Three is the magic number in the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race
by Louay Habib 13 Aug 2014 13:05 BST
13 August 2014
From the start, Oman Sail-Musandam had 3 days and 3 hours to complete the course for the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race to set a new world record.
On Day Three of the race the trimaran's three hulls, sailed by three expats and three Omanis, are continuing to hammer on south. The lightening quick MOD 70 has hit the turbo charger, screaming along at 30 knots off the North West coast of Ireland. Currently Musandam - Oman Sail's expected finish time is approximately 1000 on Thursday morning, three hours inside the world record set by Loick Peyron's 140ft trimaran, Banque Populaire 5, in 2011.
"Records are there to be broken and it would be an honour to be bettered by such a great team," commented Loick Peyron by telephone to the Royal Ocean Racing Club. "Perhaps if they do set a new record it will also be good for the race. It will encourage other multihulls to come and try it - it is a fantastic course."
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's Azzam is leading the fighter formation of Volvo Ocean 65s that have now all rounded Out Stack and are heading home. At dawn this morning Azzam was passing Sula Sgeir, a remote island that marks the halfway point in the race and is best known for its population of gannets. However it is unlikely that the Volvo Ocean 65s, blasting along at over 25 knots, will have the chance to do much bird watching. Ian Walker, skipper of Azzam, called the RORC Media Team just after rounding Muckle Flugga at 2000 yesterday.
"The decisive factor in the race so far has been sail selection and timing of sail changes," commented Ian Walker. "Obviously you have got to go the right way, but that all ties in with where you decide to go and what sails you want to be on and then you can concentrate on putting the hammer down.
This has been a really tough race so far, right from the start, but we were all fresh for that and the North Sea was non-stop navigational decisions with oil rigs and sand banks on top of heavy conditions and sail changes. It is all about ragging it on deck, coping with the non-stop spray and pushing the boat as hard as we can. One thing we have seen in this race that we haven't seen in practice is being so close to the Spanish team - relaxing for just five minutes reflects in a loss.
The biggest call so far was as we approached Muckle Flugga, we stayed more to the west than the Spanish team. We spent four or five hours with the big sail on trying to get west so that we didn't get sucked up into the low pressure. We knew that as long as we had good wind speed we were inside the shift and, when we eventually gybed, the distance between us would become our lee. In the end the gybe call was very, very, difficult as the wind was very shifty. We gybed as late as we dared and just managed to just get round the top of the rocks. Navigating around a headland like that, with a 100 degree wind shift, was about as difficult as it gets and our navigator Si Fi (Simon Fisher) nailed it - we made quite a big gain."
IRC Overall
Jens Kellinghusen's German Ker 51 Varuna, racing in IRC Zero, is the new overall leader for the 20 strong IRC fleet. After time correction Varuna made the top of the leader board yesterday evening and, on the morning of Day Three, Varuna is estimated to have an eight hour advantage over Andrew Budgen and Fred Schwyn's Volvo 70, Monster Project.
However at 0700 BST, Varuna was still 70 miles from Out Stack with a complex weather scenario in front of them while Monster Project rounded Out Stack at about 0500 into the fresh northerly breeze and will almost certainly gain many miles on Varuna over the next seven hours or so.
Class40
Burkhard Keese's Stella Nova has retired with boat damage and they are making their way to Den Helder in Holland, expecting to arrive there before dusk tonight. This leaves Roderick Knowles' Swish as the only Class40 still racing. The British Class40 is expected to round Out Stack in the early evening. The highly experienced crew on board include South African Nick Leggatt, with three circumnavigations including the Class40 Global Ocean Race.
He is joined by Ian Munslow with one circumnavigation, two Transats and a Route du Rhum, and Paul Peggs who has over 40 years of offshore racing including two Mini-Transats. So far Swish is on course to shatter the Class40 record set by Concise 2 in 2010.
IRC One
Jankees Lampe's Open 40, La Promesse, is the runaway class leader and currently enjoying a blast past Aberdeen in the North Sea at over 10 knots. Darren McLaughlin's Hanse 531, Saga, has made good progress overnight and is currently due east of Edinburgh. Saga is skippered by Peter Hopps, who has competed in every RORC Caribbean 600 and 12 Rolex Fastnet Races and the crew of Saga have been training for the race all season. For them, just finishing the Sevenstar Round Britain Race is their 'Everest'.
