Three Peaks Yacht Race

[Zlod]

Firstly, I have to congratulate Journeymaker on winning the race. They raced well and pushed us hard and at the end of the day, they did what they needed to do on Ben Nevis. They rode their luck (good and bad) and deserved to win at the end of the day. Well done.

But I can't help like feeling that we threw it all away. If any one of about 10 things hadn't gone wrong, then we might have won the overall trophy instead:

- if I hadn't run leg 1 of the Cotswold Way relay on the morning of the race...
- if we'd had our sails up on the start line (rather than the mainsail twisted round the boom and the genoa falling out of the luff groove)...
- if the spinnaker hadn't unclipped from its halyard between Bardsey and Caernarfon...
- if the spinnakker hadn't ripped before Caernarfon ....
- if we hadn't run aground 300m before Caernarfon ....
- if we hadn't gone for an inadvertant tourist trip to Caernarfon castle....
- if we hadn't got slightly lost on the zig-zags up the Snowdon Ranger path ...
- if we could have got to Whitehaven 20 minutes earlier ....
- if I'd bought that flashy cyclocross bike rather than borrowing the skipper's old mountain bike (we'd have cut off 15 minutes of cycling time overall) ....
- if we hadn't run aground getting out of Whitehaven....
- if we hadn't had a spinnaker halyard snap on the way to Corpach ....
- if I hadn't felt so rubbish on the run up Ben Nevis ....

The one stroke of luck we had was that when we grounded coming out of Whitehaven, we grounded in the main channel. This meant that when Journeymaker came out (5 hours later - on the next tide), they had to go round us and also grounded in the shallower water.

There was a moment of absolute elation when we got back to Whitehaven (after the Scafell Pike run) when it looked like we would get out on the same tide (which would have given us a 5 hour advantage and killed the race off). We had gone so well up Scafell Pike and given it absolutely everything: everything. We went out of the lock gates and I was just praying that we would get out of the outer harbour (as Reeds almanac predicted we would: I checked the tidal predictions afterwards too). It was a totally sickening feeling as I felt the keel ground on the mud (in the deepest water: the sailors did the best they could). It was a total head in the hands job. To go from absolute elation to total dejection in 10 minutes was awful. It was heartbreaking.

After Whitehaven it was going to be uphill all the way. We were tired. Journeymaker were going to be faster downwind. I thought we could overhaul them on the Ben even though they were 36 minutes ahead of us. I stepped off the boat at Corpach and started running and just thought "oh no, this doesn't feel right". It was then a total battle up the Ben. I could tell how frustrated my running partner, Andy Rankin, was but I couldn't do anything about it. I was looking at the altimeter and just knew that the ascent rate wasn't enough but couldn't do anything about it. We caught up about 17 minutes on the Ben, but that wasn't enough. Journeymaker ran their hearts out on the Ben and we (more to the point, I) did too, but we weren't able to run to our full potential. We should have been a good 30 minutes quicker on the Ben (based at least on our time last year).

I slept for 20 hours after the race. I was cold and shivering until I had a hot shower and under a warm duvet. I felt so under the weather that I couldn't even manage beer. I've felt totally knackered for the last 4 days and am still under the weather. I think something went medically wrong for me before the Ben: either something I ate, I got cold on the boat or I got exhausted. I'm going to do whatever I can now to recover in time for the other big adventures of the year that lie ahead.

So it was so near yet so far. It seemed like we snatched "defeat" from the claws of victory. We defended the King of the Mountains trophy, won the mountain sections and think we won legs 1 and 2 overall, so we did really well. It was just so tantalisingly close to the prize that really mattered most to us.

It was great to be part of such a fantastic race.

Next year I'm having a fancy cyclocross bike.

Well done N&G: you got some good mountain times.

Well done to Journeymaker: deserved winners.

[Boy Wonder]

Great write-up Zlod - hope you're recovering at last - there's always another year!

[RobW]

Amazing effort Zlod. Good luck for the rest of the season. TMB included, IIRC?

[Ady In Accy]

And again for 2009....................

What is the terrain like for the bike from Whitehaven along the cycle track to when you come off before Kirkland (and on the track to the YH). Will a road bike with Campag Zondas and maybe Conti Gatorskins cut it or would a chunkier tyre/wheel be better suited?

[Toffer]

Yes, we need to know this, could this be a new "what bike" thread?
Perhaps a recce is on the cards????

[Baggins]

I often used the cycle track on my way for a ride down Buttermere on my road bike, its tarmaced and is really fast to move on even though its uphill. I could often keep on the big ring all the way.

The forest road down Ennerdale is totally different, its rough and stoney, before mountain bikes I would go up there on a tourer I think the tyres were 32? and would get knocked about a bit by the stones.

I think you could get by on a road bike with touring style tyres but not racing tyres.

[Ady In Accy]

I often used the cycle track on my way for a ride down Buttermere on my road bike, its tarmaced and is really fast to move on even though its uphill. I could often keep on the big ring all the way.

Thanks Baggins. Am I correct in saying entry onto the cycle path is from the B5345 just south of the Old Quay - is it an obvious entry onto it and then obvious end to the route on back road 1.25K west of Kirkland? Will be going up for a recce but just gathering info...........ta.