Blogs 2009

Leaden skies and drizzle bring back memories of living on Dartmoor! We are rolling down wind under the big spinnaker. Eyes are on the estimated finish time. The loser buys the first round if we arrive in time (we should). Actually, one round may be all that we manage tonight.Food stocks are holding out well - I only remembered the apples and oranges. We have only used about 180 litres of water so, as a reward for good behavior, I have turned the electric fresh water pump back on. Battery management has also required much less engine hours since we stopped running the fridge all day. When we did, though, stuff stayed frozen at the bottom of the fridge for 3 days.Must finish now. Chainsaw watch is on deck and cabin fever watch are turned in so skipper/mother watch must scrub out the heads!

GBR8764T Bucaneer. It's all over. In at 0301, but two big questionsremain....did we beat Skywave on corrected time and are there beerswaiting for us at the harbour? Bucaneer Blogger, for the last time, Out.

What a difference a day makes! After days close hauled or drifting, a fast reach across the Celtic Sea. 150 miles in 23 hours has to be good for a cruising 31 footer. We are now on the final stretch with a sweepstake for the finishing time. Susie's food is still receiving rave reviews.

GBR8764T Bucaneer. Get the champagne on ice... Bucaneer is inbound,downwind from lizard, surfing down the waves and passing everyone who dearchallenge us. Crew is well and ready for the excellent reception awaitingus! (in case you want to come and meet us and hand us all our prizespersonally we reckon our eta is 0300 alongside)

CREW:

JAMES BORET

JOLYON PRICE

MARK GOODING

JAMES HEPORN

JONTY EDWARDS

STEVE CALDWELL

Start: 12:40 09/08/09

• Start – clear air, stayed Island side for best tide. Blew Spinnaker – repaired onboard
• Went through Hurst, taking early advantage beating after 180 degree wind shift
• Early advantage underlined with a bold early move from Needles Channel across Dolphin Banks
• Continued driving forward for tidal gate at Portland Bill, wind dropped off dramatically, kedged off Shambles and ended up missing tidal gate.
• Dropped from 1st in class and 12th overall, moving down fleet to 31st in class
• Mounts Bay – attempted tactical manoeuvre to regain lost advantage but wind suddenly dropped off negating any potential gains
• Rounded Lands End heading across to Scilly Isles chasing fleet
• Tactical decision taken to head due 270 degrees to gain big lift from forecasted Westerlies which would have taken Mardy Gras on a lifting port tack all the way across to Fastnet Rock in an attempt to regain lost advantage over fleet
• 02:00 11/08/09 – luff of blade ripped apart meaning that storm trysail would be required if #2 became overpowered.
• 04:00 11/08/09 going well – MIGHTY BANG! – Lost section of rod rigging over port side ripping a baton out of the mainsail in the process
• Quickly switched to starboard tack to save rig, continued racing until daybreak
• At first light Mardy Gras was hove to and the crew brought out the lethal weapon, Jim Hepburn, 16 stone of prime Monmouthsire Beef – winched up the mast in a tough swell in the Celtic Sea to erect a jury rig
• After 4 hrs of running repairs Mardy Gras regained course for Fastnet Rock.
• At 07:30 13/08/09 Mardy Gras rounded Fastnet Rock, the elation of milestone completed was swiftly dampened by the news that the course of 125 degrees meant a continuation of the 4-day beat thus far endured
• Tactical decision to stay West to pick up forecasted Westerlies was this time vindicated. After a lengthy spell in light airs, the wind filled and we enjoyed a fun reach (rather than beating) to the Bishop
• 5 miles due West of Scilly Isles – electrical and navigational instrument failure. Endeavoured to start engine, no luck.
• Decision taken to split crew, 3 to continue racing and 3 to resolve mechanical and electrical issues.
• Solution: tried cranking engine with hand pull cord but more torque required so no joy. Moved onto creating a mechanical inertia starter motor – this was it make or break time!
• A spare lightweight sheet was wound round a makeshift extension to the engine’s crankshaft. This was led up out of the companionway through a block stropped to the boom and then aft to another on the backstay. A line of three buckets were tied on to the free end and thrown over the transom, pulling the sheet through the pulleys and generating the required torque to spin the engine back into life. Engine on, systems on. race on.
• Engine back on electrical systems up and running and the good girl Mardy Gras is still racing with a buoyant crew…

Friday 14 August - 0900 Boat time

Run, baby, run!

Have had the most fantastic spinnaker run from 1am this morning and we'restill going strong!

