The Three Peaks Yacht Race 2016
A Tough Night on Scafell Pike
Rob Howard / 14.06.2016
With the return of the runners from ‘If Not Now, Then When’ to the marshals caravan at Whitehaven this morning all the mountain runners were safely back to complete stage 2 of the race. The last team were in no hurry to get going after their run in pouring rain and cold conditions overnight ... showers and breakfast were much more important.
Several teams had found the second running stage pushed them to their absolute limits. The SUOTC pair took 13 hours and came back weary but intact. Kat Burleigh had fallen a couple of times on the ride out along the rough track through Ennerdale – not surprisingly as they were on road bikes on forest track and she is not a very experienced cyclist and not used to clip-on pedals! From then the pair were slow and steady and the team are still in with a chance of the Tilman Trophy win.
They did at least have the better of the afternoon and evening weather but in the early hours there were torrential downpours again for several hours. This affected the runners from Arup and Over who went the wrong way in Wasdale and after finding their way back to the marshals at Wasdale Head Inn they were taken by car back to Whitehaven a bit cold and disoriented. The team are going to carry on with the race up to Fort William, but are officially unranked now.
The other retirement earlier in the day were Team Excellence. Everyone had been impressed to see they picked up speed and rejoined the race after going around Anglesey, but it turned out they were motoring! Having an un-rowable boat and the strange weather conditions this year meant they could not make progress under sail, but they too are continuing with the race route and will sail/motor up to Fort William and complete the running stages. They are in good spirits and enjoying the race.
The Sail4Cancer team have been finding how tough the race is when you get your timings wrong, and twice been held back by low water at the Whitehaven lock (both coming in and going out). Traharn Chidley had her own problems when setting off as she’d lost a running shoe! It couldn’t be found and she set off from Black Sail Youth Hostel wearing one bike shoe and one trainer! She said she was trying to place her bike shoe carefully so as not to slip on the wet rocks! Luckily the marshals at Wasdale Head Inn found her a pair of trainers to fit and she could continue without wearing the bike shoe, having a much easier time of it.
The race now switches back to some intense coastal sailing through the Inner Hebrides and with upwind conditions its turning into a very tactical and close race in which several teams could still win. (Keep watching those trackers!)
SleepMonsters
