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30.06.10
Pictures from the start and finish, and the last part of Simon's blog:

Heading into Selsey Bill as night time comes, we feel like we have pulled ahead of Freebird. With the tide against us we sail lose into the shore at Pagham Harbour before being forced to tack out around Selsey Bill. Our plan is to hopefully get towards St Catherine’s Point and pick up a favourable tide to push us past the Isle of Wight.

All is going well till the next morning and I take over again, we can see Freebird further out to sea being followed by a UK Border Agencies vessel. The wind has now gone and the tide is flowing East and Drama Queen is doing the same! Quick get the kedge out! I heave it over the side into 40 metres of water and we spend a mile going backwards before it finally bites. Dan comes up on deck and offers to cook up an almighty breakfast. We will do anything that might catch us out, so half way through eating the wind starts again and we are off again, albeit at a slow pace.

Up goes the kite for an hour, then the wind starts clocking round to the SSW. Next up is the fog, with visibility down to 100m. Over the radio comes a Mayday - two divers have been separated from their boat after they surfaced in the fog. After an hour they are found by another vessel.

With the tide running SW at 2.5 knts we are making 8-9 knts over the ground past Portland Bill and into Lyme Bay. Our ETA to Start Point is 21:00 and we feel if the wind was only to hold we could still beat Paradox on handicap.

Spliff, our old muckers on the Class 40, appear on the AIS and it’s a three way race to the finish. The tide has turned against us and won't be in our favour until 23:30, we hope to be closing Start by then.

Dan and I have - hopefully - a last supper of chilli with extra chilli sauce to get us to the finish line.

Tacking in the light stuff around Start Point and Prawl Point Freebird and Spliff slip ahead, I am just on the edge of a wind band and have to tack South away from the finish to get into the breeze.

Due south of Salcombe at 3am and the fog comes in and the wind goes again. We can just make out their stern lights, and head for our oars. We have to stay in touch with Freebird; if they finish by an hour or more ahead of us they will beat us on handicap.

Dan and I can make a knot under our 8' oars. If only we had gotten some proper sweeps and rowlocks it would be nearer 2 knts. We take it in turns to check our heading, Dan sets the sails and unfurls the schreecher.

I turn round and see we are nearly on top of Spliff! I leap up to the helm and we suddenly have some apparent wind, we are doing 3-4 knots and I just manage to avoid Spliff, then it's Freebird’s turn to nearly get T-Boned!

We sail for an hour then row for half an hour.

High tide at Plymouth is at 07.00, we have to keep going or we will be waiting for another tide change to get across the line.

Luckily by 08.30 a new wind appears from the SW, Freebird pulls back ahead, but our rowing has paid off and we are still in touch. Tacking against a foul tide we follow Freebird into the entrance of the Yealm; this is where we hope our local knowledge will pay off. Freebird heads back out and is thrown sideways by the tide, Dan takes us to the beach off Wembrey and the tiny passage inside the Slimmers and the Mewstone. It’s tense as Dan has only been in there in a Devon Yawl before, not a 40' catamaran. Just as we come through the gap the wind goes again and I sprint to the oar and pull with all my might to try and clear the Mewstone. After another 15 mins the breeze comes back again and finally we are heading to the Western entrance of the Breakwater at 6 knots.

Freebird is already into the Sound with their spinnaker up, heading for the finish.

We arrive at the entrance and throw up our womper of a kite, a quick gybe and we get out of the tide and pull ahead of Spliff. A couple of gybes more and we approach the finish line. The finish at the RWYC line is always entertaining if downwind, as there is about 50m after the line for you to get your kite down before you end up on the harbour wall!

We can see our families waving from the club balcony and with their huge cheer we think we have crossed the line, the kite comes down and elation flows over the body, but suddenly they start shouting and waving to keep going, we are not across the line yet! Then the hooter goes and it’s all over at 10.30, in just under 12 days.

We were 15 mins behind Freebird and so we beat her and have finished second on handicap to Paradox. Happy with that! 2000 miles and a great race.

Matt, my brother, and RWYC’s Race Director Peter Taylor, come out and congratulate us. Matt has a bottle of fizz with him, just as I had welcomed him home 4 years previously when he had won, also on Paradox!

Quick tidy up and we head ashore to see the families; how good it is to see Tracey, Abi and Evie, hugs and kisses all round.

