Mother & Child

Young dolphin seen, swimming in perfect unison with its mother, south of Start Point. Such a wonderful sight.

Finished!

 Richard and Jeremy have finished the Fastnet race in Plymouth, 4th in the two-handed division and first GBR boat behind two French and one Dutch boat! They are also 13th in their IRC class 3 and 57th (out of 300 ish) in IRC  overall.

What a good day this is turning out to be - Christopher received his A level results this morning and has secured his place at Warwick University to study Maths.

Cornish crabber

Thursday 0800
Good to see some posts from the boys!  They're doing really well, making up one place during the night and are now lying in sixth in class.  Even though they're now going downwind with the spinnaker up, they can't head straight for Plymouth, because the kite works best at an angle to the wind, so its actually faster to zig-zag downwind.  They're now only about 33 miles from the finish, which means they'll be in  Plymouth in about 4 hours.  Believe me, its hard work keeping a boat going at full pace, double-handed.  Sleep deprivation and the physical demands take their toll, so I expect that, when they get into Plymouth, I'm sure they'll go straight to bed and have a nice, early night....Yeah, right! 
It's been great following your progress - have a good final leg guys and I'll catch up with you soon.
Trev

Jangadieros

In true Jangada tradition, we start to haul out first catch of fish. Just the one, but it's a start. Don't tell Skipper - he's off watch at the Chart Table and doesn't need to know.

Yours,
Sir Admiral.
Keeper of the ship's flapjack.

Daily Treats

Many thanks to Grace for our daily surprise. Day 1 - Pepper Pig and his Friends went down very well. Day 2 - dark chocolate Kit Kat, a well earnt break.

Homeward Bound

The Fastnet Rock lived up to expectations - damp and misty. Once again we
have rounded the famous lighthouse in both the dark and rain. So no photo
opportunity - will just have to try again in 2015!

The past 18 hours have been fairly hectic. As we approached the Rock the
wind backed enough for us to fly the A3 reaching spinnaker. But anticpating
the weather front coming through we changed to the Jib Top, and then again
to the Heavy No 3 Jib as the wind increased. Then we had the fun a trying
to weave our way amongst our competitors as we tacked to Pantaenius. To our
joy it looked as though our route south at the Scillies had paid off as we
were rounding with the lead pack. So no sleep for either of us last night.

The reach home across the Celtic Sea has given us the chance to for some
sleep. The Jib Top is flying and holding our pace at almost 9kts, even
against some boats that have hoisted Spinnakers. However the wind has now
backed slightly and the kites are back in their bags. We are trying to stay
high on our course to give us the option to hoist kite and free off toward
the southern shores of the Scilly Isles. Then change to the A2 for a run to
the finish - it is at this stage that concetration is key with many a place
won and lost on the final leg.

And finally a quick word of praise for our third crew member - Trevor. I
understand that Trev is providing a running commentary on the Blog. Cheers,
Mate!

Homeward bound

Wednesday, 08:00
Los Jangadieros are now homeward bound, having made great progress during the night - averaging a fantastic 7.5 knots since yesterday evening -  the wind had backed around further, to set them on a beam reach - fast, with or without the spinnaker, but, at that angle, debatable whether to fly it.  And it's strengthened too, now 16 knots.  After the rock, they had a short beat to Pantaneus - a race mark intended to help separate the incoming and outgoing boats - and are now again on a beam reach on the other tack, doing about 8 knots back to the Scilly Isles.  Of course, the strengthening, backing wind has also benefited everyone else and they seem to have lost a few places, now nominally lying 7th, 28 miles behind the class leader (The one with a crown) and with a Figaro II, "Rare", hot on their heels.  That should spur them on!
Trev