Round Britain & Ireland Race News

Struggling round Portland Bill but good wind. ETA 0600 Sun with luck....

Over 1000 miles since Lerwick - all hard on the wind!...

Just met red arrow. Finally moving - fog, fishing boats & fantastic stew last night! Passing home port...

Shambles: failed to lay Bill ? Tack and toasties. Dire straits and stella. At least the rain stopped and tide turned. Racing flat out....

Away on leg 5 at last! ...

Rain tack rain tack reef tack . War ship rain roll warship. Just another day at st cats! On course 6 knots. Time for tea....

Happy hour whilst kedging. Flair rowing but still astern......

Battle of Hastings! Thunder storm caused chaos . Spi down. Reef tack rain dress un reef tea. On course 7 knots. Harry sleeping....

1000: Argh! Flair caught up overnight. Seem 2 b holding off now. Spi, sun, glorious. 1200: Seals to port on Kentish Knock. Flair beyond on other side of bank. Neck & neck......

We're virtually becalmed 6 mls from North Foreland and its VERY hot. We're clearly in for a long drift @ bt speed of 0.8 kts!...

Red Arrow is back on the racetrack after a lovely stopover following our enforced night in Grimsby. Kite up, lovely sunny day. Life is good again....

Sea breeze filling in now after spending the night dodging fishing weights and radio active discharges along the beach trying to get round Dungeness...

Shirts off at 6.30! Dribble along at 3 knots to Dungeness after slow night. Forced east of Goodwins by karmen vortex street in the katabatic flow off the Dover glacier. Near miss with un lit cardinal...

All well. Still got breeze. 8 miles to N forland. Thermals on. Tide with us. So far pretty good. ...

Yes. On the dot. Short spi to south. Now whites to kent knock. 8 knots with tide. How long will it last? ...

Close to Cromer but tide taking us away fm Lowestoft....

Had a slight upset yesterday when our tuff-luff parted during a headsail change... A night in Grimsby and a morning up the mast to get back on the racetrack. Very disappointing - but nearly at Lowesto...

Second place! 1800nm sailed. Round all British isles. That feels good! The last part was the most exciting. We were caught at Start point by Roaring Again. It was their course, close to windward, l...

Quiz: No wind. Log: 1.6 kts. Sog: 0 How? Hint: Depth: 30 m....

Gas run out. Hope the breeze stays. Fighting tide till 2130. Eta Sun am......

20nm off Hartlepool. Close hauled still. Rush...

Coasting along the Norfolk coast and the glorious beaches are deserted except for where there is car access. Thurs night's crash bash seems a million miles from this peaceful scene! We're loking for...

Shorts on. Spi up . Good tide. 1 hour to go. Fever pitch. Tea ....

North of cromer at Haisbro buoy. No wind. Tide against. . Flat calm no eta. 35 miles to go. Could it get worse? Harry is allergic to pigeon shit!...

After 1800 miles of racing, the leading Open 40s have finished within two and a half hours of each other. The race was in fact still up for grabs at midday with boats exchanging places as they drifte...

Alacrity was the first boat to finish the RBI at 10:58 this morning, Friday 30th June. The final leg proved to be the longest for Rex Conn and Etienne Giroire taking 2days 17hrs 6mins to drift from L...

Now there she is! Roaring Again! This is her track! Close to windward in light winds. Now the entirely carbon built boat (light and stiff) pays off. And how! She's like running her engine! Beautiful...

About figures. It's interesting to see how easily you get used to figures at any circumstances. During our surf from Kinsale to Barra we started trimming when speed dropped below 17 knots. Doing 18 ...

How frustrating a night can be (and still is)! No wind! No bloody wind! All metres show us zero's. I filmed it, mmade a photograph of it. All zero's. Except, except for the GPS who showed us a stead...

May the sails of our boat never fall in, and those within never fall out. It's getting more exciting with the hour. We managed to survive and pass along Wight without loosing miles to Roaring Forty...

