Monday, 20 August 2007
Safely Home at Last
Watching Bongani slip onto her berth here at Shamrock Quay Marina, our fantastic Rolex Fastnet adventure has come to its conclusion. All yachts are now safely home, all crew on their way back to comfortable beds (which are dry and don’t move!) and probably most back to work for 9am tomorrow morning.
We are incredibly proud of the way our Skippers, crew and yachts performed on this race, with the testing conditions which forced 211 yachts to retire and only 60 yachts to complete the course. No other Sailing School yachts made it past Lands End and many of the yachts crewed solely by professionals did not complete the course either.
The 2007 Rolex Fastnet Race is certainly one which will go down in the history books as one to have raced. Sailing Logic had its fair share of drama right for the off; Exabyte 3 broke her kicker/vang before the start, Jaguar Logic was over the start line early, and Puma Logic were forced into a racing mark by another competitor, and that was only the first hour! The race start in a brisk 25 knots which built steadily into the night and then blew up into a 40 knot gale as the yachts headed south of Portland Bill and down towards the Eddystone Rock area. It was at this point that many of Sailing Logic’s rivals fell by the wayside.
Unfortunately, a broken leg on Puma forced her retirement, where a rig failure affected Lions performance and Pink Panther made a shrewd decision to come in after experiencing more wind than most. After a sleepless night by the shore team after the Puma Logic medical emergency, the yachts continued round the Scillies and into the Irish Sea with the gale not diminishing and the seas getting bigger. Good tactical decisions by all our remaining 4 Skippers saw the yachts making steady progress towards the Fastnet Rock and minimising yacht and sail damage by sailing conservatively at times. After rounding The Rock, a downwind sleigh ride with a more stable platform made sure all crews had some respite from the upwind bouncy conditions, and the sun even came out, what a bonus!
Back ashore, the team of Puma Logic kidnapped Tom from Derriford Hospital so he could be courted by the national press, and also of course, to make sure he had a drink in the beer tent, that was very important! As I type, Tom is undergoing an operation to pin his leg, so all our thoughts are with him at the moment. Exabyte 3 was the first of our fleet to arrive at QAB in Plymouth, and the guys onboard looked terribly pleased with themselves. They had had a good race, with minimal damage or drama, and some were even heard to say they would be back next time!
Jaguar Logic was next to arrive, after a nail biting last few hours trying to catch the evasive Scarlet Oyster, and coming home to a hero’s welcome from the rest of the Sailing Logic crews. Jaguar Logic was the first yacht under 40 feet to have completed the race and the owner of Scarlet Oyster singled Skipper Andy Greenwood out for special praise, commenting that he felt Andy had done an amazing job in a yacht so small! More than 50 people cheered and shouted Jaguar onto her berth, towed all the way from the finish line in Plymouth Sound by Puma Logic and her crew.
Next to arrive in the early hours on Friday morning was Bongani, Skippered by Tim Thubron, leading class for a long time, a torn mainsail meant that the majority of the race was sailed under trysail and headsails only, but still they came in 4th overall in class and 2nd in division, a fantastic achievement.
To conclude the Sailing Logic fleet, was Sidney, the Match 42 who arrived mid-morning on Friday. Again with extensive sail damage, the crews doggedly kept racing right to the end and were justly rewarded with a win in their division of Class 1. Skipper Josh said on arriving ashore…’it wasn’t all that bad really….’. An understatement if ever there was one.
Sailing Logic Results.
Jaguar Logic Class 1 Division B 2nd
Class 1 overall 2nd
Winners of Roger Justice Trophy;
First Sailing school yacht Fastnet Race 18th overall
Sidney Class 1 Division A Winners
Class 1 overall 8th overall
Fastnet Race 44th overall
Bongani Class 2 Division A 2nd
Class 2 overall 4th
Fastnet Race 29th overall
Exabyte 3 Class 0 Division B 9th
Class 0 Overall 10th
Fastnet Race 21st overall
Watching Bongani slip onto her berth here at Shamrock Quay Marina, our fantastic Rolex Fastnet adventure has come to its conclusion. All yachts are now safely home, all crew on their way back to comfortable beds (which are dry and don’t move!) and probably most back to work for 9am tomorrow morning.We are incredibly proud of the way our Skippers, crew and yachts performed on this race, with the testing conditions which forced 211 yachts to retire and only 60 yachts to complete the course. No other Sailing School yachts made it past Lands End and many of the yachts crewed solely by professionals did not complete the course either.
