CLARKS ACTIVE AIR AND THE GELERT THREE PEAKS CHALLENGE
by Sophie Galleymore Bird

[Author’s note: this piece was written on behalf of our sponsor for the 1995 Three Peaks race, Clarks Shoes, and was also published in Multihull International that September. It chronicles the Dazcat crew’s experiences in the Three Peaks, in which we were helped by innumerable people. Our helicopter was provided by Hovercam and our runners by 29 Commando, based in Plymouth. Grateful thanks to all!]

Picture this - a boat sails from Barmouth to Caernarfon. Two people are rowed ashore and begin running. They run up Snowdon (3,560ft - return distance 24 miles). They are rowed back to the boat. The boat sails to Ravenglass and Scafell Pike (3,210ft - return distance 32 miles). From there to Fort William and Ben Nevis (4,406ft - return distance 17.5 miles). Welcome to the Gelert Three Peaks Yacht Race, not a race for the faint-hearted, taking in as it does the three highest peaks in Britain and the most difficult tidal waters the UK has to offer.

First leg
The race began on 17th June. First off were the monohulls followed by the multihulls including Clarks Active Air, a 26ft catamaran designed and built by Darren Newton, who was also the skipper. On this leg, with Caernarfon only 62 sea miles away, the race was as much between us, the shore back-up crew, and our boat as it was between the fleet. En route we received a phone call from Daz to say there was trouble with one of the sails; the line was so bad it was impossible to glean much more than a request for a sewing machine. However, on discussion, we decided it would be safer to go one better and find a sail-maker. This, however, on a Saturday evening was to prove difficult as everyone had packed up shop hours before. Then Dick, our photographer, remembered a sailing friend who lived locally and gave him a call. A few more calls and we had a sail-maker standing by. When Daz managed to get through on the phone again we discovered it was the mainsail that had a hole in it and we knew we had done the right thing.

The boat got in at 00:56, sailing up to the quayside as the outboard engine (permissible at this stage of each leg) had failed: a potentially risky manoeuvre in the dark, with strong currents ready to sweep her up-river. This was a nail-biting moment, but one that passed by without a hitch. Our two weary runners - Asda and Roland - got off the boat (their tiredness not surprising as they had spent the last two hours rowing) and after a successful kit check and a hasty swig of hot sweet coffee began their run up Snowdon. We had arranged that they would have liquids available every four miles or so. Derick, our designated driver, had to stay behind to deal with the mainsail so Dick had to drive the van containing Marsha and Eliot with their bicycles and drinks. They set off after the runners while Daz tried to grab some sleep in the camper (Bob remained on board in accordance with the rules). I began getting food ready for their return.

The Snowdon run took 5 hours and 26 minutes so it was full light by the time they returned. The sail-maker had collected, repaired and returned the mainsail, Derick had re-rigged it and replaced the faulty engine with a spare. All that remained was to get them back on board with their food.

Second leg
Another start, and another race to beat them to the next port. They had 92 sea miles to cover, we had about 200 miles to drive. Back on the road we decided to split up the convoy; the van would go on ahead to be there in case of problems with the boat while the camper would stop off and pick up essential supplies. However when we arrived there was no sign of the van. One of the Signal Engineers who were part of the race organisers’ back-up team came over to tell us that the trailer carrying our inflatable chase boat (which was being towed by the van) had broken its axle and was now in a field some 10 miles away. Another port, another test of our initiative. In the event Denise rang the AA and arranged to have the trailer and its load taken to Fort William where we would have time to find a welder to affect a repair. Another challenge for the support crew had been overcome.

At Ravenglass, as at all our ports of call, access is restricted by the tide; at low tide a sandbar prevents any but shallow-draught boats getting through (it is within the rules to get out and lift, push or drag, but that isn’t always a credible option). We were worried that our boys might get stuck outside and have to join the queue of other boats that would soon form waiting for the tide to turn, but after a fast run they made it in with the other multihulls, the low tide in their favour. Up till now, because of the initial problems with the mainsail we had been lagging behind; with the other two boats in our class also left high and dry by the tide we had a chance to catch them up.

