Skandia Fastnet Report

Hi guys;

We are now 125 miles from Fastnet Rock and are doing 14 knots in 9 knots of breeze. We believe that we are in front of Telefonica, but cant be sure, and have no real idea where Maximus is. A bit different to the
Rolex Hobart race where we can access the yacht tracker and monitor our
competition carefully!

Cheers,
Grant

08/08/05

Hi there;

Well we are now about 50 miles from Lizard Point in 9 knots of breeze doing 14 knots across the ground with the huge code zero flying.

We passed Telefonica, the new Volvo 70 about 2 hours ago, and I think that Maximus has about 6 miles on us, up in front.

Things have calmed down now, but the last 36 hours have been pretty traumatic. During our pre-race rig check, on Saturday morning we discovered a small issue with the rigging. We could have gone as it was, but decided that it would be best to be 100% sure and get it sorted. This meant 24 hours hard slog for the guys, and also meant that we started this great race 4 minutes behind time. To add insult to injury, when hoisting the code zero, our head swivel failed, the furled zero fell ripping our spinnaker in half.

What a shocker.

Anyway, going nicely now and looking forward to getting some good luck soon.

Cheers,
Grant

08/07/05

Meanwhile from the Leader........

After a near perfect start, to the 2005 Rolex Fastnet Race, which began Sunday at 12.20 in Cowes, Isle of Wight, ICAP Maximus sailed through the fleet of earlier class starts and by 14.00 was in front of all other competitors.

Variable wind strengths called for a number of sail changes in the Solent, before finding better winds as the boat headed out towards Portland Bill.

By this stage, only the Volvo 70 Telefonica and Skandia Wild Thing were still in sight astern, approximately 3 miles behind. Crew spirits were high as the watch systems commenced at 18.00 on Sunday.

Further sail changes were necessitated by fluctuating wind strengths, although navigator Mike Quilter's the decision to stay offshore began to pay dividends as the wind backed through the evening.

Light airs reaching through Sunday night, along the south western coast of England, saw ICAP Maximus arriving at the Lizard at 03.32 local time, over 30 minutes ahead of the Volvo 70 and Skandia Wild Thing.

"Some excellent tactics and navigating, coupled with consistent world class helming have put us in front and everything is going smoothly at present." commented skipper Charles St Clair Brown, whose crew are currently still within the course record for the Fastnet.

With 154 miles to the Fastnet rock at 06.45 local time, the objective for Monday is to put as much distance between themselves and the rest of the fleet as possible.

Graham Sprigg (onboard Maximus)

08/08/05