Yes indeed! We have our own tactical plan. Based on our weather info and interpretation, on progress in combination with the tidal graph and it's currents and based on a good breakfast, some serious t...

Now isn't this race exciting! Where we thought we had built some advantage, he suddenly popped up. The Belgium guy, Michel. He sailed the shortest route and might have benefitted less current in the l...

On our way to dover cracking sailing blue skys good wind ...

We're approaching Dover. Passed the Thames estuary. Up till now we have good wind and keep speed up. Tide has just turned and is now on the nose. The start was interesting. We crossed the line exac...

In an hour, we'll leave Lowestoft for the last leg of this race to Plymouth. Because Bart refuses to adjust the clock in his mobile to british summertime, again, we are awake one hour too early. Happe...

Alacrity left Lowestoft at 17:52 this afternoon but with a north flowing tide and only just enough wind to fill a thin looking spinnaker they have not made much progress. The Open 40s continue to p...

Log 2100 27-06-06 RMG 416 BRG 167 COG 150 SOG 7.1 wind 12 @ 278 Spinnaker flying!...

Nice sailing. Beam reach. Touch of blue sky ahead. Flat sea. Getting ship shape after shambolic departure. RA parked for inspection? Sip slow with small jib only. Who is de daddy?...

It has been such an exciting race to this point. It has had it all for the yachts IMMO LP and RA. We've had close in sight racing since the start and have endured all elements that the weather can thr...

Nick Bubb and his team have successfully repaired Kenmore's carbon wingmast and restarted their race. With help from composite experts Ocean Endeavours and the boat's owner, David Barden, a sleeve se...

The intense competition continues between the leading monohulls with crews hand steering and working their boats hard as they weaved through oil rigs during the night. Dutch duo, Bart Boosman and J...

Change of watch. Bart has let me sleep for four and a half hours. That's nice. Now he's in his bunk to get fresh and awake for Lowestoft. We're approaching Great Yarmouth and are in the middle of this...

Muckle Flugga 1330, south now. Lerck late tonight. Rush...

Shy spinnaker reach-limit of control. Harry trying hard. Jerry texting. Red Arrow about a mile a stern. No time to relax....

Back in mobile range, Gareth Thomas has reported being knocked down 20 miles short of St Kilda....

Here we are rounding Muckle Flugga - Britain's Northernmost point. Yippee! 3 days of fantastic sailing- spinaker fine reaching. www.justgiving.com/watsonwhittle...

Last night was horrendous, horrible, disaster! No F***ing wind at all! We danced the tango! Full circle! Saw all courses from 0 degrees to 360 in twenty minutes! And if that wasn't enough, we were pas...

Close finish? Ra sailing angles off to east. Psip on wrong gybe also east. Tz on course dead down wind. Big swell easing. 17 knots true wind. So pleased to be up right at last. Damp and chilly. Knacke...

Back in contact with the real world. Been as far north as we want. Now under kite heading at least towards home....

Flugga in 2 hours. Flat sea. 18 knots. Good viz. Bloody cold! All well....

Making 6 knots under reaching kite. Raining solid since leaving Barra, everything wet & miserable. ENB Consulting insight, noone else. Have had to steer around a whale, bigger than the boat, who ha...

Those that were stormbound in Barra had a good sail overnight with boat speeds up after yesterday's day of drifting north of Kilda. The wind is set to die again today and they will have a slow journey...

We're off again! Left Lerwick with real pain in the heart! We had a very pleasant stay. We were welcomed by Dick and Ellie Koopmans who are traveling around on their Jantine. Their son Dick is part...

Mick Liddy has sent the following images taken onboard IMMO BIB during the race. Lack of communications in Barra mean that this has been his first opportunity to get online since Kinsale. The pair's ...

Hi, mobiles now working again. Lying in 2nd place behind alacrity the storm was v strong and chose to ride it out which gave them a good lead still a long way to go lets hope for light airs. Nigel...

