I probably spend too much time looking back. I have a large collection of yachting books. My particular favorites are log books, unedited first hand accounts of events.
Here we see that “Fleur de Lys” the smallest boat in the 1905 transatlantic race, finished in 14 days. On “Snow Lion” in 2011 it took us the better part of 16 days.
Rambler 100 was first to finish and set the course record. Her passage is sharp contrast to our crossing.
closing on the finish transatlantic race 2011 from ws lirakis on Vimeo.
words to live by; from the port watch
transatlantic race 2011 from ws lirakis on Vimeo.
15 hours of video compressed into 1 1/2 minutes.
So I just finished a fully crewed transatlantic race. big deal. This is a bit of humble pie
My thoughts work backwards; the most recent first. I did not suffer from Channel Fever during the closing days of this race. I would not allow myself. Upon finishing however I allowed myself the luxury of thinking about a bacon baguette at Tiffin’s in Cowes.
The finish was at the Lizard, Cornwall, 150 miles from the dock in Cowes.
We finished at about 5 o’clock in the morning and arrived in Cowes just past midnight; in time for last call. The following morning after a shower and shave, it was off to Tiffin’s where I savored just such as delight along with a large coffee.
There are more stories connected to this adventure. Some appropriate to be repeated and some that will remain on the boat.
I am back in front of my computer. Leaving behind the routine that my body had come to recognize as normal. I lost some weight, not unexpected. Now I must reset to land.
Every transatlantic race is a unique experience. This one was no different. Perhaps the most remarkable circumstance was how the Azores and Bermuda Highs dominated the Atlantic. I have never sailed the north atlantic like this. The water temperature was much warmer than expected, and the sea state was more calm than I ever would have expected. The race certainly did not meet my pre-race predictions.
Our start on June 29th from Castle Hill in Newport and finishing off the Lizard in southwest England approximately 150 miles from the dock. Our elapsed time was 15 days 11 hours 23 minutes and 23 seconds. The stated distance of the course was 2975 miles. I know we sailed quite a lot further. Picking our route was the true challenge for the race. The winners did a better job than we. “Carina” sailed a brilliant race and was still beaten in the end by Bill Hubbard’s “Dawn Star”. Full results HERE.
“Snow Lion” is always a pleasure to sail. We had moments, I hit 22 knots once; the high of the race. We had only 3 days with runs over 200 miles. We needed more of those days if we were to win the race.