Yes! We made it round the Lizard at 1pm, after some good helming andtrimming to make sure we could clear the actual point and as we bore away tohead straight for Plymouth (yeah baby!), decided we needed to sail a bit toodeep after all.

We were all set for a spi change, so in no time we had the symmetrical up onthe pole.

As needed to get up the mast to change spi halyards over, quickly took thecamera with me: this is what it looks like from up top (about 26m above thewater)!

Bit bouncy up there when you're under spinnaker and I've got the bruises toproof it. Must admit, I do bruise a bit easily. Actually always end up withsome inexplicable bruises after racing, even when I cannot remember havingbumped into anything.

Have overtaken a few more boats on this run, and even though some threatenedto catch us again when the wind went light again for a while, have managedto stay ahead. Sure we can catch some more before we get there!

We're making great great progress at the moment, charging on towardsPlymouth at speeds between 8kn and 11.2kn (record for Will and Charles,congrats!). Must say the other watch did brilliant getting us around theLizard, so congrats too!

But let's not get ahead of ourselves; 31nm to go the finish! If the windkeeps up and we keep on going as we do, hope to make it just before a latedinner.

Fingers crossed everybody!

Marlies

Star Chaser GBR3205L

www.starchasersailing.com

Bucaneer Blog. What's that i hear? RORC are going to lay on a specialarrival party in the early hours of saturday for all the yachts late in....oh and free beers...how very kind! Spinaker now being worked hard by thecrew to ensure we are there for those beers...

Bucaneer. The curse of bucaneer continues...how is it we have gone aroundthe rock and are still beating? Why is it south east when forecast northwest? Throw someone overboard!

bucaneer Blog. Hurray we are rounding bishop's rock which means we're onthe last leg....bring on plymouth! Of course because so many boats arestill on the water i'm sure RORC Will delay the prize giving and partytill tomorrow......pleeease! I think Dave (the galley slave) will have abreakdown if he finds there is no party after 6 days at sea! Games hit anall time low last night as we played 'eye spy' in dense fog!

alrithen from the classic yacht dasher, yippee the liz is behind us! We'rein pasty land. 'leroy' is pacein the decks, he worried there isnt enough homeward boundingoin on, somethin bout make n mend on friday afternoons... Or is hehungry....Rest of us happy that its a straight line to finish-ish. Well done to allthose that hav finished we tryin our hardest to b there for the do tocheer u on! Trim trim trim said the doc...

Well we have continued the theme of 'never a dull moment' aboard bluQube.With just a few hours to go before we rounded the Fastnet and for thesecond time in one day we were approached at speed by a motor vessel.Upon closer inspection it turned out to be the RNLI which suprised us alittle as as far as we were concerned we had no requirement for rescue atthat particular moment in time, (had the famous rock been any further awayI think we would have volunteered quite happily to take part in a rescuedrill!) Rather than seeing some freindly faces we were greeted by a sterntelling off for having broadcast on channel 16 all day blocking out anyother users. We were of course blissfully unaware of this and it turnedout to be a gremlin in the on deck vhf which has remained off ever since.We apologized profusely and have since been trying to recall what we mayhave been chatting about that everyone else in the vicinity would havebeen a party too...oops So we eventually rounded the rock and were pleased to still see a few navlights behind us! We celebrated in style with a glass of Babycham each,(pure class), and set to work overhauling the boats that we couldn't catchupwind. By Pantaneous buoy we had already caught 3 yachts and excitedlyhoisted the spinnaker planning a night of overtaking. With spinnakerraised to its full glory it flew for all of 5 minutes before the windsimply vanished - not a sausage. So that was the end of that and the jibwent back up. After several minutes of doing graceful 360 degree drifts asmall breeze line moved in, along with a ship that had clearly given uptrying to figure out which way we were going and had opted for full steamahead. He had just passed when our lovely auto helm decided that itenjoyed seeing the Fastnet rock so much that we should go straight backandsee it again and with that we almost did! Hard to starboard we went andhard to starboard we stayed. The ram attached to the rudder was notplanning on giving up this fight, so once again we had to watch boats sailaway as we fixed the problem. Finally at 3am this morning we launced the kite again and had a greatblast reach past the Scilly Isles which rejuvinated hope that we might getin tonight and have that steak and cold beer we have been longing for. Ifnothing else the pong of damp boat, damp sails and damp girlis quite rifeon board. Hannah even announced this morning that she did not recallhaving removed her boots since Monday whilst Katie wins the sticker fromthe dentist award for having done her teeth twice since the start! (moretimes than Hannah!) So we now find ourselves amongst lots of otherspinnakers trundling along towards the Lizard and thoroughly enjoyingFINALLY sailing downwind!

