3 Peaks gears up

Yacht race/mountain running event kicks off on 21 June

The Magellan Three Peaks Yacht Race is one of the best known and most original adventure races in the UK. Now in its 26th year, the race has been copied in places as far away as Tasmania and Hong Kong, but sailing from Barmouth to Fort William, taking in the highest peaks of Wales, England and Scotland, still remains the toughest test of mariner and mountaineer in the world.

On Saturday 21 June at 14.00 15 yachts will leave Barmouth harbour ready to start the race out at sea when the local lifeboat fires a flare at 15.00. Those who successfully reach the finish will have covered 389 nautical miles, risking sandbanks, rocks, fierce tides and even whirlpools between the Scottish islands. Each yacht will have a crew of three sailors and two runners, but as the race is continuous, they will get little rest, and will even row if it is calm.

The runners aboard will have to complete 72 miles and 14,000 feet of climbing to reach their three summits, and also cycle 18 miles in the Lake District. No easy task when you may have to run at night, unsteady on your feet due to sea sickness.

The race is run in honour of Bill Tilman, one of the greatest of British climbers and explorers, who took to sailing the Southern Oceans and climbing Antarctic peaks in his retirement. Shortly after presenting the prizes at the first Three Peaks Yacht Race he left his Barmouth home on his final voyage at the age of 79 and was lost at sea.

The Magellan Three Peaks Yacht Race requires great skill, courage, stamina, teamwork, and perhaps a touch of madness. It is an adventure which challenges the sea and the mountains in the spirit of Tilman.

This year's entries include a team from the Bowline Climbing Club with a combined age of 315. The club is based in Leicester, which is as far from the sea as you can get in the UK! One of the local teams, Spirit of Barmouth is among the favourites. Everyone on the team, crew and runners, is a previous winner, and the skipper Geoff West holds the race record. Chic Nic, skippered by Steve Robinson is back for it's third consecutive race, and after being forced to retire both previous times the crew are determined to make it third time lucky and reach the finish at Fort William this time!

Thanks to the 2003 Race Sponsor, Magellan, each competing team will have the unique opportunity to use a Magellan SporTrak Color handheld GPS to aid navigation when ashore and afloat.

Entries

Pos	Name	Type	Skipper
1	Spirit of Barmouth	Reflex 38	Geoff West
2	Chic Nic	Nicholson 30	S Robinson
4	Freedom	Westerley Fulmar	D Cooper
5	Hedonist	Dehler	D Dyler
6	Hellefix	X-412	J Kamminga
7	Ilex of Upnor	X332	L Taylor
8	Jacana	Liberator 35	P Webb
9	Marian Maid	8 metre Cruiser/Racer	P McHugh
10	New Gull	Westerley Fulmar	N Ricketts
11	Milly Brown	Contessa 32	M Hillman
12	Paget's Lady	Westerley Corsair	M Tomlinson
14	Pastime	She 36	C Smallwood
15	Reiver	Rustler 36	J Pinchbeck
16	Ryde Harriers YC	X-99	A Green
18	Xchanging	Sunfast 36	H Coop