The Three Peaks Yacht Race
Coming and Going ... and Staying Still
Rob Howard / 19.06.2013
With the leaders now moored in the Loch Basin at Corpach the race continued into Wednesday afternoon with Flycatcher and 1RTR finishing in 5th and 6th place. Flycatcher had a fast sail to Fort William and arrived just ahead of Moby J, though their runners were not as quick on the mountain.
In a race where there are several teams with family members taking part together, and Flycatcher was also a family affair. The skipper is Henry Clay, and with him were two married couples, his son Ed and daughter-in-law Megan, and Alistair and Sam Rose. All had experience of previous races, Henry on the winning boat in 1994, and several of the team raced on Stormwind last year, which was a warm up for this year’s attempt.
The team raced for the Tilman Trophy with the couples racing together on the mountains, and on Ben Nevis it was Sam and Alistair Rose who completed the race for the team in 5th place in a time of 4 days 1 hour and 10 minutes. Unofficially they were also second in the Tilman Trophy, and it looks likely their sailing time for the final leg of 44 hours 40 minutes will also be the quickest. (The race winners Dido took 51 hours 11 minutes.) They will get their share of the trophies at the prize giving dinner later in the year!
The 1RTR team were next to finish and the runners were met by their support crew and team on the finish line. Speaking to crewman John Scott I asked how the military team worked together aboard and he replied; “During the race we were all on first name terms and rank didn’t come into it as we had all ranks from trooper to Lt. Colonel on board." Scott was the only one not to run, as the team took 3rd in the Tilman Trophy, and in the morning he sets sail back to the army sailing club base in Gosport with a return crew.
The runners for Ben Nevis were Darren Bradley and Danny Pots, and Potts described Ben Nevis as “a nightmare mountain!” He was complimentary about the race, saying, “its an amazing experience”, then added, “but don’t ask me to do it again just now!”
Next to finish were Questar, but the news after that is not so positive as the back of the field has continued to be plagued by light or no winds and remain a long way from Fort William. Pears n’Peaks have now joined Driac at the back of the race and they are still trying to get around the Mull of Galloway, while Westholme Warriors have been stuck for a long time off the Mull of Kintyre.
Young Guns have also now officially withdrawn and gone into Stranraer, but most of the team are going to drive to Fort William so they can complete the climb of Ben Nevis.
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