Nannini wins Leg 5 of Shetland Round Britain & Ireland Race

The final leg of the double-handed Shetland Round Britain & Ireland Race (SRBIR) remained undecided until the final hours at sea for the leading boats in the fleet. Throughout Leg 5 from Lowestoft on England’s East Coast to Plymouth, the Class40 division at the head of the SRBIR fleet encountered mixed conditions as soon as they exited the Dover Straits and entered the Channel, led by Global Ocean Race entry, Marco Nannini, and co-skipper, Paul Peggs, on SunGard Front Arena.

As the breeze dropped on Wednesday evening, SunGard Front Arena held the lead over Alex Bennett and Malcolm Dickinson on Fujifilm. “Our lead was gradually reduced during the course of the night,” recalls Nannini. “At one stage it was eroding real fast as we had hit a new flow of adverse current in light airs, allowing the distinctively green boat to close in to as little as eight miles while enjoying slightly better conditions behind us.” At midday on Thursday, SunGard Front Arena and Fujifilm reached St. Catherine’s Point at the southern tip of the Isle of Wight, chased by the Norwegian duo of Rune Aasberg and Arild Schei on Solo and the South African team of Nick Leggatt and Philippa Hutton-Squire on Phesheya-Racing. “This race is absolutely amazing,” commented Nannini as he led the four boats northwest towards Portland Bill in freshening breeze late on Thursday. “To think that after 1,800 miles, the leading five boats are all within two hours or so of one another and that it can still be anyone's win! I hope our nerves will hold till the end!”

Throughout Thursday night, the four Class40 leaders averaged around nine knots as they crossed the 60 miles of Lyme Bay towards the final headland before the finish line off Plymouth. However, on Friday morning, with under 30 miles to the finish, the boats stalled to sub-one knot averages in minimal breeze between Start Point and Prawle Point. At 09:00 BST, speeds picked-up marginally with SunGard Front Arena very close inshore, Fujifilm standing off seven miles south of Prawle Point and Solo and Phesheya-Racing taking the middle route with Bennett and Dickinson making double the speed of the inshore trio at a little under five knots. Meanwhile, the dominance held by the Class40 division was severely under threat from the Hans Plas and Robin Verhoef on Open 40 Roaring Again as the Dutch duo closed in on the group off Bennett and Dickinson’s starboard quarter having started Leg 5 six hours behind the Class40 leaders.

By 11:00 BST, SunGard Front Arena, Solo and Phesheya-Racing were rock-hopping close inshore through Bigbury Bay with Aasberg and Schei on Solo inching into the lead making the best boatspeed at 7.3 knots. A few miles further offshore, Bennett and Dickinson on Fujufilm were level with Leggatt and Hutton-Squire on Phesheya-Racing. Just after 13:00 BST on Friday, the Norwegian Class40 Solo took first place across the Royal Western Yacht Club finish line, followed 13 minutes later by Nannini and Peggs on SunGard Front Arena. Just four minutes behind the Anglo-Italian duo, Alex Bennett and Malcolm Dickinson on Fujifilm took third with the South Africans, Nick Leggatt and Philippa Hutton-Squire on Phesheya-Racing in fourth, trailing Bennett’s green boat by just nine minutes.

Having consistently taken third place in the previous four legs of the SRBIR, the overall Class40 win by Rune Aasberg and Arild Schei on Solo is an outstanding achievement. For the first four Class40s to finish within 26 minutes after 20 days and 2,000 miles of close racing is a further sign of the skill and competitive nature within the class.

Find the latest news and results from the Shetland Round Britain & Ireland Race here