Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race - Light start predicted

by Louay Habib on 21 Aug 2010 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race, first 24-hour outlook: Tactical weather expert, Mike Broughton, will be giving a full weather briefing on Sunday, prior to the start of the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race. Mike has competed in the race himself as well as over a dozen Fastnet races and just about every blue ribbon yacht race in the world.

'On Monday morning, the light north-westerly should back to the southwest, just before the race start, bringing brighter weather. The fleet will be running on mainly a starboard gybe towards the Forts, as they head east out of the Solent,' Predicts Broughton.

'Outside the Solent, the fleet turn west and should be beating into about 15 knots. This south-westerly breeze should be stable, in speed and direction through Monday evening. Tuesday morning, the wind should veer northwest and decrease to about 8-12 knots with leading boats around Land’s End. By Tuesday afternoon, a ridge of high pressure from the southwest will bring lighter westerly, then north-westerly winds.'

'For the moment, we look like completing the race in about seven days,' Commented ICAP Leopard boat captain, Chris Sherlock, which would be outside the race record. 'But if we get 24 hours of running conditions, that can dramatically change the overall picture. We certainly think that there is still every chance we can break the record, everything is still to play for.'

Having recently returned from their 35,000-mile circumnavigation of the globe, Hull & Humber and Edinburgh Inspiring Capital will be competing in the race. Clipper Ventures two yachts have a professional skipper and 17 crew who come from all walks of life. But they have one thing in common; they are up for a challenge and the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race is bound to give them one.

ICAP Leopard predicts that after 24 hours they should be in the Irish Sea. However, Hull & Humber’s skipper, Piers Dudin, believes that the Clipper Ventures entry will be battling the strong tides off Brixham, a day after the start.

'All of the crew have plenty of sailing knowledge but most of them will have never done a race like this before.' Commented Dudin: 'The race is very tactical and whilst I will make the final call on strategy, the workload of the navigator will be split between several yacht masters calculating the tides and getting weather information via VHF. Besides navigational duties, this race will see plenty of sail changes. On board there will be a lot of physical work to go with the mental calculations. The performance of Hull & Humber will be very much a team effort and we are all looking forward to the race.'

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