Beeline finished and the boys did a fantastic final run of 4 hours 6 min. The sun came out especially for the victory photo. Final finish was at about 10:40 this morning. Kate will write a proper report when she has had a much needed sleep. (posted by Lucy)

Kate says...
"Kelly helmed past Corryvreckan. Hoping to get through luing. All cheery. Much Giggling."
The wind has come up and boats are now landing at Corpach thick and fast with 5th place due to be decided by the runners. Beeline should be due in the early hours of tomorrow depending on the wind and tides. (posted by Lucy)

up mast

The promised picture of Kate retrieving the halyard from up the mast somewhere in the Irish sea

Jura

Beeline is flying her spinnaker in the sun as they sail up the sound of Jura and making excellent progress. Kate says that the Paps look lovely. The other good news is that the crew now have clean underwear.

Beeline is flying her spinnaker in the sun as they sail up the sound of Jura and making excellent progress now.
The picture is Andy looking nonchalant as Kelly steers us past the Corryvreckan Whirlpool behind him. It is a lovely evening and there is no menace which is a relief!

Andy, Ian and Kate are enjoying the sunset. Kate is apparently too tired to use verbs. hence the latest text...
"Squalls off portpatrick. Pot noodle and melon. Big Rainbow. Long night, lots of boats here!" An interesting food combination - they have promised to save some for the support team.

Two text updates from Kate. All sounding good...
"Mull of Galloway, chicken curry for lunch and Rod Stewart on the Hi Fi. All Well."
"Dundee cake and tea off galloway. Kelly getting a bit carried away. Many itunes."
They are well fed anyway!

Scafell

This was the big one, 17 cycle, mountain marathon, 17 miles cycle back. After egg sandwiches at Wasdale the boys ran up into the clouds and with only minor navigational issues did the job in fine style. They did the round trip out of Whitehaven in about 9 hours, partly fueled by flapjack made by the lovely Laura at the Wasdale marshals post. After a welcome shower for the boys, Beeline left Whitehaven lock at 23:45 for the long leg to Scotland. Photo is at Wasdale on the way back (posted by Lucy).

After crazy winds out of Barmouth, the wind dropped down to not much on the way to Whitehaven. They lost a halyard up the mast and Kate was pulled to the top to fetch it. It had to be done and fearless Kate didn't think twice about braving the heights! (pictures to follow). Kelly says Kate is going into Hyper-mode and they will Make her go below for a sleep soon. (posted by Lucy)
Pictures are:
Beeline at Britannia Bridge
Kate up mast in Irish Sea
Skipper concentrating at the Swellies Rock!

Once we got to Whitehaven we were delighted to sneak in with the keel raised and drop Steve and Andy at midday for an evening run. Tesco Wetherspoons and the laundry competed with he pleasure of a good sleep.

In the Sea Lock

Caernarfon

After what sounds like a very testing passage from Barmouth in big sea with most of the team offloading their lunch, Beeline arrived at the first stop in the early morning light. All looked relieved to have made it in one piece. three other boats have retired. The intrepid runners set off at 4:45 and did a cracking time of 5 hours, overtaking another team's pair on the road back into town. Beeline is now running in 21st, and on her way up the Straits. Photo is the 'after' shot with the runners looking happy t0 have one done. Hopefully better weather from now on (posted by Lucy)

Kate says: We dropped the runners and went to anchor and have a sleep but our short night was disturbed by the tide turning and the boat crashing into the Lucky Tarte. We moved offshore but then were alarmed to find we were dragging out to sea. Luckily this coincided with Steve and Andy returning and Kelly celebrated by making some fabulous fruit porridge which filled us all with warmth and energy ready for Menai.

The start

Beeline on her way out of harbour, and... they're off!
(posted by Lucy)

Kate says: This was quite alarming and we did wonder if we would get out of Barmouth in one piece as there were boats crashing towards us out of control in the breakers as we left harbour. We started with two reefs in the mainsail and a little jib but shortly after we put in a third reef for the first time ever. Chris Scanes made me some lovely sails for this race and the little working jib has become a firm favourite.
We had an excruciating thrash to windward which was nausea inducing and exhausting and most of us were sick. Kelly was a star as she stayed strong and looked after all of us with drinks and reminders to get below in the warm and take our Stugeron. It was a huge relief to turn the corner at Bardsey Head. Only for a minute though as we quickly fell into the race and had a washing machine experience that frightened even Bill Ricketts. But calm returned and the wind died down and we were able to recover as we approached Caernarfon Bar. Unnerved by the Life boat rescuing a fellow competitor we tiptoed in and dropped Steve and Andy at dawn. Leg one complete!

