Good call!

Tuesday 07:42
Well, they did it!  A fantastic call, standing on their westerly course, south of the Scillies.  They've gained at least four places, by resisting the temptation to go with the fleet and are now only 12 miles behind the class leader, "Night and Day".  They tacked north a few hours ago and, if the wind back around again towards the west, as forecast, they should be on the right side of the course to gain advantage over the cluster of yachts north of the Scillies, by being able to follow the wind around and ultimately sail a bit faster, more off the wind.  Keep it up, guys!
Trev

North or West?

Los Jangadieros (white, to the right of the wind text) are currently lying 10th in the two-handed IRC class.  They are approaching the Scillies and must decide whether to tack north, like everybody else, or carry on and pass south of the islands before tacking.   A tricky call, which could lead to big gains or losses, depending on what the wind does.  It is predicted to back (anticlockwise) which would favour standing on and going south - but it will take some nerve!  It might be prudent to cover the others and go with them.  Can't wait to check again in a couple of hours!!!    Sitting on the sofa with an tide tables, chartlets showing currents and weather maps is not as much fun as being out there - but is still pretty exciting!!
Trev

Tracker spaghetti

Here is a screenshot of the tracker as Jangada Too rounded Portland Bill earlier this evening - looks quite busy out there! (they are the slightly larger pale blob on the screen, just to the south of the land)  They are currently 15th in class, but there is a long way to go, so lots of time to move up the leader board.  They were in good spirits when I spoke to Richard a couple of hours ago.

Grace

Portland Bill

Traffic Jam?

With 350 yachts trying to register at the start gates, with storm sails set, its getting quite busy. Fortunately we set off early and can now relax whilst we watch some spectacular trimarans as the start first.

Pre race preparations.

With less than 24 hours to the start, final preparations are now complete. Weather and routing options analysed. Daily surprise bag from the family wrapped. As usual we will blogging at www.jangada.co.uk. To follow us on the tracker go to fastnet.rorc.org or download the Yellowbrick App for mobiles. Time to sign off as I head off to a 60th/21st birthday party - only one glass of champagne allowed until we reach Plymouth.

Fastnet Race starts 11th August

Jangada is now back from Portugal, after an unscheduled stopover in Falmouth to replace the gearbox and saildrive, so final preparations for the Fastnet Race can be completed.  All safety equipment to be checked, food & kit to be loaded, satellite tracker installed and navigational marks uploaded.  This year there is an interesting variation to the race - KEEP OUT of the Traffic Separation Schemes, i.e. the shipping lanes.  At least three of these TSS's lie in the way of our direct route - two around the Scilly Islands and one on the approach to the Fastnet Rock itself. Time to look at the routing options.....