South West 3 Peaks Race
by Tim Whitaker 14 Jun 2017 14:23 BST
10-11 June 2017
South West 3 Peaks Yacht Race © Angie Green
The fifth running of the South West 3 Peaks Race was the most challenging yet. The wind over the 9th and 10th June was forecast force 5/6 occasionally F7 and with two roundings of the Lizard, both with wind against tide, this was always going to be a tough race.
The race started in bright sunshine in St Mawes at 10:00, the first leg being a 5 mile circular run to St Just for 2 members of each crew, before rowing out to their yachts and setting sail for Newlyn.
The yachts had to beat off St Mawes Bay and down to the Lizard before they could bear away and set a course for Newlyn. The first 2 yachts to leave were Teams Gotta Good Feeling and Hoofing Run Ashore.
The first 4 teams arrived into Newlyn with 20 minutes of each other with Gotta Good Feeling leading the way. Just over 3 hours later after a 20 mile cycle and 13 mile coastal run at about 20:00 the 3 leading yachts departed Newlyn, the wind was blowing F3/4 and allowed them to set a direct course for the Lizard, later that night the wind picked up and all teams experienced some very rough and blustery conditions.
Gotta Good Feeling were 1st into Polruan, at 04:30 and away on their bikes for the trip up to Brown Willy. Not far behind were Team Peaky Blinders and Hoofing Run Ashore and By Land, By Sea... by Luck. At this point the 2 slower teams after arriving retired from the race.
Conditions on Bodmin Moor were wet, windy and very poor visibility and although 3 teams successfully found their way to the top of Brown Willy and safely back to their bikes at Jamaica Inn, Team Peaky Blinders got lost in the fog and after being rescued by their support crew had to retire.
This left 3 teams still in the race and they all raced off down to Plymouth and landed their 2 team members for the last leg to Meldon Reservoir and up to Yes Tor. All 3 teams and a chance of winning.
The final results on corrected time were: (all within 30 minutes of each other)
- Hoofing Run Ashore in a S&S30, a Royal Marines team from Lympstone
- By Land, By Sea..by Luck in a Nicholson 345, a RNSA, Royal Marines and Army combined team
- Gotta Good Feeling, in a Feeling 1090, a team from Plymouth based at the Yacht Haven Marina