Filthy Weather

We slept badly on board due to a heavy swell and forty foot boats either end of us trying to pull Beeline in half. This morning the rain is lashing down and the wind is howling at 30 knots. It is forecast to improve and the sun should be shining tomorrow. We have given some thought to staying in Barmouth overnight and leaving at dawn! But more likely we will be well reefed and using our lovely new working jib Chris Scanes made for the occasion that has propelled us here so efficiently.
Breakfast in The Anchor Cafe was a Welsh Special and should last 36 hours or so. We have attended the team briefing and the photo call and are now pretty much ready for sea. It is already looking better than it did at 8am and at least I have got out of going up the mast again!
Yesterday I was surprised to be called by Radio Devon for an interview which was actually quite enjoyable. I explained we are supporting the Devon Air Ambulance and all donations are appreciated.
Next chance to update will probably be Whitehaven unless the dongle works and there is time in the Menai Straits. Keep watching our tracker number 1!

Messages to Teams

Current 2011 Entrants

• Beeline of Topsham
• Danu Technologies
• Eclipse
• Firefly
• First Love
• Flemish Lowlanders
• GFT
• Hereford Triathlon Club
• Kasuje III
• Kithros
• Madam Wen
• Moby J
• Peaks Addix
• Peaks and Pie
• Pears ‘n Peaks
• Predator
• Questar
• Satisfaction
• Team Adidas Terrex
• Team Cuddy
• Team Maybe
• Rogan Josh
• Team Shantih
• Team Torbellino
• Team Whistler
• Testa Rossa
• The Lucky Tartes
• Salty Peaknuts
• Thor
• White Clouds
• 4 Pies and a Pasty
• 47 Regt RA

Messages to Teams

Teams may not be "in contact" for much of the race because of the limitations of mobile coverage. If you want a guaranteed way to pass a message to a team you can do this by sending an E Mail to "marshal@3peaksyachtrace.co.uk. Your message must include "FOR [Name of Team] in the subject line. Messages will be handed to teams at Caernafon, Whitehaven and Corpach.

Team assembling

We left Topsham in the trusty Volvo at 5am. Picking up David and Chris en route we had an easy trip to Barmouth. Beeline was still where I left her, but another ten boats have arrived. Fourteen more are due in today, with lots of last minute sorting out to do.
Radio Devon rang and want to talk to us this afternoon. Everyone jumps smartly backwards so it may well be me that has to do the honours.
We are meeting the runners Steve and Andy with Lucy this evening and greatly looking forward to the famous pre race meal at Merioneth Yacht Club. Wendy and Norma, Dennis and Mike and Taf have already made us very welcome.
We will have all five of us on board tonight and heavy rain is expected. It will be very cosy. Kelly has said she would prefer to stay in the Volvo, maybe all week!

Tough Guys

After a forty eight hour trip we arrived at Barmouth in driving rain. While the Skipper cowered below burning toast and making tea the hardened crew were spotting marks and conning us into harbour.

Graham's sunset moment

Happy Graham enjoyed squeezing every last knot out of Beeline. He trimmed the sails and stayed upbeat and cheerful all the way!

Lori at Lands End

Lori planned our passage round Land's End brilliantly and having left Falmouth around 8am we were inside the Longships light with our spinnaker flying to catch the first of the north going tide in the Bristol Channel. Someone left a tea towel on the guard rail though, which lowered the tone a bit!

Passenger pigeon

When on passage across the Bristol Channel Lori and Graham picked up a hitch hiker. They fed and watered him/her and name him/her Ethel. The Skipper was not impressed at the addition to the crew that stayed for nearly 100 miles and contributed nothing but piles of green excrement. The unwanted crew member flew away without a word of thanks at Fishguard!

Scrutineering

After all the delivery crew had gone back on the train I cleaned Beeline thoroughly. Then I went through the Checklist and tied whistle and drogue (a tiny sea parachute) to the lifebuoy, put reflective tape on everything and madly labelled all the lockers on the boat so we can see where everything is in a hurry. All the stores are in labelled tupperware (eg Teabags, More Teabags, Sweets, Soup, Hot choc, Porridge etc.) We have Royal Marine ration packs and plenty of tinned stores so no real cooking needs to be done, just reheating and serving. At sea you need lots of hot comfort food and snacks but no-one much likes to have to prepare it so it has to be easy.
At 1030 the scrutineer arrived. It was Taffy John the Bootneck who is an old friend and we enjoyed a cup of tea and a chat as we went through the check list. It is his 70th birthday tomorrow so Many Happy Returns Taf! All was in order so I locked up the boat and went ashore with him to get home to Topsham for my lovely Rosie's birthday too.