A couple of beers and a chat with everyone and the race is done. It was a great challenge, good fun, cold, interesting and enjoyable. Too early to start thinking about it again for a week or two.

I would like to thank:

Tracey for being so supportive and Abi and Evie for taking care of their mum, and my in-laws Nigel and Esther for walking the dog and doing my share of family life.

Dan for being a great co-skipper, with no cross words on the entire trip.

The people at Multimarine for keeping the business running.

Allspars for getting the rig to a condition fit for racing round the UK.

The many others who have helped out along the way.

Simon Biffa Baker
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

29.06.10
Daz's final blog, though we may not be able to stop him now he's found his muse.

28.06.10
Sueños made it across the line at 06:10:48 this morning. They were greeted by Daz's family on the dockside, and Daz's partner Alex and our own Sally, who had been waiting at the Royal Western Yacht Club at Queen Anne's Battery for about 3 hours - Daz had phoned from the Eddystone at 02:30, expecting to be in imminently. Strontium Dog got in an hour and a half before them but Sueños has secured 4th place on handicap for that leg (results provisional at this time but unlikely to change). Well done Daz and Rupe, and Simon and Dan (2nd) and Will and Matt (1st!), and Tony and Bob (still battling round the rump of Devon) and welcome home. We're really proud of all of you. Pictures here.

27.06.10
09:53
Drama Queen and Freebird are almost into Plymouth Sound, neck and neck at 2.3 knts - Alex and Sally and Darren's family are going to go see them in, no doubt the crews' families will too. Sueños, is doing 0.0 knts (they were anchored against the tide and having breakfast), but they have made progress overnight and were level with Bournemouth at 09:00. This is so painful to watch! Can't imagine what it must be like to be racing and making no speed.

26.06.10
Paradox made it in at 04:00ish!!! Daz's brother Carl and his parents made it to see them across the line and take some pictures. We'll post them when we get them.

This in from Simon last night:

Lowestoft to Plymouth, Final Leg:

It's strange the 48 hour stop over, because your arrival and departure time changes with each leg and so does your ability to fix the boat, sleep and socialise. As the race progresses the fleet get more spread out and you see more and more of the same faces, so organising the berthing ready for your departure becomes easier.

It is great to be back in Lowestoft; this is where boatbuilding began for me, 25 years ago when I trained at the International Boatbuilding Training Centre on Oulton Broad. It was a shame that there was not enough time to pay them a visit.

So the spinnaker repaired, bottom scrubbed, we are ready for the off.
We have a last supper with the guys from Freebird, Sueños and Cold Fusion Reloaded at the club and all agree that its anybody's race as the forecast is for light variable winds for the coming days. As we are the first off at 04:16 the guys on the other boats are very generous when it comes to pouring the wine!

The alarm goes at 03:00 and we slip out of the marina and inform Dolphin (race control) that we are about to start. 04:16 and we are off, screecher out and making 8 knots bang on course, brilliant. Soon we are in the approaches to the Thames Estuary; it’s now the wind’s turn to start on its game! As we approach the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm (under construction with over 100 turbines) we can't decide which way to go round. Two Belgian fishing trawlers are zooming around to add to the difficulty of our decision, when suddenly one keeps heading our way and starts listing heavily to port as his trawl gets snagged on the bottom. At this point Dan and I are in the middle of our fish salad! We take avoiding action and carry on. On the radio the security for the wind farm are sending out warnings about not entering their space; we would have loved to sail down between them!

We hear Freebird is 30 miles behind and Paradox is 60 miles ahead. The wind is up again and the tide now with us and we tack down towards Dover at a good speed. Just as we arrive at the eastern entrance the ferries are flying in and out. Again the AIS is excellent and should be compulsory for most vessels.

Then the wind starts to soften and this is where our troubles begin. All through the night Paradox pulls ahead and Freebird is closing in.
A treacherous night off Hastings follows, and as the tide turns against us I have to kedge, a first for me.

We are stuck between two different wind directions and Freebird comes into sight as the wind fills to 3 knots and we are off again, this time with another competitor which at least sharpens you up! By Beachy Head our luck changed and with a couple of shifts we have managed to pull away a couple of miles. As we leave Brighton the wind is 8 knots.

