Suzanne and Alan share this latest sailing news. Ed
Imerys Clean Energy took Line Honours in the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race in record-breaking race that started off Cowes on 12th August.
Following the cold front that brought tough conditions to the start of the race the fleet enjoyed bright sunshine on the first full day at sea and a relatively calm night.
However, 25-30 knots of wind and a significant sea state were expected in the Celtic Sea and on the West Coast of Ireland. Several teams reported sighting dolphins around the Isles of Scilly.
West of Ireland by day four
By day four the leading crews were travelling along the west coast of Ireland and the chasing boats were rounding the famous Fastnet Rock.
Phil Sharp’s Class40 Imerys Clean Energy was leading the fleet, but still had over 1,200 miles to go at this time to take the prize.
Meanwhile, racing under IRC for the overall race win, Giles Redpath’s Lombard 46 Pata Negra was the provisional leader and Ben Schwartz and Chen Jin Hao’s Figaro 2 El Velosolex Sl Energies Group was leading the IRC Two-Handed fleet.
First retirement
Having rounded the Fastnet Lighthouse, Mark Emerson’s A13 Phosphorus II stopped to drop a crew member ashore (a minor knee injury) with help from the Castletownbere lifeboat crew. The team then officially retired from the race.
30 knots of wind
Day five and the tough conditions continued. Competitors reported 30 knots of wind gusting to 35, with 3-4 metre waves. By now the front runners had reached the halfway point with the battle for line honours raging north of the Outer Hebrides.
Class40 Concise 8 skippered by Jack Trigger moved up to second place and briefly took first position during the night. However, Phil Sharp’s Imerys Clean Energy fought back to regain the lead as the team passed the remote island of Sula Sgeir.
Nicolas Troussel’s Corum was, at this time, less than a mile behind Concise 8 whilst Pata Negra was still the provisional overall leader after IRC time correction.
Most northerly part of race
Six days into the race and the two leading Class40s rounded Out Stack off Muckle Flugga, the most northerly part of the 1,805 nautical mile course.
Imerys Clean Energy now led the sprint south with Concise 8 now posing the biggest threat to Imerys, as French Class40 Corum had retired from the race having collided with a shark. In the race for the overall win under IRC Pata Negra was still in first position.
By day seven Hannah Stodel who we had met at Cowes prior to the race and skipper of Class40 Region Normandie reported:
“52 knots from the south west, we are hanging on in!”
Prior to the race start we had also spoken with Ross Applebey, whose boat Scarlet Oyster had been going well through the race and was now up to third overall as the team rounded Out Stack. At this point in the race, ten other boats had retired.
Imerys Clean Energy still leading fleet
The leading Class40s were now in strong winds in the North Sea the most difficult part of the course to navigate with major shipping lanes and wind and wave farms. Imerys Clean Energy was still leading the fleet with 365 miles to go (0900 BST 18 August), but Concise 8 was just 29 miles behind and both combatants were travelling at roughly the same speed.
After days at sea fatigue was becoming a big factor. Crews on board Imerys Clean Energy and Concise 8 have been ‘on the wind’ since Muckle Flugga. They needed to stay fully alert as they negotiated the Dover Strait which has 400 ships passing through every day.
Battling on despite extreme weather
Meanwhile the last three boats in the fleet were battling on despite extreme weather.
Far to the south of them the smallest yacht in the fleet, Benjamin Schwartz and Chen Jin Hao’s Figaro 2 El Velosolex SL Energies Group, was under 500 miles from the finish and was now overall race leader after IRC time correction.
Record-breaking line honours
On Monday 20th August Phil Sharp’s Class40 Imerys Clean Energy took line honours in the 2018 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race in an elapsed time of eight days four hours 14 minutes 49 seconds, winning the Class40 Division and setting a new world record in the race for yachts 40ft or under (subject to ratification).
The team smashed the previous record by 15 hours. The victorious crew of: Phil Sharp, Julien Pulvé, Pablo Santurdé and Sam Matson were met at Cowes by friends, family and fans of the race.
Sharp: “A fantastic race”
An elated Phil Sharp said,
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but it is just fantastic to take line honours, the win in the Class40s, and break the world record! This is definitely the toughest race in the northern hemisphere, harder than a transatlantic and all credit to the team who stuck at it and were exceptional, especially when the going got tough.
“You don’t expect to do a race like this without breaking gear. We ripped our smaller spinnaker before halfway and for the last three days we have had no wind instruments. Many thanks to the Royal Ocean Racing Club for organising a fantastic race.”
Second place
on’s Class40 Concise 8, skippered by Jack Trigger was 39 miles behind as Imerys Clean Energy crossed the finish line, but finished the race at 22:39 BST.
At this time the next two boats had over 100nm to go before the finish off Cowes.
Image: © Paul Wyeth