Land's End

We left Falmouth on Sunday morning at 8am and had a pleasant sail round the Lizard and a slightly less pleasant sail to Land's End with the wind in our faces and a big swell. Once round the corner we were delighted to be able to put up the spinnaker and sail inside the Longships light past the Armed Knight and Kettle's Bottom rocks. We saw the Shark's Fin looking very convincing, and passed the Brisons at 4.30pm. Lori's Video is great and I will put in up when I can.
With the tide under us we set off across the Bristol Channel 95 miles to Wales. In the first two hours and twenty minutes we covered twenty miles! Progress was excellent but at dusk we took down the spinnaker and unfurled our small jib. To my surprise we didn't slow down much and stormed on through the night. The watch system worked well and Kate and David saw a pod of dolphins while eating porridge at 4am while Graham and Lori saw theirs later in daylight. By 9 am we were off St Ann's Head and decided as the tide was right to carry on to Fishguard.

At Skomer we diverted in search of puffins and were delighted to see hundreds along with awks and guillemots. We knew Kithros 2 had spent the night at Skomer North Haven and had hopes of seeing her. Of course wily old Bill had left at 4am and was already half way to Barmouth.
By tea time we were off Strumble Head and approached Fishguard in a heavy downpour.
The crew wheedled me into entering the Old Harbour at Fishguard shortly after low water with keel and rudder up so we could go alongside the wall. Not good for the skipper's nerves!
They had hatched a plot they broke to me over chilli and rice. All were keen to continue as the wind was fair so we washed up and untied and set off again at 10pm for Barmouth. Graham and Lori disregarded the sensible plan to make 5 knots for 10 hours and recklessly sailed at 10 knots for three hours! Doing the maths in the night it was clear we had to slow down as we would arrive far too early at the bar. Dave and Kate were the killjoys who took down the main and put out a scrap of jib and pottered downwind past Aberystwyth. We arrived off Barmouth in time for tea and toast before picking out the channel buoys and entering the Harbour at 10.30am.

I am now on a train home to Topsham for Rosie's birthday so will post some pictures later and report on the scrutineering and the race preparations. Thanks to all the fabulous delivery crew for a lot of fun and exciting sailing.

New Video

Here is a movie of the training weekend, accompanied by nice music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oguEwUSBQvw

The Star and Garter extra specials

For the second evening the delivery crew are having a tough time choosing between the £5 extra specials on the menu in this fine establishment in Falmouth. This is our reward for a tough 95 mile delivery sail from Exmouth in heavy weather. We have repaired all the damage and done some of the outstanding jobs, so the toilet no longer sloshes water around the heads, the main water tank is fixed and we have the auto pilot and fishfinder back in action. Just the masthead light to do when Kate is feeling brave.
The weather is due to moderate tomorrow so we will head off in the morning to catch the tide at the Lizard. Then we plan to round Land's End on the inner passage and head up to Wales. Lori is going to Skipper the trip as part of her Yachtmaster training miles, so has worked out a passage plan.
Now we are off to hear the Sea Shanty Festival. Last night the Exmouth Shanty men were in full cry, just like home! Tough old life this...

Loading up the ship for Departure

Ignoring the few last minute glitches tonight has been exciting as we have put our kit bags on board and everything is ready except the fresh supplies. Needless to say I have lost a set of keys in a fluster, but Graham has prepared a robust passage plan and we are well prepared for the gale to come on Friday. We will leave without Dave as he is up north for the day but hopes to catch us up later on.
Just a small matter of finishing work and saying goodbye to the family now. Let the adventure begin!

Sunset

It was an eerie sky as the weather to come was colouring the clouds. By the time we reached Teignmouth it was dark and we were all in lifejackets and safety gear. Much tea was drunk and all were cheerful. It bodes well for the great trip north!

Training Weekend at Brixham

Steve and Andy drove down on Saturday morning and met us for elevenses. We then had a gentle day out showing them the ropes. We even tried out the oars in a quiet spell at Lympstone. After wending our way out of the Exe we reached across to Brixham. Steve and Andy realised sailing is actually very easy and the sailors exaggerate the difficulty hugely. The lure of steak and chips saw us landing at the Yacht Club and enjoying a tasty meal. By sunset we were on our way home and had a practice of night sailing. Kelly and Ian got some time on the helm, and Andy had a go too. We crept up the Exe in the dark and tied up at 2.30am before the rain and gales blew in. All in all a successful mission even if Beeline played a few tricks on me with unexpected leaks and missing lights.

Progress

After a busy weekend Beeline now has fully functioning rowing equipment which is to be tested tomorrow, thanks to the Exeter Rowing Club who lent us the oars and outriggers. We had to scale down the riggers as they would have dragged in the water but the gates fit nicely between the tiller and the winches.
The lifejackets all now sport whistles lights and crutch straps and are up to charter coding standard, as is the safety gear (liferaft sling throwing line and horseshoe buoy)
The depth sounder was proving hard to fix so in a burst of Ellen McArthur DIY I have fitted a whole new Fishfinder system with colour pictures of the river bed and little fish with numbers on. Thanks Dave R for your help with the wiring.
Next task is to sort out the ration packs and fill the water tanks. If all goes well we will be ready to move West next weekend. The weather is looking good even if the wind is a bit light.