Sharp in for repairs

Forestay problems for Open 40 in Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland

With still 1,200 miles left to go in the Sevenstar Round Britain & Ireland Race, leader of the fleet Artemis Ocean Racing skippered by Jonny Malbon extended her lead overnight to nearly thirty miles over J-P Chomette’s Solune as the fleet punches its way up the west coast of Ireland. Conditions were tough through the night with a vicious seaway and winds that gusted above 30 knots that saw many of the fleet heavily reefed and opting for a ‘safety first’ approach to the conditions.

Onboard Artemis it’s all systems go. Skipper Jonny Malbon contacted race control this morning saying: “We have just past Black Rock and her outlying rocks. Conditions are a little challenging with the winds quite gusty and oscillating through 20 degrees. Artemis handles the conditions well but her crew would prefer the wind to be aft of the beam instead of just cracked (10 degrees off close hauled). It looks like a long port tack up to Muckle Flugga (top of Shetlands) some 525 nm away. Conditions should ease in the next 8 hours making life on board a little easier. We are not that far off record pace for the RB&I crewed monohull record. Spirits are high on board but we are all looking forward to some fast downwind sailing!”

Yesterday afternoon saw the retirement of the only multihull competing, Team Eberspacher of Ben Goodland and Mike Yates, from the race and return to Falmouth after fears for their forestay. Overnight there were further casualties with the Pogo 40 of Phil Sharp, needasponsor.co.uk, putting into port in Cork again with teething forestay
issues. The team expect to be back on the racecourse later today.

The news from the West Cornwall Hospital regarding Sara Stanton who was taken off the Reflex 38, Puma Logic, at Falmouth with a stomach illness would appear to be positive with spokesperson and Managing Director of Sailing Logic, Allie Smith saying: “She is going to be in hospital for another couple of days it seems. She is comfortable and responding to treatment but specific diagnosis not available at the moment. Her Mother is in contact and skipper Philippe Falle’s father is with her; he very conveniently happened to be sailing past Fowey when the drama started and sailed his yacht, CAS, to Falmouth and has gone on from there to the hospital.” Everyone at RORC wishes Sara a swift recovery.

Kieran Jameson from the Sigma 38, Changeling, telephoned last night as the yacht was rounding Bishop Rock to report that they were changing down to a number three genoa and reefed main but their spirits were still high. “We’ve just got the fish pie out of the freezer for tonight’s meal and the only drama on board has been a major spillage of red wine all over the chart table. It looks like being a hard beat all the way up the west coast of Ireland but we’re all having a great time.”

On the racecourse it will be a tough weekend ahead for the yachts as meteorologist Mike Broughton from winningwinds.com attests: “There’s a punishing north westerly gradient that is filtering down from Iceland generated by a low pressure system over the North Sea. For the next 24-36 hours the yachts will be seeing wind strengths in the 24-34 bracket with a three metre swell so it will be very tough for the smaller boats.”

Currently in the Atlantic Ocean, the sailors who are members of the Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme and the youngest crew competing in the event, have had a testing couple of days, experiencing a series of highs and lows. “It’s been a tough 48 hours for us.” Connor Myant, 22 from London and helmsman on Unlimited Sailing/ John Merricks revealed. “I think we all knew it was going to be hard but we’ve had a difficult few days with harder ones to come.

“The weather, strong winds and bumpy sea, has resulted in most of us feeling a little ropey with many of the crew being sick off the back of the boat at one time or another, but no one has missed a watch yet which is really positive.

“We’re sailing now with one reef in the main as we’ve got about 20-25 knots nearly on the nose. We’re hoping the wind will shift round so that we can reach up towards the top of Ireland which will make for some smoother sailing."

Kingspan Chieftain’s navigator Jochem Visser spoke by satellite phone
about the conditions on board; “It is really uncomfortable down below and really wet on deck, it is pretty wet down here as well as I lost the battle to stay on the toilet this morning, I won’t go into any details but it was quite messy! We also had some problems with the code 3 jib which blew the tack shackle off and damaged the luff tape. After a few hours stitching it is all back together now.”


You can follow the race here: http://sevenstarrbi.cyca.com.au

IRC current overall	DTF	Est Overall Corrected time
Solune	1,197.6	11:00:59:06
Kingspan - Chieftain	1,264.8	11:01:32:15
Artemis	1,168.2	11:17:00:00
Formidable 3	1,305.2	12:15:40:39
Noonmark VI	1,342.9	12:17:10:28
Sidney	1,431.2	15:09:14:48
Alice 2	1,402.6	15:11:59:47
Jaguar Logic	1,419.1	15:15:07:06
Magnum II	1,391.6	15:19:10:07
Puma Logic	1,419.4	15:19:17:51
Unlimited Sailing - John Merricks	1,354.8	16:00:04:58
Mostly Harmless	1,402.5	16:01:57:19
Aquis Granus	1,358.7	16:07:45:06
Norddeutsche Vermogen Hamburg	1,361.5	16:08:18:20
Night Owl	1,436.4	16:08:51:27
Minnie the Moocher	1,375.6	16:10:08:50
Predator of Wight	1,412.0	17:20:41:19
Changeling	1,460.4	17:22:18:26
Winsome	1,436.5	18:07:27:55
Jeu d'Esprit	1,407.7	18:11:22:19
Talisman	1,436.1	18:18:21:08
Global Yacht Racing Incisor	1,405.7	20:20:22:06
Ilex of Upnor	1,462.2	23:01:02:22
Global Yacht Racing EH01	1,438.0	26:17:40:23
needasponsor.co.uk	1,458.9
Cutting Edge on Venom*
MoonraKer of Cowes*
Team Eberspacher*