George MacCloud at the Castlebay Hotel tells me that the fleet restarted this morning between 10.00 and 11.00. Boats left behind include Kenmore, Ruffian, Vijaya and Suroma. By early afternoon oce...

Rush Position at 22/06 16:22 BST 57 02N 07 39W...

All the yacht racing I ever did was watched only by the other crews, people on the start boat and fishermen who always seemed to change course to get a better view. Now, sitting in my study I can f...

Caught in a 50 knot squall, Vijaya was pitchpoled on route from Barra to Lerwick. Having set out from Barra yesterday, Huib and Erik were escorted back into Castle Bay by the lifeboat today. Pau...

The gale continues to rage in Castle Bay. All anchors have been pressed into service and crews are constantly rearranging fenders to keep boats and rigs apart. Audacious has suffered a broken stanch...

Hi Jerry A good breeze has just got up here in Norwich but it is a warm evening with high thin clouds and the sun breaking through now and again. Looking at the results I see that you are due to...

The Bara race office reports driving rain and 45 knots of wind - no weather for mixing epoxy or rerigging masts. Nick and Pete have Kenmore on a mooring and have taken to a B&B to get some well earne...

Castle Bay, Barra Local school library 19th of June 2006 Castle Bay is another paradise on earth. Surrounded by mountains and hills the bay is named after the Castle in the middle of it. Here ti...

After a long slow haul north, the race is now hotting up in the misty Shetlands. 'The race restarts here' reported Roger Metherell from the RWYC's temporary race office in Bara's Castle Bay hotel. ...

Nick Bubb's Kenmore has been dismasted on leg three of the RBI. Very little other info at present apart from the fact that the crew are safe and have put in somewhere. The offical race website rep...

Position midday today n 53 deg 58 w 10 deg 42. Moral high only 175 miles to barra...

1200 53 58, 10 42.7. Running in S26 Kts - reefed, wet. Eggs bacon yest off Mizen Hd, Mars bars today. All well, T&T...

Another night of wallowing! Worried bout rest of fleet...Where r they all?...

Onboard La Promesse 08:53 UTC (09:53 BST) 55.52N 08.54W heading 50deg, speed 14.4kts "Like a bunch of women in front of a Parfumerie to open it s doors, anxious waiting for the newest moisture o...

Torrid night. Working hard on NW corner of Ireland....

Mizen Head abeam 0830 bst fetching The Bull lt (1st time not beat snc Scillx). Expect to have the kite up soon. Light SW...

BD had fastnet abeam to stbd at 0133 but wind died soon after. Struggling round SW of Ireland....

On board La Promesse 02:06 UTC (03:06 BST) 55.05N 10.35W heading 60 deg, speed 15.6kts This is sailing! This is racing! Doing 12 to 16+kts in the middle of night. With an maximum speed of 18.2 k...

Wind on the nose as usual but f4. Haue Iroquois 1.5m on port quarter and Ruffian 2m on stbd quarter. Hope to round fastnet rock about 0200 Sat....

Luckily Tim woke up as Peter was about to sail around Fastnet. Still beating. Looking forward to SouWesterlies... Irish Stew tonight....

Did we mention that the oars came out last night? Despite tim's claim 2 b an olympian rower it was pathetic! Bfast still up 2 std. Malkin (tim asleep!) Text from Peter Watson...

Spi reach. 7 knots boat speed. Sun as usual. Good lunch. Harry nap. Gannets everywhere. Foze rock 7 miles. Text from Jerry Freeman...

Just passed Bull Rock - what am amazing piece of engineering the lighthouse is. We think it must have been a Victorian 'project'! Despite slow progress, we are in good spirits and the bacon baguette w...

Roaring forty abeam galway city. 17 knots of wind under big kite heading north. Engine working fine. No traffic in sight...

Paul Peggs has reported enjoying his rounding of the Fastnet Rock in the night where they pipped Jalfrezi and a Reflex in the dark. They are now cleaning the breakfast celebrations of bacon & e...

JanKees and Bart have relented to the frustration of slow sailing and taken a flyer offshore in search of stronger SSW. Currently doing 10 kts in 14 kts of wind, heading due North....

