent under full main, gennaker and staysail. As we approached the Needles Fairway Buoy the wind backed and we changed down to the solent jib but were still able to make rapid progress in a south westerly direction down the Channel. Our first afternoon and evening at sea we enjoyed some fast but easy sailing in remarkably steady winds and by sunrise we were a few miles south of Lizard Point... According to the logbook we were just south of Lizard Point at 06h00, 07h00, 08h00, 09h00, 10h00, 11h00 and 12h00!!! The centre of the high pressure clearly passed directly over us during the morning of the 08 April! It was quite a trying time but in the early afternoon the wind started to fill in again and by sunset we were off Wolf Rock preparing to hoist the gennaker as we sailed anti-clockwise around the Isles of Scilly. The downwind sailing didn’t last long though and by the time we reached Bishop Rock we were back to full upwind mode, beating into a moderate easterly wind. All day the wind remained out of the east but it was quite steady and with the flat sea it made for ideal conditions to calibrate the instruments and check the trim of the boat. By mid-afternoon we had covered 300 miles, the minimum required to qualify for the Shetland Round Britain and Ireland Race, but with the wind still blowing steadily out of the east we opted to go on a long port tack across the Channel and around Guernsey. We threaded our way through the shipping and fishing boats in the darkness and rounded Guernsey in the morning. We mistimed the tides for passing to the east of Alderney so took the rocky Ortac Channel to the west of the island, passing the gannet colony on Ortac Rock, amidst a mass of swirling overfalls. Our return passage, northwards across the Channel towards the Isle of Wight was upwind on the starboard tack in flat seas and we made landfall late in the afternoon, just as the wind died away yet again...
	Kindness prepares Nick Booth 3 Apr Well with the race fast approaching it is time for the jobs list to start shrinking, however as always with these things nothing goes smoothly. Because Kindness is also a cruising boat and we have been suffering from poor performance under power we took the advise of the nice man at the boat show and bought a shiny new Brunton Autoprop, I've used them before and love them, anyway what with one thing and another it was only fitted a couple of weeks ago when Kindness was lifted for an anode change. ...more
	Fujifilm qualifies 28 Mar Co-Skipper's bLog #1 ('The salad servers take a fast and cold 300 mile qualifying trip around the Channel) I was just a bit nervous about turning up at Queen Anne's Battery Marina, Plymouth, on Friday afternoon to meet up with Alex on Fujifilm. Why? ...more
	Three months to go! Peter Taylor, Race Director 2nd Mar 10 The Epic Shetland Round Britain & Ireland Race will start in three months on 6th June from Plymouth Sound. ...more
	Strontium Dog qualifies 28 Feb Andy Fennell and Simon Redding qualify for the Round Britain Race 2010 Mission: sail 300 miles between 4 points in straight lines without stopping....in February because the co-skipper is off to work in Hong Kong for the next few months and time will be short on his return before the race itself...(he's due to fly monday!) ...more
	Big fleet coming! Peter Taylor, Race Director 2nd Feb 10 Entries closed yesterday at the Royal Western Yacht Club for edition twelve of this ever popular event, the Round Britain & Ireland Race. As usual it has attracted the eclectic mix of mariners from all ages and walks of life. Their crafts range from “state of the art” racing boats to the great majority of corinthian club racers for whom it was originally conceived. ...more
	Help Support the Round Britain and Ireland Race! Once again we are producing a Race Programme providing details of the race and its history, and the competitors and boats. We are offering our supporters the opportunity to advertise in the programme details and booking form
	Six Months to the Start! Peter Taylor, Race Director 6th Dec 09 Christmas has come early to the “Royal Western” in the form of a bumper line-up for next year’s big event. We and our Sponsors, the Shetland Islands Council, are delighted with the response from competitors which followed the “Race Launch” held here in September. ...more
	Kipper Qualifying Attempt One John Corden 16th Nov 09 Kipper crossed the Royal Lymington YC starting line at 0933 on Tuesday 10th November. The wind was light SE and forecast to gradually veer and increase over the course of the next 72 hours. Our plan was to head West and to round a waypoint just south of The Lizard and to return. If the forecast were to pan out, then it should’ve been a relatively simple 300 mile passage. Unfortunately ... ...more
	SHETLAND ROUND BRITAIN & IRELAND RACE 2010 Race Director’s Note 15th Nov 09 This is a short note which covers three subjects. ISAF Special Regulations for Cat 2 races ... London Boat Show ... Notice of Race Amendment No2. ...more
	SHETLAND ROUND BRITAIN & IRELAND RACE 2010 Race Director’s Note 22nd Oct 09 Welcome all of you, old hands and new, to the Round Britain Club which you have joined or are about to join. I am Peter Taylor your Race Director, once again at your service from now until some time in June next year when you complete the epic circumnavigation! ...more