The 40th Three Peaks Yacht Race
Ten Boats Continue From Whitehaven
Rob Howard / 20.06.2017
It was busy night and early morning in Whitehaven with most of the race boats setting off for the final stage on Tuesday morning, but without the prospect of much wind to speed them towards Fort William and the finish.
Hare Hill had left at 05.05 in the morning after an arduous trip out and back to Scafell Pike for Pip Hare. When I saw here on Scafell Pike she was moving steadily but slowly, managed a smile but it was fleeting and then it was head down again. She finished looking very exhausted and said she thought she had dozed off on her bike ‘for a microsecond’. Fortunately she didn’t fall off. In the end the stage took the double handed team a creditable 9 hours and 2 minutes and they are now on their way to Scotland.
They left on the tide with Aurora, Wild Spirit and Ajax. Mystery II of Meon and Chemsol followed a little later in the morning. In the light winds their positions have remained virtually unchanged as they round the Mull of Galloway.
If you are watching the trackers you will see one other boat has left, and that is Mammoths, who set off around 10.00am. They have had a turbulent race and are showing great spirit in keeping going. After passing Bardsey Head on the first leg, and while trying to retrieve a fallen spinnaker in rough tidal conditions Anthony Hornidge fell overboard. He was rescued by the boat but spent 10 minutes in the water and was subsequently taken into the nearest RNLI station and to hospital for precautionary checks.
The team continued without him and Helen Lawson had to take his place for the run up Snowdon with her son. In the Lake District it was father and son who tackled the mountain, with Angus Lawson and 20 year old Max Lawson completing the Scafell Pike stage in 12 hours 7 minutes. By this time Anthony was back with them and after some discussion the whole team set off together once again for the final stage.
For Wight Rose Whitehaven was to be the end of their race. Kees de Walle had already had to pull out due to family circumstances, they’d missed the tide again and other commitments for the runners meant couldn’t commit to the last stage. Alex Pilkington needed to attend the funeral of a close friend and Pavel Paloncy had another race to go to. The weather promised only a slow sail and they opted to withdraw. As Geoff West said to me, “There is always next year.”
This left only the Ultimate Direction team in Whitehaven. They had set off and returned to Whitehaven last night and this morning set off for Scafell Pike once again to give it another go. They may be a long behind but they are giving it their all and not giving up!
SleepMonsters
