The Three Peaks Yacht Race
Wise Guys Arrive as Leaders Pick up Speed
Rob Howard / 21.06.2005
“We had some adventures there?� he said, “and tried rowing, but we kept getting swept back by the tide. In the end I anchored going 5 knots, and I’ve never done that before!� His runners gave an optimistic time of 7 hours for the Scafell stage, but after talking to the marshals realized they were realistically going to take 10-12 hours, so it will be 7 or 8 pm tonight before Wise Guys sets off again.
It had been a busy night with many teams out on the mountain, returning in the early hours of the morning. The runners from Paget’s Lady were overtaken by Mew Gull and Galahad after going astray and missing the Wasdale checkpoint, though no one is quite sure where they went!
Galahad’s runners put in a good time of 9 hours 45 minutes, with Derek Scott performing well. He’d been doubtful about racing after suffering a nasty car accident and is racing with bruised legs and doing well. Huckleberry Friend took the longest on this stage at 13 hours 41 minutes and came back carrying one pedal in their hands! Luckily, the final section of the route is mostly downhill and they were able to coast and tow in.
At the front of the race the leaders had a close contest all last night, with little between them. The latest report (11.am) is that Vlad the Impaler has rounded the Mull of Kintyre in the lead after going close inshore (about 200m) and making 6 or 7 tacks. They are sailing in a north-westerly wind making 6 to 7 knots. Abbeydale Moonshine is about a mile behind them struggling to get round the Mull having caught a foul tide and Sanderling is in sight also. Visibility is superb (teams can see Jura on the horizon) and it’s a bright sunny day, so the teams are enjoying perfect sailing conditions.
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