So we will see how things pan out over the next 150 miles to the finish.

Simon "Biffa" Baker
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

25.06.10
Simon picks up the story from way back in Lerwick:

Having arrived in Lerwick on 16.06.10, still in first place on handicap, we were warmly welcomed by Patrick from the Boating Club, who took us to the club for a beer before we set about trying to hunt down the curry house. With it being so light we were lulled into a false sense that everything should be open all night long, which lasted until we arrived, at 22.56. The door was still open but only a take away was being offered, until one of the guys we had met at the dock appeared and managed to persuade the owner to let us sit down. The quickest curry eating experience of my life then followed. Back to the boat and we got our heads down.

The next day we settled into what has become our usual routine: rig check (Dan is getting quite good at clambering up the mast), while I gave the steering a check over.

We downloaded a GRIB file and soon realised that the next few days were going to be a touch breezy. Some of the cruising yachts had left the dock so we took the opportunity to move before getting hemmed in by the rest of the fleet, and ended up alongside our sistership Sueños. The next morning there was carnage on the pontoon, with the Class 40s beam on to the force 5-6. To make matters worse the yachts that had finished during the night had just carried on rafting up alongside, so they where now up to 5 deep! I took over the large buoy we had picked up off the Scillies on leg 1 and jammed it in between Fujifilm and the dock. Many of the boat sustained topside damage.

Paradox was the first boat out at 12.30 with us following on DQ at 23.00. Just as the Paradox boys were getting into their dry suits news came through of a 24 hour postponement. This set the cat amongst the pigeons as it was unprecedented in the race's history.

15 minutes later and it was all back on.

Darren went and handed good advice out to the multihull fleet: "Take some tyres to stream out off the stern if the conditions get too extreme."

So with the race back on Paradox left. Meanwhile Dan and I had been invited to lunch at Fred's house, another boat builder from the old days now making tidal turbine kit. After lunch he took us on a quick trip to Sumburgh Head at the southernmost tip of the Shetlands, to see if we could watch Paradox sailing south. No sign.

The time for our off came just behind Roaring Again. 3 reefs in the main and full jib. By the time we got out to the headland it was starting to blow. After leaving the shelter of the islands the sea started to grow and carried on until eventually we had reported 25 foot swell with a very short period and winds in the mid 40s. By now we had got all the sails down, which allowed us to stop surfing down the steep faces for a while. The sea state had two different directions to it and sometimes the breaking crests hit us on the quarter. Dan knocked up a couple of rat packs for supper. We decided to try streaming a warp to see the affect; by now we were occasionally being flung "down the mine". Wow, that worked, and we could relax for a while.

We also fetched out a tyre; this brought our speed down from 6 knots to 4, with no surfing at all. We used warp and sheets with 5m of chain on the ends, which I would recommend.

By the time daytime came the oil and gas rigs had started becoming more frequent. Using the AIS we called up a ship that was heading at us and he kindly diverted his course, as we could only really head in the direction the waves took us.

The following morning we managed to get the kite up for a little while but in the twin wave pattern it was very tricky; bearing away down the wave front brought the wind forward even more. And then we dropped the kite straight into the sea.

With the wind and waves dropping away the new battle started - trying to keep going. A painful day followed of the Wash. We headed for the north Norfolk coast to get out of the tide and slipped along the edge of the beach and down the inside channels off Great Yarmouth, and underneath a wind farm in the dark. Hopping on the tide we crossed the finish line at 04.16.58.

Out came a RIB to escort us into the marina and the wonderful Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht club. If you ever get a chance it’s well worth a visit as it’s steeped in early yacht racing history.

Handing in our declaration we found out Paradox was not only the class leader on the water but on handicap as well. So three boats have held the lead so far, which just confirms how close the racing is.

We also heard how Paradox got a standing ovation from the Class 40 sailors who were expecting to hear the news she had not made it through the gale. It’s the second time now that Paradox has shown herself to be a capable little trimaran; my brother Matt went through similar conditions four years ago and managed to go on and win the race.

So one more leg to go. At the moment we are lying 2½ hours behind Paradox, with Freebird and Sueños not far from us.

All to play for!