"So, we started on Monday morning at 9 o'clock when the rest of the world was going back to work... of course we are happy!" commented Peter by satellite connection. "Everyone enjoyed the spectacle of the start and the speed of the VO 65s and the trimaran, which was really impressive. Unfortunately we were taking our spinnaker down when the Volvos came past so we were a bit preoccupied! That sail has remained firmly in its bag since then - we had a good run up the Channel under poled out headsail which was very effective. We've been at sea for a while now and have settled into our watch system. We're all quite happy and heartily glad we are going anti-clockwise. It looks like we'll have to beat the last bit up to the Shetlands, but we're all here for the experience, which should include beating!"
IRC Two
Ian Hoddle's Figaro II Rare, racing Two-Handed, leads IRC Two on the water. At sunset last night, just off North Yorkshire, Rare, the smallest yacht in the race, gybed offshore to cover Ross Applebey's Scarlet Logic, which had been making big gains. Through the night Rare led the way, just a few miles ahead of their bigger rivals, and this morning at 0700 BST Rare was six miles ahead of Scarlet Logic. However, after time correction, Scarlet Logic is still leading the class.
IRC Three and Four
Liam Coyne's First 36.7 Lula Belle, racing Two-Handed with Brian Flahive, is just west of Sunderland with 1450 miles to go, which means that the Irish pair will have about a week at sea before they finish the course. Rob Hammomd's J/109, Ruag White Knight 7, crewed by the Royal Armoured Corps YC is currently leading IRC Three on corrected time, and are four miles ahead of Keith Gibbs' C&C 115, Change of Course, sailed by David Dyer.
Follow the epic Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race on the dedicated RORC mini-site with photo galleries, videos and regular updates, as well as tracking for all competing yachts at roundbritainandireland.rorc.org
Musandam-Oman Sail crew pulling out all the stops for the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland record (from Oman Sail)
The crew on the Musandam-Oman Sail trimaran are pulling out all the stops in their bid to set a new Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland course record but with 500 agonising miles still to go, their fate remains in the hands of the weather gods.
Since the start of the race on Monday, the breeze has been kind to them, propelling them around the 1800 nms course at an average speed of 25 knots which if they continue at the same pace, will see them smash the existing course record by more than three hours.
But co-skippers Sidney Gavignet and Damian Foxall were sounding cautious in their communications from the boat this morning as they flew down the west coast of Ireland at around 30 knots.
"We have a small inkling of an idea that it might be possible in a dream world to beat Banque Populaire 5 which is a trimaran twice our size," said Foxall from Ireland.
"We are a few hours behind our ideal routing but we are still there and pushing hard. Unfortunately, we think it will slow down in the western approaches to the English Channel but we will have to see how the final day goes.
"People think we have a chance of breaking Banque Populaire's course record – we will see. If all goes well and we don't break anything onboard, we will certainly have a very good chance of breaking Groupama's race record."
The solo course record of 4 days, 15 hours, 9 minutes and 27 seconds was set by Gavignet in 2010, when he sailed the 105 foot trimaran Oman Air Majan single-handed. That record looks set to be annihilated.
The course record of 3 days, 3 hours, 49 minutes and 14 seconds was set by Loick Peyron on Banque Populaire 5 in 2011 and this morning, Musandam-Oman Sail were predicted to set a new time of 3 days 0 hours, 18 minutes and 9 seconds.
"We are blessed by the conditions, but I don't think it will be enough to beat the blue giant Banque Populaire 5. You wouldn't know it on board though - we are still trying!" Gavignet added.
Already, it has been an incredible adventure for the six strong crew, half of whom are Omanis from the unique Oman Sail programme which uses the power of sport to promote the Sultanate of Oman, to contribute to its economy and to drive the personal development of its people.
At times, their boat has been racing in almost 40 knots of wind which has been a real adrenaline rush for all the crew but things have now eased and are set to ease further.
"Sailing in 30 knots of breeze feels slow now. It's amazing what you get used to!" commented Gavignet.
"Our boys are still keen and strong - the fire hose spray makes it hard to look forward, but that doesn't stop them.
"Each time the helm calls for something, they are out of the caddy in seconds and ready to do whatever is needed.
"The level of rest is pretty good even if everyone was on deck to go around the Shetlands. We did lots of manoeuvres. We are pushing hard on deck then getting something to eat and quickly into our bunks. We are doing four on and two off with an hour's standby - not doing a lot of sail changes but when we do, we get everyone on deck.
"Musandam-Oman Sail is a fantastic tool to "educate" new offshore sailors: power, speed, apparent wind, all you need to train a big boat offshore sailor," Gavignet said.
After sailing the boat so skilfully around the course, Musandam-Oman Sail is now being heralded by some of the world's greatest sailors, including current course record holder Loick Peyron: "Records are there to be broken and it would be an honour to be bettered by such a great team." commented Peyron, by telephone to race organisers Royal Ocean Racing Club today.