RTI this Saturday

[Mark-1]

It’s not exactly chicken to turn around with 54kn showing on live data. Very relieved to see some sensible behaviour. We wouldn’t have started if we had entered. I think the 40ft ‘Harley’ and a 32 were the only Dragonflys to compete. Neither had a fast race

A yellow Dragonfly passed us going east as we were working West.

Quite an accurate report, certainly matches my experience of today:

54-knot winds severely deplete 2024 Round the Island Race fleet - Yachting World

 

[Never Grumble]

Seemed to be more boats heading east than west in the Solent when I looked on AIS midmorning.

Be interesting to see the figures on number entered, did not start, retired, etc. Just wondering whether this has been the worst year.

at the moment 128 finishers + 1 DSQ/OCS out of 939 entries loads of RET/DNC dont think there is many left out there now.

 

[dunedin]

Must be gutting for the IRC boat listed as XWL - had to look that one up. Having battled all the way round they were disqualified as they went through the wrong finishing line. I guess would be very tired, the paper SIs a paper pulp and perhaps all the electronic gadgets either sealed in waterproof containers or expired.
EDIT - looks like Redress must have been given (after a hearing?) as the XWL has disappeared and the number of finishers increased by 1, which sounds like a good outcome

 

[dunedin]

Some photos here - Tom Hicks 2024 Round the Island Race Photo Gallery

 

[flaming]

That was interesting…

At times I was thinking “wtf are we doing here?” And at other times “holy smokes this is fun!”
Those times could be as little as 10s apart.

We had a largely drama free lap. Biggest mishap was as we were about to round the needles. The mainsheet trimmer fell off his seat into the tiller which caused a crash tack with the jib pinned and dumped all the crew on the rail waist deep in the water. Which made them quite cross. One lifejacket inflated at that point.

The only other issue was putting a hole in the J4 with the pulpit on the reach to the forts. Otherwise no dramas.

We left the kite in the bag. I did try and persuade the crew that we could pop the little one… But then we watched the 1030 “Il Corvo” hoist. For about a minute they must have been doing over 20 knots. Then they weren’t…. At that point my wife declared that my choice was leaving the kite in the bag or getting a divorce.

Fair play to Orbit, I don’t know what they hoisted but looking at the tracker they must have hoisted something as they just blasted past us in a way that the other 3300s didn’t. Hold a kite on a day like today and you deserve a big cup.
We actually got to the finish thinking we were fighting for the class win, as they were so far gone we hadn’t noticed them. Weird to be disappointed with 2nd in class and group and 11th overall. By a big distance our best ever, but it wasn’t until we looked at the results after the race that we found Orbit had passed us. We hadn’t seen them since Hurst, when they were well behind.
But hey/ho. Fair play to them. Some big names behind us in the results so on reflection, and after a beer or 2, I’m pretty pleased.

Highest wind speed we saw was 37kts. Top boat speed was 19.7.

The spray on the reach to st cats was mad. Regularly hitting 16kts and getting “firehosed”. Never had that before!

 

[Wandering Star]

Well done indeedy! I’m not into racing AT ALL, but 11th overall seems quite a remarkable achievement out of 900+ potential starters and 140+finshers. What class of boat do you sail out of interest?

 

[Chiara’s slave]

That explains you doing 3kn for a bit at the needles. Very well sailed, guys. I spoke to a multihull crew, apparently the bear off at the needles was their big moment

 

[doris]

That was interesting…

At times I was thinking “wtf are we doing here?” And at other times “holy smokes this is fun!”
Those times could be as little as 10s apart.

We had a largely drama free lap. Biggest mishap was as we were about to round the needles. The mainsheet trimmer fell off his seat into the tiller which caused a crash tack with the jib pinned and dumped all the crew on the rail waist deep in the water. Which made them quite cross. One lifejacket inflated at that point.

The only other issue was putting a hole in the J4 with the pulpit on the reach to the forts. Otherwise no dramas.