Simon “Biffa” Baker

Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange 03:16:00

As of now (13.45) Drama Queen is level with Eastbourne and making 6.1 knts, with Freebird, Spliff, Ding Dong and Strontium Dog just to her stern. Paradox is just past Weymouth, at 6.2 knts and chasing Orca. Sueños is creeping round the headland at Margate at 1.9. They will be working like maniacs to increase on that.


24.06.10
Drama Queen left in the wee hours of this morning without finding time to send in a blog. But Daz found the time to write enough for both of them, while stuck in a wind hole. Read his update here.

23.06.10
Sueños got to Lowestoft at 18:17:00 yesterday, and Allez Van Hee at 08:21:58 this morning. Will post any blogs as soon as we get them. Paradox will be leaving at about the time of writing (10:24:18).

22.06.10
Drama Queen got in at 04:16:58 and Paradox get to keep their first place this time. Sueños was about level with Cromer and making 6 knots as of noon today. Allez Van Hee is battling with Cold Fusion Reloaded up Grimsby way.

21.06.10
Paradox got in to Lowestoft at 10:24:18. Drama Queen some way to go yet and wind speed has dropped dramamtically. This was posted on the race website on the 19th, by Simon's brother Matt, after DQ left Shetland: "Just to let you know I spoke to Simon this afternoon by sat phone. He said that they are currently running bare poled and trailing warps to slow themselves down.They said the wind wasn’t too bad (around 40kts) but the seas weren't too clever and they’re taking the odd breaking wave over the cockpit. He and Dan are hoping the wind will be abating a bit tonight."

18.06.10
Daz's blog update here.


17.06.10
Update from Simon received this morning and written before their arrival, which took place at 20:.31:35. yesterday:
After arriving at Barra we picked up a buoy and soon had Class 40 Spliff alongside. Had a quick beer for breakfast and aired out all our wet kit. Snoozed for a couple of hours then did our job list; rig check, patching and repairing, thankfully nothing major.

Rory - an old school friend of Dan’s and a boatbuilder I had worked with at Walker Wingsail - appeared with his RIB, and his wife Jen, from the Isle of Harris.

Our race declaration was handed in and showed we were now lead boat in the multihull class on handicap.

Saturday night at the Castlebay Hotel bar started off with happy hour followed by an excellent supper with Rupert and Darren from Sueños, also my old sailing partner Gareth, who had single handedly sailed his J120 from Plymouth on the way to St Kilda to see the wild life that lives there. Rupert’s old sailing partner Alan and his wife Sue are also cruising the Western Isles and joined us.

The next day Rory showed us the sites of Barra, the best of which had to be the airport - a cove which dries out. Unfortunately we did not see a landing on the beach. We followed this with a trip to the shops to reprovision, and final preparations to leave the buoy at 5am the next morning for our restart at 6.38.02.

Our great plans for an early night soon drifted away with, firstly, GRIB files to download, then another excellent supper in the hotel and finally, just when we thought we were heading back to Drama Queen, Comedy of Errors appeared to have dragged its anchor and was heading to the rocks! Dan took charge of the situation via VHF communication with the race office and Rory managed to pull her off the rock just in time, with the tide exiting the bay at an alarming rate.

Race leg 3 started with us on the line, on time, with the ‘chute up for the 13 mile run to Barra Head, 9 knts and keeping the three following class 40s at bay. Kite down to round up onto a heading of 300 to St Kilda 70 miles away. Hardening up, Dan and I expected the 40s to overhaul us but the opposite happened. We were sailing higher and faster! Only problem was a hole forecast for St Kilda, and we all found it. We could now see Paradox on the AIS; she too was parked up. A frustrating 6-8 hours at 3-4 knots.
With the wind freeing, up went the kite, and slowly we built speed, passing by the Flannan Islands at 10 knts.

With wind increasing we tucked a reef in the main, feeling much more comfortable. At Sula Sgeir we gybed and headed NE toward Muckle Flugga 200 miles away. A brilliant night followed with both of us keen to keep hold of the wheel. Dan delivered a "rat pack" self heating meal, which went down very well in the drizzle.

The Shetlands appeared and I cooked up breakfast, before we got to Muckle Flugga. A gybe at 11.10 and we start heading South!!! The tide was underneath us and open 40 Roaring Again was behind.

Now the wind is dropping and dropping. We have just rounded Bound Skerry and sailed into a hole; we can see two class 40s ahead also moving very slowly. We have just heard that Paradox is in! Will we make it in in time for beer and curry? Will Paradox take the lead? We shall have to wait and see!!!

