The PowerBar Three Peaks Yacht Race
Three Out in Front
Rob Howard / 21.06.2009
There is no chance to talk to the crews at this stop, they drop their runners off on the pier and move straight off to anchor and sleep, but Richard Ludlow, one of the runners on Nunatak said, “There was just very little wind the whole way. We didn’t do any rowing, it was not that bad. Going round Bardsey Head was the worst. It is so sheltered there was no breeze at all and if you look at our tracker route you’ll see we went round in circles!�
One of the most experienced of 3 peaks competitors, he wasn’t fazed by the conditions. “I’ve run Snowdon in daylight before, he said, “there was one year we rowed nearly all the way here.� He estimated their time on the mountain as 4 hours 30 minutes and as Nunatak arrived in second place there are one pair of runners ahead of them to chase. They are Tim Devanney and Val Swingler off Ulula, the J122, who arrived at 05.18 giving them a 28 minute lead over Nunatak.
The sailors are new to the race and have made the best of starts, maximising their boats ability in the lighter airs, but Devanney and Swingler raced last year on another yacht. This time they will get to see something of the Snowdon run, but conditions on the summit are still cold and cloudy. Keith McIver is bivouacking up on the summit waiting to support his wife, Janet, who is running on the Hazard Chase team, and he reports heavy cloud on the top of the mountain and estimates the temperature at 5C. Typical mid-summer weather on Snowdon!
Swingler and Devanny had been below decks the whole way and were astonished to be told they were first to arrive. They had no idea they were winning!
Third to arrive were GFT adventure, the Conway based Beneteau 407 and their runners, Chris Sellen and Ed Kelleher will most likely be in the mix for the King of the Mountains trophy. The estimated a fast 4 hour time, but know there is really no rush. “We’d have to be much quicker than that for the boat to make it out against the tide,� Sellen said.
These 3 have broken away from the main group of boats who are gathered behind them , and they will be hoping they can find a way through the Menai Strait despite the tide turning when the runners return. If they succeed they will gain full advantage from the first leg, if not, the fleet will regroup and move through the strait ...
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