June 13, 2008
Our Man In The Azores
Click to enlarge
Thanks to Dom Katan, skipper of the winning boat, for sending us pictures.
Posted by ninjod at 06:50 AM | Comments (0)
June 12, 2008
John and Lucy have finished the Jester Azores Challenge
Just received a position report timed 11.45:29 UTC that puts John an Lucy moored in the Marina. They have finished. Hoorah !
I guess John is currently drinking beer.
More info as I get it ..
Update
Just received text message from John. It reads..
"Fast French Boat 1st, Fast Cat 2nd and Thorpe Bay Mud Boat 3rd. Had bath and now appreciate how strong wind is"
Posted by ninjod at 12:52 PM | Comments (5)
John and Lucy - Another Update
John and Lucy are now within cellular range and text messages can be passed. At 08:18 UTC this morning we received:
"Am 3 hr away strong wind thrw night getin lighter hope not becalmed off harbour"
And at 08:49 UTC after asking for a condition report we received:
"Sth wind 10knt sea lumpy as had f6 all nght sent sat psn 3 times every day thank god 4 gps can not c island"
More news as it happens.
Update - 09:18UTC
New text message received.. It reads:
"My reported 10kts wind is now a measured 22kts seems I always under report"
Update - 09:48UTC
New text message received.. It reads:
"Can just see high island 6 miles ahead have just shipped big wave am soaked"
Posted by ninjod at 09:48 AM | Comments (1)
John and Lucy Update
At 06:05:10 UTC this morning they had 26.8 nautical miles to go and were sailing at 5.5 knots
Posted by ninjod at 07:41 AM | Comments (0)
June 11, 2008
John & Lucy – ETA Tomorrow Morning !!!
2 Position reports so far today. At 05.07UTC this morning John and Lucy had managed to get another 45.8 nautical miles closer to their goal and averaged a speed of 5.63 knots. Then at 12.58UTC today they had pulled off another 39.85 nautical miles at an average speed of a little over 5 knots. At the last position report they had 119.26 nautical miles to go. Given this information we should expect to hear of their arrival sometime tomorrow morning.
The 1st competitor to complete the race, Dominique Katan , arrived this morning at 11.06UTC in his Mistral 7.5 and described local conditions as a south easterly gale. Congratulations to Dominique..
Posted by ninjod at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)
June 10, 2008
John and Lucy..Not long now (we hope)
At 20.59 this evening we received another position report from John and Lucy. Since 04.55 this morning they have managed to average 5.44 knots and have got 87.31 nautical miles closer to their goal. With a little over 200 nautical miles left to run we should expect to hear from them very soon assuming the weather conditions remain fair. Remember the last time John approached the Azores he sat for 72 hours with no wind at all. Here's hoping Lucy and he have more luck this time.
A number of other race participants are now being tracked. You can view John and Lucy's performance along side the other tracked competitors by clicking here.
Posted by ninjod at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)
John and Lucy are Charging (9th June)
Between 06.29 UTC this morning and 13.06 UTC this afternoon John and Lucy managed an impressive 42.99 nautical miles at an average speed of 6.65 knots. Then between 13.06 UTC this afternoon and 20.58 UTC this evening they managed another 45.49 nautical miles at an average speed of 5.89 knots. For those that are wondering how the later's distance is greater but speed slower the answer is that the distances measured are the distance made good to the finish. Although the dynamic duo travelled faster this morning not all of it was as favourable a direction as it was this afternoon.
At 20.58 UTC John and Lucy had 327 nautical miles left to sail. At 6 knots that is a little over 2 days, at 5 knots is close to 3 days.
Posted by ninjod at 12:15 AM | Comments (2)
June 08, 2008
8 Days On.
Between 13.13 UTC today and 17.16 UTC yesterday John and Lucy managed to take off another 88.85 nautical miles at an average speed of 4.46 knots. At 13.13UTC today they had 512 nautical miles to run to the finish.
Assuming the weather data I downloaded is correct John and Lucy are skirting the edge on a high pressure system with the wind behind them. I hope he has kept a log, it will be good to find out how the weather forecasts compare to actuals !
