Category Archive

I am sitting on a train on route back to Suffolk. By now NINJOD should be safely tucked up inside the inner marina at port pendennis. I have a bag full of pills and a dose of pneumonia. Everybody tells me I have got off lightly and that I am lucky. Yet, as I look at the AZAB website and see the other competitors adventures unfold, I can’t help but feel terribly unlucky.

Bob Orchard came onto the boat yesterday with his electrical wizardry and has hopefully gotten to the bottom of my power issues. The main relay switch for all instruments was at fault ( due in part to water ingress), there is also a question mark over the power terminals on an NMEA mux which I will now replace.

I really cannot stress how remarkable the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club and it’s members are. A special mention needs to go out to Neil and Julie who have both been super supportive in ferrying me back and forth between the doctors and the hospital during the last couple of days.

The doctors and consultants have told me to steer clear of boats for at least a few weeks while I heal. Ironically I was told they had found a “sail sign” on my chest x-ray. So, in a few weeks time it’ll be back down to Falmouth for a comfortable cruise home I hope, in the mean time…”WANTED..NEXT ADVENTURE”.

Paul

I managed to grab some video during my asym shenanigans before it all went wrong and thought I’d share it.

The makeshift halyard bags were a last addition minute addition that kept some of the water out of the boat (only some !!)..

In other news after visits to the doctors and hospital yesterday I have just had a call from the hospital. Turns out that they think I now have pneumonia and I have to go back to docs/hospital today.. Blast !

Another broken Selden car..

I called Joel at NKE this morning and spent 1o minutes taking him through everything. We reset a number of units on the bus and then scratched our heads some more as to why the system is tripping out and shutting down. Going to try and track down Mark Wylie next…

I have sent the picture above in another email to Selden. 4 cars down now.. What can I say? There is no way I could have stood at the mast, dropping the sail to replace this in those conditions without the aid of a pilot. If anyone has any thoughts please do comment. I am especially keen to hear from anyone who has these cars and has had issues.

Shower next and then the doctors..

It’s 00:30 and I am now just tied up in Falmouth. To demonstrate further the amazing commitment that the Royal Cornwall yacht club and it’s members have to this race I was greeted by a rib at black rock with Peter (the commodore) and Neil (our host) on board. Neil came on board and they led me in.

1st port of call tomorrow is a doctors then I will worry about the electronics.

Now for some sleep.

I just had a call from Paul, who is currently contending with intermittent power failure. Unfortunately during the first failure all of the electronics, including the autopilot, went off and the boat crash gybed. This resulted in a broken mainsail and will probably ultimately result in his retirement from this race. The power continues to come and go, and seems to fail when under load, so Paul has switched to the back-up pilot, which uses less power but is struggling to cope with the seas. He is also quite concerned about getting any rest without being able to rely on a pilot. This is a major blow after so much preparation.

a4 kite up, 15 knots tws at 130 deg. 9 knots SOG.. lovely..

this is just super stuff. must remember to drop it in a sensible fashion

Current Position:
49 00’26.31 N, 007 29’29.32 W
11-06-05 10:58:35 +0100 +0000

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the start was very slow.. little wind and i found myself wishing i had a bigger headsail. slowly the wind built and backed and we are now making reasonable speeds towards the azores. the wind gen seems to take its toll on my boatspeed but on the plus side it makes a nice noise.

am in the company of some other competitors.called a ship up after looking at ais and the chap kindly changed course for me. AIS rocks..

all well on board

thanks again for all the messages.

current situaltion .
15 knots tws
7 knots bsp
1092 nm to go..

P

The start took place in light fickle winds. The promise of a heavy downwind start was out of the window, but it still looked like it might be asymmetric – or code zero – territory. Paul had the latter rigged and I assume was due to unfurl it as he crossed the line. He got a good start, crossing the line third in his class, but the breeze had shifted and if was a definite white sail start. Paul quickly hoisted the headsail and maintained his third spot for as far as I could see him. By the time the slow boats started it was a dead beat across the line, but shortly afterwards a few kites went up ahead. It looks like a frustrating few hours will be had by all with several sail changes until the breeze settles in. I will update the site if I hear from Paul as the race goes on. J

Sitting on board running through weather forecasts and catching up with emails. The race briefing was at 12:00 and all went off without a hitch. A local BBC weather forecaster gave the competitors another opinion on what the first few days of the race would be like. In summary, down wind and windy.

I haven’t seen some of the people that are here since the last race back in 2007, yet as is always the way with these events, everyone seems to just get on and all are super friendly. This email/blog is serving as a test of my sat phone email to blog shenanigans. Fingers crossed it all now works..

Thanks for all the lovely messages we have been receiving.

Don’t forget… All the competitors carry trackers and the race website (http://www.azab2011.co.uk) will keep you up to date on where everyone is.

The plan is for a nice meal this evening..Race day looms..

Paul