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Race on Ben Nevis for Second Place

Rob Howard / 27.06.2007

In a burst of sunshine between heavy showers Nunatak was the second yacht to come into sight from the finish at Corpach. They were rowing and it was soon clear why there was such urgency - only a few minutes later Lightning Relex came up under sail behind them. With both pairs of runners set down so close together they were going to be racing on Ben Nevis for second and third place.

To the crew on Nunatak, seeing the Reflex coming up behind them has been the story of their race since Whitehaven. “We were well ahead rounding the Mull of Kintyre but then when we came up the Sound of Jura we hit a huge wind hole and stopped dead for hours on end, “said Mike Jaques. “Then we saw Lightning Reflex coming up behind us and there was nothing we could do!�

“We managed to pull ahead of them again, hoping to give our runners a head start on the mountain, but coming up Loch Linnhe we lost the wind and they caught us again!�

After days of racing, rough weather and little or no sleep, and having twice thought they were clear in second place, it was soul destroying for Nunatak to have to row towards the finish line with their rivals so close behind them again. They knew too that Lighting Reflex’s runners have so been much quicker.

Geoff West, skipper of Lightning Reflex described the other side of the story. “We had a beat round the Mull of Kintyre but passing Gigha island the sea mist was down and we were sailing blind, with no idea where any other teams were. Then coming up the Sound of Jura we could see a sail and thought it was just a local boat, but it was Nunatak. We could see the wind hole they were in, and the stream of wind we were in!�

“At the Corran Narrows they pulled a flier and found some tide we didn’t, but we caught them in Loch Linnhe.�

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