The Three Peaks Yacht Race
Father and Son Race Off at the 3 Peaks Yacht Race
Press Release / 11.06.2013
Sailors and athletes who are looking for adventure will descend on Barmouth in the next week or so for the Barmouth to Fort William Three Peaks Yacht Race on 15th June. There are fifteen entries this year. Some have competed several times before, but for many this is their first attempt at the race.
Now in its 36th year this classic sporting event will challenge the fifteen intrepid teams to sail from Barmouth on June 15th, heading for Fort William and carrying runners who will scale the highest peaks of Wales, England and Scotland on the way. The boats will leave the harbour in procession, led by the Barmouth RNLI All Weather Lifeboat at 1.00 pm for the start at a point out at sea at 2.00 pm.
There will be plenty going on around the quayside on race day with music, stalls and a Birds of Prey display by the Airborne Warriors.
This year’s entry includes teams from a variety of backgrounds with a father and son competing against each other on different boats. David Reynolds, skipper of Fire Dancer, a Bermudian Sloop, will be competing against his son Henry on Young Guns. Fire Dancer’s team range in ages from 19 to 60 while the team on Young Guns has an average age of just 20.
Stuart Lewis of Westholme Warriors, is the headmaster of Westholme Boys' Junior School and is hoping to inspire the whole school community by taking part. The race will also be used to stimulate the pupils’ learning and he hopes they will be encouraged to take on challenges which stretch their perceived capabilities.
As usual there are some familiar faces. This is a sixth entry for John Donnelly on White Clouds while Martin Pound, of Moby J, who has had four previous entries, thinks that being one of the smallest boats is always fun hopes to try and ‘give the bigger yachts a run for their money.
Those who successfully reach the finish will have sailed 389 nautical miles, risking sandbanks, rocks and fierce tides. The three sailors aboard will get little rest as the race is continuous, and the two athletes in the team must complete 72 miles of running with 14,000 feet of climbing to reach the summits of Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis. They also have a thirteen-mile cycle ride at both the start and finish of the route to Scafell Pike, which is longest land leg in the race. That is no easy task when you may have to run at night, unsteady on your feet due to sea sickness and having had little sleep.
Each year huge sums are raised for various charities and this year is no exception. Teams are raising funds for the Childrens’ Ward at Bury St Edmunds Hospital, the cancer charity Odyssey, Riding for the Disabled, Help for Heroes, Kidney Research UK, the Jubilee Sailing Trust, and the Greenhouse Project for underprivileged children in London - helping them get into sport and stay off the streets.
You can follow the race on SleepMonsters and through the race website, which has live tracking, at http://www.threepeaksyachtrace.co.uk/
SleepMonsters
