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When the going gets tough

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Race Updates 2009
Written by Louay Habib   
Monday, 10 August 2009 19:11

DAY TWO 10th AUG. - 2000 GMT Rolex Fastnet Race update

Tough conditions on board Fair Do's VII (John Greenland)The weather turned pretty cold and nasty this afternoon for the 300 boats in the 2009 Rolex Fastnet Race, especially after the sunshine start in the Solent. The seas are kicking up and the fine rain is soaking the sailors watch after watch.

Not all of them can win, for most of them, just completing the course is the goal and it is a massive achievement but keeping going, is as much an achievement, as winning the historic Rolex Fastnet Race. Focusing on smaller goals can be the way to better performance.

Mike Broughton, navigator on Rogers 46, Varuna:
"We were anchored off Portland for a few hours which means we are really not in the hunt which is tough to take because we could have sailed the boat better but we have been clawing back a few places. Even though we have a fair bit to do, we are currently just five miles off The Lizard and working as hard as we can, I can just about see the land through the gloom, drizzle and swell. But we are not complaining, spirits are good on board, bolstered by the fact that we are ahead of our sistership, Yeoman. The watch system is keeping tiredness at bay and we are as pushing hard as ever."

As the second day draws to a close in this year's Rolex Fastnet Race, many of the competitors will have little or no experience of spending two nights at sea; Down below will be pretty damp and often becoming a bit of a mess. Fatigue starts to set in, especially as the body is still used to life on land. Also the colder, damper weather saps energy, it is tough, hanging off the rail, banging upwind hour after hour and for most of them this will not be the last night, the reality is that over half the fleet will have at least two more days at sea, in conditions which you wouldn’t want to be in.

You may be wondering, why on earth do people do the Rolex Fastnet Race? The answer is that just to finish it requires, dedication, team work and hard bloody graft but the personal sense of achievement is worth it.