Azores and Back Yacht Race 2011

After Sam White and Richard Raistricks efforts on the race to the Azores the race home will see Sam's first solo ocean race. The competion comprises some of the finest sailors in the UK and thanks to a great race here Sam is still well within sight of a podium finish. This is Yacht racing at its best and of course anything could happen in the next 1250 miles.

Friday, 18 June 2010

Nearing the finish

The sun came out, (it may be 10pm but apparantly that means nothing up here) and having been fed and watered (lamb stew and a cup of tea!) we were once again ready for battle. This time it was not a finishing place that we chased as that had been established a lot earlier in the leg. Chris Tibbs in Taika managed to get a 20 mile lead on us during the light winds and we have caught up and re-taken 4th place from Jangada Too. All we have to do is finish and 4th should be ours however as there are still 2 legs left the earlier we finish here the earlier we start leg 4 and get to chase those in front down!

Over our food we did decide that we had maybe been pushing ourselves and the boat a little hard. We have been the first non profesional/non sponsored boat in class in each leg so far and the wear and tear costs are now getting stupid. I must try and remember that I am not sailing with another twenty eerrrr something (maybe 30...) year old and can't push physically as much as I could if I were. Of course we also do not have a van following us around the track with new sails and kit in case we break something unlike a lot of the others. We must finish with the kit we have on board albeit with a few repairs enroute.

As I said before...we mustn't push too hard. So having been fed and watered and with 25 kts of breeze we re-launcehed the kite and hunted down the boat in front like an rotwieler! The breeze peaked at 30 kts and we were enjoying 12.5 kt sustained reaches. Then after 5 dramatic broaches in a row with thought we would do the sensible thing and slow down a bit! (having narrowed the gap on the one in front of course!)

Finish time at Lerwick 01:56

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3 comments:

  1. Black no sugar18 June 2010 at 01:39

    Hi Sam, hi Tony,

    Tremendous achievement! Glad to hear you're in Lerwick in one piece. I hope the repairs on the rudder are holding on and you can find enough Sellotape to patch up your mainsail.

    Sam, look after the old man, we DO like him as he is.

    You both try and rest until it's time to go to Lowestoft. You're going to remember what night-time looks like at some point!

    Take care,

    xxxx

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  2. Tony18 June 2010 at 04:03

    from kay----great blogs Sam, getting across the picture really well..glad you are safely in harbour. I hope most of it is enjoyable in the present and of course it will seem like a great adventure looking back, you are doing fantastically well love x

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  3. mike18 June 2010 at 04:09

    Good to see that you are both still keen at chasing down those in front...and Tony keeps telling us that he isn't that old.
    I think you have the psychological edge on those pro's and will knock more off as you head south.
    Still it looked very crowded at as you rounded the northern bit.Must get back to work and keep the nation safe.
    Keep up with the blog!

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