Posted by ninjod at 09:31 PM | Comments (1)
June 07, 2008
John and Lucy Slow Progress.
Another position report received today.. Hoorah.. Good for us but probably not the best time for John aboard Lucy. In the past 24 hours John has managed to reduce his distance to the finish line by only 50 nautical miles. This is almost definitely due to light winds. Yesterdays position report from Pipedream described conditions as south westerly 8 knots. In plotting the 3 position reports since yesterdays posted update it would appear as though John and Lucy ave turned right and are now heading back towards the rhumbline.
Posted by ninjod at 05:16 PM | Comments (0)
June 05, 2008
Finally... A position report
At 13.07 today we finally got a position report from John and Lucy. They currently have 658.84 nautical miles to go to finish. What a relief !!
Posted by ninjod at 04:17 PM | Comments (1)
June 03, 2008
Weather Update
I looked at forecasts from the sailing section of Weatheronline and Theyr this lunchtime. According to these forecasts stronger winds and a much less favorable wind direction are expected this afternoon and tomorrow for John and Lucy (assuming they are still on route to Azores!!).
Paul
Posted by ninjod at 12:43 PM | Comments (1)
No Position Report Yesterday
I waited eagerly yesterday for an update on John and Lucy's progress and got nothing. Having searched the Internet I have found updates from another competitor as well as some pictures.
Lucy ( the outer yacht ) before the start of the race. Thanks to whoever took the picture...
In the picture below you can see the green line which John and Lucy's progress up until their last position report on the 01/06/2008. The new blue line represents an East Coast Westerly Centaur doing the race owned by a chap called Alan and named Pipedream. The blue line is Pipedream's progress from 1400 on the 01/06/08 to 1400 on the 02/06/08. Assuming Pipedream's position reports are in GMT then at 1300 UTC on the 1st of June John and Lucy were 42.3nm ahead of Pipedream
Conditions from Pipedream at 1400 yesterday were described as North Westerly Force 4. Looking at the GRIB files for the next 5 days not much seems to change which means great reaching for the fleet.
Hopefully John will press his position report button today.
Posted by ninjod at 05:19 AM | Comments (1)
June 01, 2008
Day 2 – John & Lucy's Progress
We received a position report from John and Lucy today at 12.55.26 (GMT). Good progress has been made overnight with John and Lucy making 107.48 nautical miles DMG (Distance Made Good) since the start. They now have 1078.34 nautical miles to go. Their SOG (Speed Over The Ground) made towards the mark since their 1st position report has been 5.44 knots.
Assuming our weather data is correct you will see from the picture below John and Lucy have had no more than 10 knots of breeze today on their starboard quarter.
Again, assuming the forecasts are correct the next 24 hours should see the wind move forward and enable John and Lucy to do some reaching.
Posted by ninjod at 04:16 PM | Comments (0)
May 31, 2008
Day 1 – The Start
I received 2 mobile phone calls and some position reports from John and Lucy this afternoon. During the 1st call I heard:
“in 5th place currently but catching 2 boats in front of me fast.. Called starboard on a yacht. Owner surprised and commented that nobody called starboard in his sailing club”
Then during the 2nd call John commented as follows:
“now in 2nd position. Wind on the nose. The mini transat took off but everyone else just behind..”
We have a couple of pictures in this post (Click to make them bigger). The 1st is the entire route John and Lucy have to travel. And the 2nd is his current progress. In the 2nd the green line represents his position reports and course so far.
At the time of posting this message conditions look set to remain fairly light for John and Lucy during their 1st night at sea.
Posted by ninjod at 06:56 PM | Comments (1)
May 19, 2008
John and Lucy's Jester Challenge
A good friend of mine John Margarson will leave Plymouth on the 31st of May and head towards the Azores as a competitor in the Jester Azores Challenge 2008.
John purchased himself a satellite tracker for the event. I will therefore attempt to chart his progress during the race and publish race updates here while he makes is way there.
As many of you know I made this trip in NINJOD last year with my father. John is on a solo mission in a much smaller yacht. I for one wish him every success in his challenge
Posted by ninjod at 11:17 AM | Comments (1)