Still 130 nm short of Bishops. Regret will not be at the party to night.Congratulations to the winners, all competitors and RORC. Have a greatparty tonight. Regards Freebird

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 from the South-west which means that all the yacht 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 nefore the rest of the fleet start to catch them up. Everyone is willing them on down here in Plymouth and the Puma crwe 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 cres faces this morning. They have moved up to 26th place and have wuite 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.

Two years of careful planning paid off as we sailed over the start line in the good boat Incisor of Wight with spinnaker billowing in front of us. Nature still has a habit of throwing a few googlies in your direction as the eagerly anticipated winds disappeared in a patch of windless Solent water. Still, it gives Gerard the opportunity to display the “Deliver Quality Data” banner and give the crew a riveting insight into the many benefits of designing quality into their Business Intelligence Solutions.

The fleet headed south leaving us behind and it seemed to take forever to reach Portland bill. Still the crew are in good spirits, finally the breeze kicks in and away we go.

We cleared Lands End early Tue and the Celtic Sea threw in its usual veering westerly’s giving us all a hard night on watch with the occasional wave sweeping the deck. Boot rustlers struck in the dark of night culminating in that seasoned sea dog Crampsie attempting to push his size 10s into Eileen’s petite boots.

The crew’s spirit never wavered. We know that pain is temporary, it may last a minute, an hour, a day, a month even a year however it is eventually replaced by something else. If we quit it lasts for ever.

A pod of 15 dolphins played around our bow as we passed the Seven Heads gas fields, and they guided us toward the Old Head of Kinsale, with the green fields of Cork being illuminated by a ray off sunshine. Our recently press ganged veterans, able seamen Long and McAleavy, provided invaluable local knowledge on Baltimore, Sherkin and Cape Clear.

In the 1600s, Moroccan pirates captured the population of Baltimore and sold them into slavery accounting for sightings of red haired locals in North Africa.

Our naked chef McAleavy, whose baggage was lost by Aer Lingus who subsequently redeemed themselves by couriering the bag to Cowes just in time for the start, whipped up a Spanish Omelette to sustain the crew. This was fitting as the Spanish fought at the battle of Kinsale in preparation for invading England. O’Neil brought reinforcements from the north - much as our present day crew brought in bos’n Nugent whose mum’s name is O’Neil.

We past the Stag rock to starboard where the Kowloon Bridge sank in the early 80s and was subsequently sold for scrap for a £1. This was a sister ship to the Derbyshire which later broke up in the South China Seas.

We rounded the Fastnet which emerged from the Celtic mists, acknowledging the sailors who have raced past this point in the past then toasted our efforts with champagne.

Our local crew provided an update on the sinking of the Lusitania off the Old Head of Kinsale.

Further up the coast, on Valencia Island, slates are again being quarried for the roof of the houses of parliament, hopefully being paid for this time!

Our navigator Landi, brought us directly to the Fastnet to the sound of the fog-horn. Skipper “Cap’n Jack” Sutton went weak at the knees at the prospect of rescuing a damsel in distress. Chief project manager Burnie brought out the Heron Corp luminescent jackets in a belated attempt to appease GMR back on the Marylebone Road. GMR has a tower to build and poncing around on the Celtic Sea is not high on his priorities.

Our Belgian Pierre “Jean Claude van Damme” begins to dream of the lassies awaiting him with a very, very warm welcome back in Plymouth. Rob, “the mariner” beat the previous all time decibel record with his nightime symphonies whilst keeping us regaled with an endless stream of entertaining stories during the day.

We are still trying to get to the bottom of his acquaintance with Ms C Gull and stories of “gunnell bum”.

Eileen is keeping up with the never ending task of keeping the cockpit tidy and keeping our spinnaker halyards running nice and free.

First mate O’Connell keeps the crew on their toes and is only mildly disappointed that his hard won record of 9.5 knots is eventually overtaken by “Pugwash” Crampsie on 10 followed by Damians 11. The crew persuade Damian that it is traditional for the record holder to buy-the-beers in a similar fashion to making a hole-in-one. Hopefully his trusting nature will last as long as the first pub in Plymouth.

A good wind angle has us making good time back down the Celtic Sea on our way back down to Bishops Rock.