We left the kite in the bag. I did try and persuade the crew that we could pop the little one… But then we watched the 1030 “Il Corvo” hoist. For about a minute they must have been doing over 20 knots. Then they weren’t…. At that point my wife declared that my choice was leaving the kite in the bag or getting a divorce.

Fair play to Orbit, I don’t know what they hoisted but looking at the tracker they must have hoisted something as they just blasted past us in a way that the other 3300s didn’t. Hold a kite on a day like today and you deserve a big cup.
We actually got to the finish thinking we were fighting for the class win, as they were so far gone we hadn’t noticed them. Weird to be disappointed with 2nd in class and group and 11th overall. By a big distance our best ever, but it wasn’t until we looked at the results after the race that we found Orbit had passed us. We hadn’t seen them since Hurst, when they were well behind.
But hey/ho. Fair play to them. Some big names behind us in the results so on reflection, and after a beer or 2, I’m pretty pleased.

Highest wind speed we saw was 37kts. Top boat speed was 19.7.

The spray on the reach to st cats was mad. Regularly hitting 16kts and getting “firehosed”. Never had that before!

Brilliant effort sir. V well done.
Next time maybe some ski goggles!!!

 

[flaming]

That explains you doing 3kn for a bit at the needles. Very well sailed, guys. I spoke to a multihull crew, apparently the bear off at the needles was their big moment

I’m surprised we were going that fast to be honest….
Was not a nice moment pinned with the jib on the wrong side and all the crew basically in the water.
Luckily I have some very very competent people on board, putting it mildly, and it got sorted quickly.

 

[jlavery]

That was interesting…

At times I was thinking “wtf are we doing here?” And at other times “holy smokes this is fun!”
Those times could be as little as 10s apart.

We had a largely drama free lap. Biggest mishap was as we were about to round the needles. The mainsheet trimmer fell off his seat into the tiller which caused a crash tack with the jib pinned and dumped all the crew on the rail waist deep in the water. Which made them quite cross. One lifejacket inflated at that point.

The only other issue was putting a hole in the J4 with the pulpit on the reach to the forts. Otherwise no dramas.

We left the kite in the bag. I did try and persuade the crew that we could pop the little one… But then we watched the 1030 “Il Corvo” hoist. For about a minute they must have been doing over 20 knots. Then they weren’t…. At that point my wife declared that my choice was leaving the kite in the bag or getting a divorce.

Fair play to Orbit, I don’t know what they hoisted but looking at the tracker they must have hoisted something as they just blasted past us in a way that the other 3300s didn’t. Hold a kite on a day like today and you deserve a big cup.
We actually got to the finish thinking we were fighting for the class win, as they were so far gone we hadn’t noticed them. Weird to be disappointed with 2nd in class and group and 11th overall. By a big distance our best ever, but it wasn’t until we looked at the results after the race that we found Orbit had passed us. We hadn’t seen them since Hurst, when they were well behind.
But hey/ho. Fair play to them. Some big names behind us in the results so on reflection, and after a beer or 2, I’m pretty pleased.

Highest wind speed we saw was 37kts. Top boat speed was 19.7.

The spray on the reach to st cats was mad. Regularly hitting 16kts and getting “firehosed”. Never had that before!

Sounds interesting! Sort of hard one regarding kite (or maybe not) - definitely 'hero or zero' on a day like today. The 109 I've raced on a lot, with a very good crew, we might have put one up, but also it's about surviving and not hurting people (and I'm armchair commenting having not been out there).

Might have missed in previous posts/elsewhere - what class is you boat?

 

[flaming]

Sounds interesting! Sort of hard one regarding kite (or maybe not) - definitely 'hero or zero' on a day like today. The 109 I've raced on a lot, with a very good crew, we might have put one up, but also it's about surviving and not hurting people (and I'm armchair commenting having not been out there).

Might have missed in previous posts/elsewhere - what class is you boat?

We’re a JPK1010.

All of the 109s left theirs in the bag today! As did the only Cape31 that went round.

 

[jlavery]

We’re a JPK1010.

