The Varvassi

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dutts

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Hello

Just wondered if anyone knows how many boats had problems with the wreck during the RTIR. I know of at least one retirement (our sister yacht )

It was my first time round the Needles, and the skipper took us a lot closer than I had thought (feared). Anybody else go inside the wreck and how do you know where it is?

BTW Nice to see the lifeboat waiting behind the Needles just in case.
 
I wasn't there this year, but it's a bit of a testosterone thing among the hairy buttocked racers to try and go inside the wreck. Saw Bruno Troublé sink a French Admiral's Cupper on it once (think the boat was Coyote). Just a mast sticking out of the water as we went past a few minutes later. Marked the wreck well. I thought.

One year they put a buoy west of the wreck as a turning mark, to force everybody outside. Unfortunately the buoy dragged and wazzed off downtide into Christchurch Bay, followed by 2000 yots, so they never tried that again.

I know how to miss the wreck by going just outside it, but don't know of any way of making sure you're safely inside it, though nowadays a good GPS/chartplotter should do the trick.
 
Thanks for the info and the laughs....

The GPS was fine to a point but I'm not sure if the wreck marker on it covers only part of it or the whole area affected by the 4 main bits left. We passed between the two wreck markers on the GPS without any trouble but I guess you never know just how close you are.
 
I followed advice from fellow club members, and used a chart plotter as back-up. Seriously close to the lighthouse and Goose Rock. Anyone wanting a good place has to cut that corner though, especially as the tide is running so quickly. Given the number of accidents, it must be worth insurers clubbing together to lift the damn thing! The ISC should put another mark down with more weight.
 
IIRC about this time last year someone posted a brilliant shot of one of the RNLI crewmen standing on the thing at LW, water to his ankles and the lifeboat between him and the lighthouse. Couldn't find it by searching, SWMBO refuses to believe and I'm not bumping the wreck to make the point:-)
 
Hi - am doing the RTI for the first time & wondered: you old hands (especially those who have determined that three is the maximum number of times it's sensible to compete!) ... do any of you have a copy of "Winning Tides" or "Winning Knowledge" I could borrow for a few days? :-)
 
how many times are you going round if you want it for a few days ? the finish line shut off is 2200 this year /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

seriously surprised that non of the yachting mags don't have a guide in the latest issue.
 
Re: The Varvassi RNLI photo

This one?

10f8h8g.jpg
 
This must be a record for resurecting an old thread...

I think the sunk French Admirals cupper was Xeryus? Or some such spelling, black topside with shiney lettering? I remember the mast sticking up and the crew swimming about.
 
One year, I was driving the MBM boat with photographers on board. We were by the Needles, and 5 sailing boats in quick succession hit the wreck. The bang of each strike was unbelievably loud! Eventually, the RNLI stationed a RIB over the wreck to stop boats from hitting it. Seemed unfair to previous boats to have done this.
 
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