06/22/2009, Whitehaven
Helly Hansen UK touched down in Whitehaven at about 1230pm today.
Nicola and Maria barely had five minutes to catch their breath back...not that they needed to by the sounds of it, my sources tell me they had hardly broken into a sweat!...yesturday before the sailing kicked off throguh the Menai Straits. The runners helped sail all day as there was lots of spinnaker action down wind through the Straits.
The wind dropped off as soon as they were out of the Straits and they had to row from 1600 until 2300! It was like a millpond out on the water, but a beautiful sunset and rocking tunes were the tactics used to keep spirits up through the evening! Each of them took it in turns to get some sleep throughout the night but even the runners were getting up to help sail throughout the early hours.
With the morning came yet more rowing! The girls rowed their way into Whitehaven from 1000 until 1230. Nicola and and Maria have hit dry land for the Scafel Pike leg, which includes 56miles of cycling! They are aiming to complete it in 8 hours which gives the rest of the crew time to rest those arms and sort out the boat,which doens't smell of roses right now apparently!
The lock at Whitehaven is open at the moment but closes at 1900 and doesn't open again until 0330 so they don't think they will get out tonight.
All onboard Helly Hansen UK sound like they are having a blast as well as being totally up there in the race. Adele says they have a skipper extrordinaire and the whole team are working really hard!
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Comments [3]
Sorry the winds aren't up to much but it does make me chuckle from my sofa when I imagine you all rowing. Is that what you signed up for Hels? Your skills being put to good use then! I have images of you shouting stroke rate! If anyone can get you out of Whitehaven fast, you can! Good luck up to FW! S
Good Luck
Tori x
06/21/2009, onwards towards Scafel...
The ladies all sound in very good spirits! Maria and Nicola completed the run in 4 1/2 hours and we think they came home in about 12th place? It was a tough leg with lots of road running. Some spinnaker action began before I could get any more details on the run itself so this is only a brief post!
They can see the front runners ahead of the in the Menai Straits which is a boost so the race is most certainly on!
They are aiming to get to Whitehaven at about 8am.
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06/21/2009, Caernarfon
Helly Hansen UK dropped off their runners just before 0730 this morning.
They have had long night of sailing with a distinct lack of wind. They are pleased to be in a reassuring mid fleet position at the moment.
They had to row for the last hour this morning and at one point they were being swept backwards by the tide! Very frustrating but they made it and are now bedding down for some much needed kip!
Keep your comments coming!
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Just thought I'd send you a wee message to say hello and good luck and that Iain and I are very jealous of you! Hope you're all having a fantastic time, look forwards to seeing you at a race or social soon, I'll be keeping track of your progress whilst pretending to listen to my patients in clinic!
Fair winds and blue skies,
Nick
06/20/2009, Barmouth
Here we are in Barmouth, just a few hours from the start. The boat and the runners have been fully scrutinized and we have ticked all the boxes. All the crews are sizing each other up and the competition seems fierce this year with the sailors being very prepared and the runners getting faster each year. There are two other boats that are the same as ours: Torrebelino and Starship, so we will be having our own race with them.
The plan now is to calm down, as we are all quite nervous, get some rest and eat as much as we can before we leave the harbour at 5pm for a 6pm start gun.
The forecast for kick off is north westerly F4 which will be perfect for our boat. We are aiming to get to the Caernarvon Bar ( a sandbar, not a pub! which dries out at low tide) by 1.30am to get the runners landed by 2pm. If we do not get there by 1.30am, there will not be enough water under the keel to get over the bar and we will have to float around until the tide rises again until about 4am. The pressure really is on this first leg. The runners need to complete Snowdon (24 miles / 36 km) around the 4hr mark to ensure we do not have tide against us in the swellies. The race will be won or lost on this leg.
We have a satellite tracker on the boat so tomorrow you can see exactly where we are. Please ring if we are going the wrong way!
The race will be covered by the following sites:
www.threepeaksyachtrace.co.uk (click on the yellow box)
www.sleepmonsters.co.uk
We are loving your messages and they are making us giggle like the girls that we are!
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06/18/2009
By 11.00am this morning the boat was filled by BBC Coast crew including presenter Nick Crane.
The aim of the day was to get some good footage of the smooth sail along the coast of Wales and the preparation that goes in to the three peaks yacht race. Armed with a £70,000 HD camera Rob (camera guy) did a great job of managing to stay on board whilst filming despite the six foot waves that caused both Nick and Babs (the Producer) to be seasick. I think they've edited that bit out!
It was a great shake down for the team and we are now fully versed in putting up the storm sail and the third reef in the main, should we experience another force 8 during the race.
Jude, Maria and Nic spent time this morning planning meeting points on the runs and deciding what food, smiley faces and patronising motivational comments might be required.
Adele, Helen and Kirsty ran through a few spinnaker drills and gave the boat it's final safety check.
I should also mention that Jude has become more local than the locals today by visiting the co-op and chandlers an astronomic amount of times! We now have enough food on board to keep us going until next years race.
Keith (Owner of the boat we are sailing on) was missing his boat (...and his girls) so much that he decided to stop off in Pwllethi en route to Barmouth.
Thanks for your messages which we are picking up. It's going to be great motivation for us during the race so please keep them coming.
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PS The Landrover's full of fuel if any last minute running around is needed!
06/17/2009, Final prep...
Adele joined the boat late last night. Half the Helly Hansen UK team are on board in the marina, buried under charts and cups of tea making final race preparations.
The rest of the girls are on their way...apart from Nicola...who is on her way, in theory, but having already missed three trains today her estimated time of arrival is anyones guess!
In the last message I have from Helly Hansen UK, they were about to tuck into an athletes dinner and grape juice!
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