Simon

Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

They've pipped Paradox for first place on handicap again, but Paradox are on course to beat the record for the fastest time around, if the wind doesn't drop ... it hasn't all been easy - click here for the low down.

16.06.10
Spoke to Simon just now and Drama Queen is within 6 hours or so of Lerwick in the Shetland Islands (as of 13:30). Paradox are already there so win line honours, but Drama Queen could win on handicap so long as nothing breaks. Next in should be Freebird, with Daz and Rupert on Sueños chasing them, followed by Cold Fusion Reloaded and Strontium Dog. Allez Van Hee has a little way to go to catch up ...

14.06.10
Daz's update from Barra

12.06.10
Brief update from Simon on Drama Queen:
Started in light run down to old head of Kinsale, holding our own, with big kite. Gybe towards the Fastnet rock 40 miles away, wind slowly built which favoured our and hauled in the class 40's. Paradox pulled away.
Round the Rock we brought the kite down and just free of hard on the wind, in a steep and nasty sea off the Gallway peninsula. Freebird nowhere to be seen ahead. Reefs in and out in up to 30 knots of breeze.
Wind starting to head as predicted, just got to keep going into the header. Finally gave in at 21.30 Thursday night (10th) and tacked towards the top of Ireland, with Barra 285 miles away then the swing we had bought into felt like it was starting to work. Not knowing whether we had under or over done the trip west.
Started looking good with a heading straight for Barra with the wind freeing, boat speed up to 14 knots, average 11. No sign of other competitors until we were 50 miles from the finish. Three class 40s 5 miles behind but coming from further east than us and therefore a little slower.
Breeze starting to drop and the crew were a little slow to shake the reefs out, when the 40s were nearly on top of us, and then in the flat water off the islands DQ came alive and shot up the final 12 miles and we finished at 06.38 Saturday morning.
With only one engine working we picked up a buoy with Paradox and the first two 40s to have got in, an hour or so ahead.

Drama Queen and Sueños achieved 1st and 2nd in the 2nd leg, respectively. We're really proud of you chaps.

09.06.10
Report from Kinsale

06.06.10
The race begins ... Tracking the boats is possible by going to clicking here - click in the right hand box next to the name of the boat you are interested in (hint - Sueños, Drama Queen, Paradox and Allez Van Hee) and their route will come up. If you click on the number representing the boat you can see their last logged speed and position. Pictures are here

01.06.10
A brief update

27.05.10
SEA TRIALS

22.05.10
QUALIFIER - pictures available via the link and click here for the blog

15.05.10
LAUNCH DAY! We made it. For photos click here and the blog starts here.

12.05.10
Our preparations for this year's Shetland Round Britain and Ireland Race are getting to a feverish pitch (see pics below). Sueños will be launched on Saturday May 15th and, all being well, will go sailing for the first time on Sunday. And if that goes well Rupert Kidd and Darren will be off the following week for their qualifier, and hoping they don't break anything significant.

Meanwhile Drama Queen is in fine form following her win in the Plymouth-Falmouth-Fowey race. As anyone who knows him can attest, Darren's business partner Simon Baker is a ferociously competitive sailor, and Rupert and Darren will have their work cut out to keep up with him and Dan Fellows, let alone get in front. Things could get very interesting, without throwing previous winner Paradox into the mix (with new owner Will Claxton and co-skipper Matt Gill). And then there's Dazcat 920 Allez Van Hee, with owner Tony Van Hee and experienced racer Bob Beggs on board; of the eight multihull entries four will be Dazcats, which makes the race hugely significant for us as we conduct our own race within a race.

The other competitors in the multihull fleet are:

Strontium Dog, a 13m tri, skippered by Andrew Fennel and co-skippered by Simon Redding

Backlash II, an 11.6m cat, skippered by Tony Purser and co-skippered by Matthew Theobald

Cold Fusion Reloaded, Dragonfly 35 tri, skippered by Tim Wilson and co-skippered by
Richard Haynes

Freebird, a Corsair 31 tri, skippered by Mike Wigmore and co-skippered by Grant Kelly

All competitive boats - it should be a fascinating race, particularly with all the Open 40s taking part (yes, we concede that some monos are cool).