All of the 109s left theirs in the bag today! As did the only Cape31 that went round.

Sounds sensible! Was going to ask how many kites you actually saw!?

 

[dunedin]

We’re a JPK1010.

All of the 109s left theirs in the bag today! As did the only Cape31 that went round.

I was going to ask about what the Cape’s did - as pretty much all professionals on board. Must have been wild if they didnt pop a kite up. Still pretty fast circuit for a 31 footer.

 

[bedouin]

Must be gutting for the IRC boat listed as XWL - had to look that one up. Having battled all the way round they were disqualified as they went through the wrong finishing line. I guess would be very tired, the paper SIs a paper pulp and perhaps all the electronic gadgets either sealed in waterproof containers or expired.

I was listed as XWL one year - even though I wasn't (I think they must have mistaken which class we were in).

We were "reinstated" but the official results still had us as XWL

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Sounds sensible! Was going to ask how many kites you actually saw!?

None at all to be seen as the fleet passed us in Freshwater bay

 

[dunedin]

Huge congratulations to all finishers - and I hope those who retired were not too battered, in body and/or boat.

So looks like now 154 finishers listed - is that a record low in modern records?
Good so see many of the standard AWB / cruisers completing the course, albeit not winning the trophies - Jeanneau Deck Saloon, smallish Oceanis, Moody etc.

 

[MikeBz]

Hats off to all who got round, but especially the smaller boats - I notice that a couple of Contessa 26s, a Moody 28 and a Sadler 29 all finished.

 

[Mark-1]

Scroll down for a pretty dramatic photo of a MOB yesterday.

https://www.facebook.com/100064506109594/posts/pfbid0H3BznA2btbHpyHMvKv8tkPaUtm9odeuXxxtaLibL8m6gomxmGViwBZmQG97cWxrXl

Hats off to all who got round, but especially the smaller boats - I notice that a couple of Contessa 26s, a Moody 28 and a Sadler 29 all finished.

Yeah, they are the heroes. For us, the stronger wind came in with the cloud (front?) half way up the leg to the Needles. So faster boats with early starts saw little or none of the strong wind until they are already heading East.

The slower boats/boats with later starts had to fight their way all the way to the needles and were in a very different, and much harder race IMHO.

 

[doris]

That was interesting…

At times I was thinking “wtf are we doing here?” And at other times “holy smokes this is fun!”
Those times could be as little as 10s apart.

We had a largely drama free lap. Biggest mishap was as we were about to round the needles. The mainsheet trimmer fell off his seat into the tiller which caused a crash tack with the jib pinned and dumped all the crew on the rail waist deep in the water. Which made them quite cross. One lifejacket inflated at that point.

The only other issue was putting a hole in the J4 with the pulpit on the reach to the forts. Otherwise no dramas.

We left the kite in the bag. I did try and persuade the crew that we could pop the little one… But then we watched the 1030 “Il Corvo” hoist. For about a minute they must have been doing over 20 knots. Then they weren’t…. At that point my wife declared that my choice was leaving the kite in the bag or getting a divorce.

Fair play to Orbit, I don’t know what they hoisted but looking at the tracker they must have hoisted something as they just blasted past us in a way that the other 3300s didn’t. Hold a kite on a day like today and you deserve a big cup.
We actually got to the finish thinking we were fighting for the class win, as they were so far gone we hadn’t noticed them. Weird to be disappointed with 2nd in class and group and 11th overall. By a big distance our best ever, but it wasn’t until we looked at the results after the race that we found Orbit had passed us. We hadn’t seen them since Hurst, when they were well behind.
But hey/ho. Fair play to them. Some big names behind us in the results so on reflection, and after a beer or 2, I’m pretty pleased.

Highest wind speed we saw was 37kts. Top boat speed was 19.7.

The spray on the reach to st cats was mad. Regularly hitting 16kts and getting “firehosed”. Never had that before!

Ed. How did you share the helming? I can’t believe even a man of steel like you drove the whole way.

 

[doris]

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