Hellefix wins Magellan Three Peaks Yacht Race Tilman Trophy
by Rebecca Aird 27 Jun 2003 08:34 BST
Dutch entry, 'Hellefix', took second place in the 2003 Magellan Three Peaks Yacht Race after 4 days 21 hours and 24 minutes. In addition to coming second, 'Hellefix' won the prestigious Tilman Trophy by putting four of their team onto a summit. It was an impressive performance by a visiting international crew with no experience of the race.
Asked if the race had lived up to expectations, skipper Jack Kamminga said, "It was a great adventure but I expected more wind and didn't expect it to be a rowing race! I knew we needed the oars for getting through the Swellies in the Menai Strait so in Whitehaven I got rid of them. That was a mistake! We even had to use our dinghy oars to paddle to get us past the last marker buoy!"
Recalling their problems in the Sound of Jura, Bart Schweitzer said, "It was terrible. For almost a day we didn't go anywhere. We were watching the water for patches of wind but there was never any where we were!" Rob Barel, an Olympic triathlete, had the satisfaction of summitting all the peaks with help from, and helping, his teammates. On Ben Nevis he ran with Lucas United, Barel said, "He did really well as his eyesight is very poor and it was hard for him to see where to place his feet on the rocky path." Even so the pair took exactly 5 hours for the climb from sea level to Britain's highest point and back down again, a total of 17 miles and 4406 feet of climbing.
Looking back on the race Barel said, "We've seen so much of the British climate and scenery on this race, and there was plenty of time to watch the dolphins in the Sound of Jura! We're really happy with our result as we came to try and win the Tilman Trophy."
Coming from a country with no mountains on which to train (they ran up and down the steps on bridges) and where the coastal sailing is nothing like the complex tidal systems of the British west coast it was a great result for 'Hellefix'. When they crossed the line at 12.49pm on Thursday the crew of 'Spirit of Barmouth', their closest competition for much of the first half of the race, were there to cheer them over the line.