At 0846 this (Tuesday) morning, Andrew Fennell’s 39ft Shuttleworth trimaran Morpheus put in what her crew hope will be her final tack westward of the Blasket Islands, and found they could finally lay the course for Galway in the Round Britain & Ireland Race after slugging into headwinds from the northerly arc for most of the way from the Isles of Scilly.
Until reaching Scilly, they’d frequently enjoyed fair winds south of Cornwall and – as expected – had opened an on-water lead on the entire fleet. But crossing the western approaches of the Celtic Sea, the wind increasingly stayed stubbornly ahead, and the entire west coast of Kerry has provided one long windward struggle.
Nevertheless Morpheus coped with it better than any other boat, and firmed her lead on the DazCat 46 Hissy Fit, while in the mono-hulls Ross Hobson’ Open 60 Pegasus took her expected place in front, though it has to be said that an extremely good performance is being put in by Dominic Bowns’ little Sunfast 3300 Orbit.
Golden oldie. The veteran S&S34 Olbia (Christian Chalendre & Pascal Body) is racing for France in the RB & I. Photo Paul Gibbins, courtesy RWYC
Meanwhile, at Galway Docks a volunteer group of GBSC members finished their work last night (Monday), transforming “The Grey Shed” into the “Commander Bill King Clubhouse” as a dockside hospitality suite for the Genesys-sponsored Galway stopover.
With the competitors in the RB&I obliged to observe a mandatory 48-hour stopover at each of the three ports of call, and with leader Morpheus expected tonight despite lightning breezes, it will be a lengthy process. The tail-ender Mea, a Vertue 2, is still almost within sight of the Isles of Scilly, so it’s likely the Commander Bill King Clubhouse will be active right through the Bank Holiday Weekend as boats and crews come and go in their alloted slots
Race Tracker below