An oily calm at breakfast, the pack congregates by the Bull rock off Dursey Head. A scattering of massive black bassalt islands with steep cliffs and archs. Bull rock looks like a perfect cone that a ...

Bd now refreshed in kinsale. Ready to reel in the fleet....

Three am. Just off Bull Rock. Frustrating day with little breeze and lots of shifts. Better now. Four others in sight an hour ago. Boat going well. Marcus Text from Marcus Wilson, Red Arrow....

Becalmed off Galley head. Where's the wind??...

Cold but beautifully clear night. Old Kinsale well astern and the wind has picked up to 7 kts and we are beating at 5.5 kts. Feels good. Text from Tim Whittle, Malkin...

Been very busy keeping boat going. Roaring Again just in front. We expected wind to go south west but it didn't. New engine installed in kinsale so back up and running. Looking forward to getting some...

Wind 8 kts just changed to light 3. Clear sky, small but tasty fish pie Sunbeat III 1/4 ml to leeward. Text from John Loden...

Jalfrezi has caught up with atrocious and cheetah just off fastnet, had to duck atrocious ...this tt boat has celebrated with a glass of wine Text from Gareth Thomas...

Fastnet flash at 18 miles. Twilight. Wind 10 knots 290? Should be 220! Thermal and oiles and boots. Cool now deck dry. Full main big genoa. 7.3 speed. Tide about to turn. Has been contra since start....

Wind up to 12 from south west. Good viz. Jager getting away. Sun beat 3 miles stern....

As boats leave Kinsale this morning their speeds are low and the crews will be working hard to squeeze every tenth of a knot in the light breeze. Positions between the leading Open 40s have been ch...

At the western end of the Plymouth Breakwater Roaring Again was a couple of boat lengths ahead of Immo BIB with La Promesse and Hayai a little further back. Since their tracks and weather condition...

The crews awoke to a stunningly beautiful Irish morning. Blue sky, sparkling water and crisp clear visibility. There were several finishers during the night at roughly 2 hour intervals: ENB Consul...

0945 bst 51 22 , 008 27 Light airs at Scilly, ded bt cross Cel Sea....

Wind light and variable (W-NW). No N yet...Finally lost Chimp (not sure where though). Morale good but worried pubs will be shut when we arrive Kinsale....

Tzigane 23 finish kinsale at 14 37 10. Behind jager 9 min ahead chill out 5 min...

Text message from Jerry on Tzigane at 12.34 on 13/06/06 Sp. V light. NE. Pasta. Dire straits. Shorts. Sun cream. 9 miles to go at 1.3 or less. Swap?...

Slow dead beat to finish. Flat sea -force 2. No slant. Far 50 close. Sails all about. Looking for beer!...

bishop rock rounded after struggle against tide with little wind....

3m fm br. Trying to get round in no wind. Yery light airs race so far. Still hoping to make party kinsale 1830 tue....

Having finally broken free of the Scilly Isles this morning, Waverider and Kenmore have had their first chance to stretch their legs. The tide has turned in their favour and the wind swung around ont...

Jerry reports that the sun is shining as they approach the Scillies. The Farr 50 Sagitta is close by and Jager is some 2 miles ahead. They are tired but keeping going. He says they will tack soon. ...

Silly island. Sun. Farr 50 close. Jager 2 miles ahead. Tired. But still going. Tack soon. Tide west going....

Passed Lizard at 01:30 in v light wind. Several yachts beind us?...

12 miles s e of Lizard. Wind up to 11 knots after v slow start. Swell easing. Good sleeps. Rain stopped. No stars. Sub passed....

Very light wind. Big swell from south. *3 mile viz. Just passed Promesse. Jagier. Vyaja....

All going well, 300 yards behind Paradox, having just rounded Eddystone...

All the spectators on the trip boat were keen to see the start and most had friends or family on board one of the yachts. For an hour before the start the weather was cloudy and misty, but as if the ...