The PowerBar Three Peaks Yacht Race
A Fine Start
Rob Howard / 23.06.2007
With the yachts not crossing the start line until 16.00 there was plenty of time for any last minute jobs and to enjoy the carnival atmosphere on the promenade.
In the morning Skippers had to first attend the race briefing, where the crews new to the race naturally asked most of the questions. They were given some sound advice which comes from many years of experience.
This included not racing into the pier at Caernarfon in the dark (where boats have been damaged and runners injured for the sake of taking a few more minutes, not to take any chances on Caernarfon Bar (where boats have run aground), to watch out for metal barriers on the cycleway out of Whitehaven (Ellis described them as ‘very solid’), and not to go beyond the jetty at the race finish at Corpach as they’ll run aground in an embarrassingly public place … by the finish line.
No doubt many these errors and others will still be repeated again this year, in a race where experience counts for a great deal.
With the briefing over there was a very hours for a last meal ashore and to say goodbyes. The giant TV screen was up and there were interviews with crews and race organisers. There were also calls to crews who had not completed all their race paperwork, and these seemed to be mostly the local crews and those with committee members on board!
SleepMonsters
