Sailing Magazine
by Richard Crockett
If ever there was a Vasco race to do it was this one as the wind has been behind for most of the race so far, with the front runners having sailed over 200nm since the start 21 hours ago. Now that’s a fast race.
It’s sad that there are just 11 boats racing, and that info from the organisers is simply non-existent, so to write anything meaningful is very difficult. Luckily there are reliable trackers with which to follow the fleet.
Should the wind hold, and there is every reason to believe that it will, the line honours leader, which is ‘CFM’ (Nigel Milln) at this point (07h00) should finish by midday, making this the fastest race ever. She has a good 30nm lead, with second and third in a ding-dong battle.
Second is ‘Bellatrix’ (Greg Hurter) with ‘Regardless 2′ (Neville Bransby & Sean Jones) in third. But the interest is in the fact that ‘Bellatrix’ is fully crewed and ‘Regardless’ just two-up. Furthermore the ‘Regardless 2′ crew are in their sixties and seventies respectively – and sailing an exceptionally fine race too. ‘Bellatrix’ is less than 10nm offshore, with ‘Regardless 2′ some 20nm out, so the benefit of the current may well be the difference between these two at the finish.
There are some standout performances so far, with ‘Adios’ probably having her best Vasco race ever, and the L34 ‘Aquavit’ in with a good chance of the overall ORC handicap honours. She reminds me of days of yore when big fleets of L34s competed, and the winners were sometimes within minutes of each other at the finish. That was ocean racing at its very best.
The Baltic 42 ‘Magic’ (Peter Channing) is also having a fine race as he is also two-up, and wearing the leaders crown at this point.
There’s less than 50nm to the finish for the leaders, and the next few hours are going to be intriguing as the race is closed out. From here to the finish it’s all about the wind, the current – and who can sail the fastest in the prevailing conditions.
Watch the YB Trackers closely as I am not yet convinced that the positions mentioned above will be the same at the finish.
FOOTNOTE. As I concluded writing the above the trackers updated showing ‘CFM’ have altered course to close the coast, while ‘Bellatrix’ has done the opposite by gybing away from the coast.
The battleline shave been set.
Don’t stray or go away – stay glued to the trackers!
