Nearly at the finish...

So we're a few hours out and everyone is shattered as the watch system sort of fell apart last night so we could push things hard. I was almost seeing square after staring at the plotter, paper charts and ais for about 7 hours... Finally crashing for an hour and a half at about 6 so i could then relieve Andy ad in charge on deck as he'd been helming for 8 plus hours solid die to highish winds and poor visibility.

Today had seen good winds so far, we even got kite up for a while until it started gusting 35 knots! Now surfing along at 10 knots with the promise of beer spurring us on.

Thoughts have already turned to some of the more amusing highlights/lowlights of the trip... For example our dolphin "hit and run", the dead fish found washed on to deck by the waves washing over the boat occasionally, the occasion Paul and Tony went off watch asking the question "do you want to do a sail change?" bring told no and then shouted at to get up 7 mins later after they'd dekitted and got into their bunks!

I'm sure more hilarity will ensue over dinner later but for now we focusing on the finish!

It's going to be a long long night...

Friday 22 August 0056: So much for sunshine for happy hour this evening. What sunshine there was went away pretty quickly and the damp of an Irish summer set in, added to by the waves washing over the decks and occasionally giving us all a nice salty shower!

Steffan cooked us dinner without being ill (just!) and then we corrected our course slightly to get ourselves to the edge of the tss where we can turn East to home... Well to lizard point, where will we then turn slightly into Plymouth.

First though I have to navigate us past the scilies. The wind, combined with the pitch black enduced by the weather, means helming is difficult so Andy is at the wheel and it feels.like were flying... I am now "off watch" - for tonight this means sitting at the chart table wrapped in my sleeping bag to keep warm (I'm slightly damp around the edges) do I can keep a steady look at the chart plotter, the paper. charts as back up and the AIS. It's going to be a long long night...

Once we're past the scilies I will be able to relax slightly, but both Andy and I are going to be shattered (more so than now and the others won't exactly be fresh faced either) so must make sure we don't relax too much... There are still. A few boats out here with us so we mustn't take our foot off the pedal.

Wet and wild... Oh to be sure!

Thursday 20  August 1758: After some short tacking by A watch (Andy's watch team rather than mine, meaning I was being thrown around in my bunk) down the side of the traffic separation zone off the Fastnet (these tss zones are obstructions on course and time penalties given if entered) we settled onto a best course to windward as B watch came on deck (as close to the wind as we can steer without flogging the sails and without losing too much speed) towards the scilies and shortly afterwards the wind picked up... Forcing the other watch out of bed to help us change down the jib to a smaller one.  We were pushed northerly of our line, as couldn't quite hold the course we wanted, but after watch A came back on deck a wind shift enabled us to come back south of the line.

It's been a grey, wet and windy day but apart from the occasional slam over a wave and the obstacle course it take so get into my bunk it's been another fun days sailing... Although we've definitely experienced what the Irish (and Celtic) sea can throw at you over the last couple of days, think we saw 40 knots on our way West and haven't been far off the same today, which is nothing to what it can be on a bad day! A stark reminder of how bad things can be was the all ships call to Fastnet racers from the Irish coastguard, that had me leaping out of my bunk to listen to and respond... A yacht had set off its epirb (emergency beacon essentially) and wasn't responding to vhf so they were trying to get yachts in the vicinity to relay to the yacht. They were showing as moving on ais and the yellow brick tracker and eventually a nearby cargo ship managed to get them on the vhf. In this case all ok and just set off by mistake or unknowingly at a guess but it could have been very different.

We're now bearing away from the wind back towards the best route and have 60 or so miles to go to the scilies... The sun has come out, I'm in my slightly flatter bunk and it's happy hour when I wake up!

Rounding the rock

And we're round... Official time 03:49:15! Pitch black so no photo evidence, but a huge sense of achievement, especially as other boats also rounding at same time so we're not out here alone!.... Now just to get home!

Navigating the rock

It's just gone midnight, so early Thursday morning, I've just come on watch and find myself navigating us the last 20 miles to the rock itself. Andy is helming, and will probably do so until we get round. Once we're on route back across to the scilies he's going to need to crash out as the weather meant he was up a lot last night and today.

So this is what it's all come down to... Thankfully the 8 knots of wind I woke up in has increased and this shouldn't take us too long... But who knows with the changes in the wind we've been having this race!

On route to the rock..

Random notes from last day or so...

Drifting in no wind (again) around lizard point

15 knots and glorious sunshine across to runnel stone and round to lands end.

Wind dieing off again as headed up East side of tss, so sea merged into fluffy horizon of clouds as sun went down and we turned West to head, on the route to the rock, across the Irish Sea during Tuesdays happy hour.

Wind increased over night, at 25 knots put up the number 3, app  after the first reef went in. By my  second watch overnight we needed 2 reefs in. Tricky helming as no points of reference so Andy did most. We all had a go though, so helming in pitch black in up to 35 knots... What fun! Required a lot of concentration and was roosting by the end!

High winds have continued throughout the day, but can now see land (1445 wed) and have tacked to head back south to rhumb line as we had to bear away a reasonable amount during the night and this morning.

40 miles to the rock and the turn to the finish.

Frustratingly weather took us to far north... Now short tacking along shore to get to that rock... Time 1929 Wednesday evening. Rock by early hours.

Competition has retired:)

Sun up, kite up

0635 17.08.15: After a night of almost no tacking, and just keeping the boat moving were still in sight of lots of boats, the sun is up and so is the kite!

The night wasn't too cold, with some cloud and winds ranging from 6 knots up to 10, fairly consistent (although not quite) in direction until early this morning when it started going aft, so we hoisted it at shift change and now I get 4 hours off (a special day time treat) assuming we don't need to gybe or drop anytime soon as I'm standby 2...

Night night.