Snowdon had been run in darkness, most of Scafell Pike was accomplished before nightfall. Back at the beach the sailing crew were sleeping; Bob on the boat and Daz in the camper van, while Denise and I prepared mountains of food for the next and longest leg. The other multihulls, Janette (35ft cat) and Trivial Pursuit (27ft trimaran) had arrived some 2-3 hours ahead of us but Roland and Asda managed to make up much of the time on the mountain and all three teams were within minutes of each other on their return. Getting back to the boat proved to be a challenge in itself. With the tide coming in fast, Daz put the runners in the dinghy and began paddling out to the boat, but with the wind getting up and the tidal current against them it was impossible to make any headway even with all three of them rowing. As they drifted further and further away, they managed to come alongside a fishing boat and hang on while Bob came to collect them. Finally, at about 05:00 they put out to sea again, meeting the monohulls that had been forced to wait outside the sandbar all night. For the support crew, this was the first real opportunity that we had had to sleep, so after a quick meal we sprawled in whatever space we could find in the camper van and slept for about four hours before the long drive north to Fort William.

Final leg
Things were not so smooth for Roland and Asda. Having eaten as soon as they got on board, they went below to sleep (NB: ‘below’ in this boat means two 26ft hulls shaped a little like those of a submarine, containing one 5ft mattress each). This was fine until the boat began to pass over the sandbar at 14 knots. Each wave sent the runners airborne, then brought them crashing back down onto their bunks. Before long they were both thoroughly seasick, but had to stay below as conditions outside were too wild and it was imperative they keep as warm and dry as possible.

These unpleasant conditions did make good sailing weather however and Clarks Active Air had a fast run up to the Mull of Galloway and thence to the Mull of Kintyre. The wind dropped and it was back to the oars, the runners were woken and brought up on deck to do their share. Fog descended that night so they anchored in shallow water off Gigha for about an hour and a half. They heard voices in the distance and thought it must be a trick of the fog, but it turned out that all three multihulls had been anchored in the same stretch of water; they had managed to make up the time lost getting out of Ravenglass. The next day brought them to the Sound of Luing, notorious for its eddies which can trap a boat and keep her sailing in circles for hours. Daz decided to use these currents to their advantage and by steering into them effectively skated across them and through to the other side.

They were now approaching the home stretch and we on shore were anxious, knowing they must be near but unable to contact them; the mobile phone had ceased functioning several miles out of Ravenglass after getting wet. As usual, the first indication we had that they must be imminent was the arrival of the helicopter which had been keeping watch for them from a car park further down the coast. Marsha, Eliot and I set off in the van to see how far off they were and saw them sailing up Loch Linnhe, still some three miles away. Action stations again: Eliot and Marsha were taken to the foot of Ben Nevis by Denise and Derick; Dick went out in the inflatable (safely delivered by the AA) to greet the boat and capture her arrival on film.

Throughout the race the weather had favoured the boat over the shore crew; clouds and rain bringing winds from the south. This last day was an exception and, apart from the patches of snow visible at the top of Ben Nevis, conditions were comfortable for the final run. The runners, considering their seasickness and the rowing they had done, looked amazingly chipper as they set out, Asda nursing a bandaged knee. Both Janette and Trivial Pursuit had already come in and our boys would have had to have sprinted to beat their runners. We wondered whether we should pray for the other teams to come a cropper, but we couldn’t. By this time the ‘team’ had grown to include everyone taking part, regardless of their function or allegiance.

The Three Peaks is more of a challenge than a race; staying the course is an achievement in itself. As well as one boat withdrawn at the start, three had retired on the second leg (though the runners of one, Customs Drugs Hotline, were driven to Fort William so they could run the last peak). Regardless of the race result we knew we had achieved something remarkable.

The ice and falling snow of a midsummer’s eve on the Ben proved the best test yet for Asda and Roland’s Active Air boots but the Scottish weather had more in store for the two weary figures as they approached the finish line, finally emerging out of the darkness. Spurred on by the shouts of the support crew, they were just a few hundred yards from the line when the heavens opened and down came the rain. Soaked and exhausted, Asda and Roland sprinted for the finish to achieve a creditable third place.

The Clarks Active Air overall time was three days, eight hours and 39 minutes. The winning time, achieved by Trivial Pursuit, was three days, five hours and 1 minute.

Clarks would like to thank the following members of the team for their hard work and enthusiasm: Bob Beggs; Sophie Galleymore Bird; Chris Godfrey; Eliot Jones; Marsha Kitto; Darren Newton; Dick Ogilvie; Chris Price; Derick Reynolds.

To find out more about Clarks adventures since it was sold go to www.catweaselcat.de