The 2007 Rolex Fastnet Race is certainly one which will go down in the history books as one to have raced. Sailing Logic had its fair share of drama right for the off; Exabyte 3 broke her kicker/vang before the start, Jaguar Logic was over the start line early, and Puma Logic were forced into a racing mark by another competitor, and that was only the first hour! The race start in a brisk 25 knots which built steadily into the night and then blew up into a 40 knot gale as the yachts headed south of Portland Bill and down towards the Eddystone Rock area. It was at this point that many of Sailing Logic’s rivals fell by the wayside.
Unfortunately, a broken leg on Puma forced her retirement, where a rig failure affected Lions performance and Pink Panther made a shrewd decision to come in after experiencing more wind than most. After a sleepless night by the shore team after the Puma Logic medical emergency, the yachts continued round the Scillies and into the Irish Sea with the gale not diminishing and the seas getting bigger. Good tactical decisions by all our remaining 4 Skippers saw the yachts making steady progress towards the Fastnet Rock and minimising yacht and sail damage by sailing conservatively at times. After rounding The Rock, a downwind sleigh ride with a more stable platform made sure all crews had some respite from the upwind bouncy conditions, and the sun even came out, what a bonus!
Back ashore, the team of Puma Logic kidnapped Tom from Derriford Hospital so he could be courted by the national press, and also of course, to make sure he had a drink in the beer tent, that was very important! As I type, Tom is undergoing an operation to pin his leg, so all our thoughts are with him at the moment. Exabyte 3 was the first of our fleet to arrive at QAB in Plymouth, and the guys onboard looked terribly pleased with themselves. They had had a good race, with minimal damage or drama, and some were even heard to say they would be back next time!Jaguar Logic was next to arrive, after a nail biting last few hours trying to catch the evasive Scarlet Oyster, and coming home to a hero’s welcome from the rest of the Sailing Logic crews. Jaguar Logic was the first yacht under 40 feet to have completed the race and the owner of Scarlet Oyster singled Skipper Andy Greenwood out for special praise, commenting that he felt Andy had done an amazing job in a yacht so small! More than 50 people cheered and shouted Jaguar onto her berth, towed all the way from the finish line in Plymouth Sound by Puma Logic and her crew.
Next to arrive in the early hours on Friday morning was Bongani, Skippered by Tim Thubron, leading class for a long time, a torn mainsail meant that the majority of the race was sailed under trysail and headsails only, but still they came in 4th overall in class and 2nd in division, a fantastic achievement.
To conclude the Sailing Logic fleet, was Sidney, the Match 42 who arrived mid-morning on Friday. Again with extensive sail damage, the crews doggedly kept racing right to the end and were justly rewarded with a win in their division of Class 1. Skipper Josh said on arriving ashore…’it wasn’t all that bad really….’. An understatement if ever there was one.
Sailing Logic Results.
Jaguar Logic Class 1 Division B 2ndClass 1 overall 2nd
Winners of Roger Justice Trophy;
First Sailing school yacht Fastnet Race 18th overall
Sidney Class 1 Division A Winners
Class 1 overall 8th overall
Fastnet Race 44th overall
Bongani Class 2 Division A 2nd
Class 2 overall 4th
Fastnet Race 29th overall
Exabyte 3 Class 0 Division B 9th
Class 0 Overall 10th
Fastnet Race 21st overall
posted by Sailing Logic at 10:17 AM
1 Comments:
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Peter said...
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Well done to all the teams and everyone at Sailing Logic. An outstanding set of results undoubtedly achieved through grit, determination and perserverance.
I hope the journey delivering the boats back home was enjoyable, as I was out sailing on Saturday with 32kts and driving rain just in the Solent!
Peter Burwood - 2:50 PM