Mary’s food has sustained us over many weekends and the Madeira cake goes down very well. There is some more sailing to be done before the crew will taste the finest fish, chips and mushy peas that Plymouth has too offer,

Crew’s spirits are soaring, dreaming of loved ones, a nice pint, not having to listen to crews snoring and wind breaking or listen to the herd of elephants that have lived on the coach roof.

Nothing can stop us now, were on our way home.

Funny thing isn’t it! No matter how much planning, how many sleepless nights go into the perfect campaign, how many bottles of wine were drunk while compiling the perfect passage plan, mother nature calls. Well, to be more exact, nature calls! No matter how hard you try you just cant prevent someone putting way too much toilet paper down the heads – just as well we have the builder’s contingent on board to sort it out.

More later ….

Sleigh ride!!!!

Yippee!!!! Yihaa!!!! Have had the spinnaker up since 0100 this morning!

Got woken up with the message that the wind had turned and we were on for the spi back up, great way to wake, I must tell you.

Quickly the gear went up and with some great team work, we had the asymmetrical flying in no time and were doing 8.5 knots in only 11-13 knots of apparent breeze! Yippee, that’s what we want! We’re having our sleigh ride and boy, are we enjoying it!

Ever since been flying across the water, with the occasional slowing down when the wind would drop a bit, but mostly speeding along great! Doing 8 kn throught the water at the moment in 8 knots of (apparent) breeze! Smiles all around. Pretty damn good if you ask me!

Passed Bishops Rock and the Scilly Isles between 6 and 7 this morning and now on our way to Lizzard Point. Got the tide with us, so SOG (speed over ground) is a bit more even, and we’re making good speed towards the finish.

Crossing our fingers for the forecast to be correct as we’d get a little bit more wind even which would just be perfect!

Have also had loads of dolphins on and off during our crossing of Celtic Sea, to the great delight of our crew. We never tire of watching them, just hard to keep the concentration goin while they’re there!

Spirits are high and our spinnaker run has allowed us to take a few more scalps on our way to the finish. Sun might not be shining out there, but it is on the boat, Plymouth here we come!!

Marlies
Star Chaser GBR3205L

Rounded the Rock at 2109, having not seen it until 700 yards. Then, as we passed to the North the weather cleared for the classic photo. As we cleared away a whale breached right astern - it was worth the up wind battle to get here. Now, of course, the race starts part 2!

Thursday 13 August - 1445 Boat time

Rusty the Salty Seadog

Wrrroooeefff!

Hello all, it's Rusty here - I sort of sneaked my way on board Star Chaserwith Martin, to race the famous Rolex Fastnet Race. Just heard from Marliesthat their boat dog, Beasley, who has done a number of Channel crossings andeven a Transatlantic or two (and not on an airplane either!) wasn't evenallowed to come along! Boy, is she going to be in trouble when he hears Iwas here racing!

Anyway, it's been really cool on the boat here, lots of good humans on theboat, and good food too! The only thing I was a bit disappointed about, wasthat I couldn't go outside as I didn't have a lifejacket. Marlies solvedthat for me yesterday though, when we were charging through the Celtic Sea,and made me my very own lifejacket, safety line and clip and all!

So just now I got to go on deck and even got to steer the boat!

Not easy in light winds you know, especially for a little dog like me. Butthey all said I was doing really well for a dog, so I'm very pleased withmyself!

I also make sure crew morale stays well up and keep an eye on them all,making sure they eat and sleep well and stay well behaved.although I am notsure how far that reaches as I suspect some lewd stories are told on deckevery now and then when I am doing important stuff down below. Well, I can'tsave them all, can I?

Just now as I am writing this at the chart table, they mentioned somethingabout the tray.not sure what they meant, but it sure made them all laugh, soit can't be a food tray, can it? Humans are a bit weird from time to time Imust admit!

Last night I got a glimpse of the famous rock as well! Very impressive,there were some low hanging clouds just above the lighthouse and it wasslightly raining, making the beams of light look like eerie otherworldlights; at one point it almost looked like the Batman sign!

Keep on following us and our stories and wish us luck to the finish; I coulddo with a proper walk and some dogs to talk to rather than just the humans!

Wrrrooooefff!

Rusty, the salty seadog

Star Chaser GBR3205L

www.starchasersailing.com

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Breeze and sunshine make a great finish. we are going past Lands End and heading to the finish

The debris on the boat is an attempt to dry things out and get some fresh air into our gear