Solan Ocean Racing

Cal and team GAMBIT CLASS40 have finished the Round Britain and Ireland race after 9 days 3 hours and

Day 8. And possibly the last for team Gambit. Both boats have entered the tactical battle in the north sea with 100s of exclusions.

Team Calanach MacDonell Finlayson on GAMBIT CLASS40:

"Day 8

This is a busy part of sea. Between wind farms, sand banks, traffic separation schemes, oil & gas platforms and general traffic, there's a lot to avoid. Routing is as much about optimising for instructions as for weather. 

Our little fleet of 3 came to a standstill at the edge of the Thames Estuary as expected. We were each separated by a few miles, just as we had been in the Celtic Sea almost a week ago. As is often the way in these situations, the first to get moving can extend on those still stuck. So it was that Swift and Penfret got a jump on us. Now we 150NM to go and 7NM to catch the leaders. Can it be done? Moderate westerly breeze is expected along the south coast, giving us an upwind slog to the finish. A drastic change from the race so far!"

Team Maggie Adamson on :

"Day 8
We’ve started to see the North Sea getting busier and every gybe has a few more oil rigs to avoid.
We’re still VMG downwind spinnaker sailing and our unfortunate highlight for today was in the early hours of this morning our spinnaker wrapped itself around the forestay. This has happened before and usually with a gybe or two you can manipulate the twists out but in this case it only made it worse and it was so tightly twisted at the top of the mast the halyard wouldn’t come down.
I really didn’t want this to be the end of our race so got the harness on and went for a trip up the mast.
The top set of spreaders were at the right height for standing on while I pulled the twists out of the kite.
Safely back on deck, we lowered the sail, took the remaining twists out and hoisted it straight back again.
Unfortunately Griffin overtook us in our dancing about the North Sea but we’re back in catch up mode…again!"

With both boats around shetland it in now the long trip back through the north sea:

Team Calanach MacDonell Finlayson on GAMBIT CLASS40:

After 1800nm of tight racing all the class 40 boats are with 4 miles of each over, cal is currently engaged in a very tactical battle with SWIFT.

Team Maggie Adamson on :

"Sorry just come off watch.

Day number ? I’ve lost track a bit but it’s a great day because we rounded Muckle Flugga!

We managed to just sneak around before the total shutdown this morning and was very grateful for tide being in our favour.
It was pretty cool too to see a couple of boats venture out from Baltasound to come and wave hello too. Unfortunately we couldn’t accept the offer of a freshly cooked Sunday roast dinner though for fear of breaking the rules!
We’re in a better place today now sailing downwind with the A2 in very light pressure down the east side of shetland and have caught up to be within battling distance again of the pack ahead.
Bring on the second half of the race"

What a race with Cal passing Muckle Flugga late last night on Gambit and Maggie to pass her home land of Shetland in the next 24 hours it's safe to say the teams are over halfway through the event:

Team Calanach MacDonell Finlayson on GAMBIT CLASS40:

"Day 6

"Mega send" just about sums it up. A full day of blast reaching with the code zero, dodging oil rigs along the way. The North Sea is a busy place and a stark contrast to the empty wilderness of the Atlantic. Swift are hot on our heels."

Team Maggie Adamson on :

"Brilliant sailing today, loved it! Fast and furious with the spinnaker aiming to get miles in west before the wind will head us and we will have to go down to jib. Without the code sail we will be a bit hampered but will make the most of what we’ve got.

It’s nice seeing shetland on the chart plotter again, it’s awesome getting to do a race so close to home, just shame we can’t stop!"



(Admin had more time to make this post look good)

With both teams quickly making their way to shetland the race is still snakes and ladders:

Team Calanach MacDonell Finlayson on GAMBIT CLASS40:

"Day 5

We passed Rona (aka North Rona) this morning; the most isolated island in the British Isles to have had a long term population. What must once have been someone's entire world was just another mark on the course during our flying tour of northwest Scotland.

The first half of the north sea promises to be equally quick and will be a one sided drag race.

And if you've been following the tracker, we may finally have pulled a move to put us back in touch with Swift here. Watch this space."

Team Maggie Adamson on :

"Sadly Tigris had a inopportune moment with there code zero as it blew up this morning meaning they had to peel to jib giving the rest of the fleet a opportunity to catch them up." Admin