Race Directors Journal

Josh Tarr and Jason McKinlay in Savoir Faire – hoping set a new world record for a pair rowing around Britain – have set off again after almost a day at anchor, south of Aberdeen. They were trapped there by high winds.

In the last hour they have moved off the anchor and are trying to fight their way down the Aberdeenshire coast. They are now past Stonehaven, with less than 420miles to the finish.

The pair, from Salcombe in Devon, posted the following blog this afternoon:

Ok. Looks like our biggest challenge yet. Although we’ve passed all the major pinch points, rowed roughly 1300 miles (3/4) and are on the home stretch, the weather has turned unfavourable for at least 7 days. We’ve rowed the majority of this solo, allowing us to row 24 hours a day trying to be as efficient as possible but it looks like we need a change of tactics. 

 We’re going to try and row entire tidal windows with both of us on the oars, some of the winds forecast will not even allow us to do that but where possible we will push as hard as we can. The idea is that the boat trim will be more efficient against the wind (bow down) and the extra power should make better use of the small windows of opportunity. It seems to be our only option aside from staying on anchor for at least a week.. No thanks 🙂 

We have to leave the idea of 39 days for now, it’s impossible to tell what we’ll be able to achieve each day at this stage. The wind forecast is fairly accurate for 5 days but it does vary so we’ll constantly be looking for weather windows that allow us to claw small chunks from the remaining 420 miles..

 Initially feeling quite down at the prospect but looking forward I’m positive we’re making the right moves and hopefully that will pay off!

 

57 01.771N  02 08.100W (421 miles to the finish)

Bad times. Looking at the winds for the next five days we’re going to hit some strong south-westerly winds mixed with other unfavourable conditions…Unfortunately this could set us back a few days. Luckily we have plenty of treats.

 We’re hopeful of 39 days but that’s a big ask, looking at the forecast. We’ll do our best.

 In the meantime, we’ve generally had some fortunate weather until now, so we can’t complain. It would just be nice to get back to our family and friends…We’ll get there!

 They say red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning.

These shepherds know what they’re talking about, this was the sky we saw this morning. It’s now rain and grey skies. We can handle that. It’s the southerly strong wind that just about to come our way that’s making life that little bit frustrating but when we consider how far ahead of ourselves we are, we have to smile.

 We have to make a big push together on the oars when we have a tiny window of opportunity later today. We’ll try together as long as we physically can to find shelter from the oncoming bad weather. Then we’ll just have to wait and see…

 Big love, JT and Jay Mac.

GBRow race leaders, the Islanders, are still on track to set a new world record for rowing non-stop aroud Britain.

Tonight Josh Taylor and his crew in the Black Oyster are in home waters off the Essex coast and are on target for reaching the Thames tomorrow morning in time to ride the flood tide all the way to Tower Bridge.

If, as planned they reach Tower Bridge by around 17.00 tomorrow they will knock 12 hours off the current world record of 26days 21 hours 14minutes, which has stood for eight years.

Earlier this afternoon, Janus van Helferton met the Islanders as they passed Felixstowe and took a series of amazing pictures of the Black Oyster and her crew.

Tonight, the were passing Mersea Island near Colchester – home of skipper Josh Taylor and his childhood friend, Alan Morgan.

BLOG from Josh:

RIGHT WHO’S GOING TO BE THERE AT THE FINISH? Currently breaking our balls to get that WR…literally two-hour power sessions then pass out in our cabin. Not changed out of lycra in five days…keep watching the tracker. Can’t wait to see you all there at Tower Bridge. Your support and belief is what’s kept us pushing.

And a good luck message from Jason McKinlay and Josh Tarr – 500 miles north in the Moray Firth in second-place Savoir Faire: “We really hope the guys eat that record! They seem to have put in incredible efforts to get back within touching distance. Please pass on our best wishes.”

 

The battle to set a new world record for rowing non-stop around Britain is by no means over.

GBRow 2013 race leaders, the Islanders, are now rowing at an astonishing 6.3knots off the north Norfolk coast. They have now past Cromer and are heading towards Great Yarmouth, helped on their way by fast-flowing tides and a 6.9knot tailwind.

Skipper Josh Tyalor and his crew – Alan Morgan, James Plumley and Gavin Sheehan – have 53.5 hours left to cover 147miles to the finish at Tower in London if they are to have a chance of beat the existing world record of 26 days 21 hours 14mins, set in 2005.

The Islanders’ boat, the Black Oyster, has been suffering from electrical problems caused by a shortage of sun to operate their on-board solar panels but in a text to race headquarters Alan Morgan said: “V strong tides and not a cloud in the sky. Quite hot. With any luck we will do a Facetime with Mersea School tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, second-place Savoir Faire were also making just over six knots as they approached the tidal races at John O’Groats. At 21.00 they were less than three miles from the most northerly point on the British mainland.

 

Race leaders the Islanders are now just 12 miles away from the Norfolk coastline after a solid morning’s rowing. They should soon be in less exposed waters, having cut across the corner of the North Sea in a near straight line from Flamborough Head over the last 24 hours.

Their speed is currently just 1.2 knots despite a 7.7 knot tailwind, emphasising just how tough it is for even a 4 man crew to keep powering in as they have done for the last day as they chase the world record in the final few days of the race.

Meanwhile, further north after a storming start to their next leg of their journey with favourable winds and tides, Savoir Faire made great progress earlier today along the north coast of Scotland. They are now just 14 nautical miles from John O’Groats, but progress has slowed over the past couple of hours as the tide turned, forcing them to seek shelter in Dunnet Bay.

In a phone call a few minutes ago Josh Tarr told us that they plan to start rowing again at 21.00 this evening to hit the flood tide at John O’Groats around midnight and maintain their position well ahead of the 2 man world record.

Blog from Jason McKinlay of Savoir Faire at Cape Wrath, the north-westerly point on mainland Britain:

Today (June 24) Josh [Tarr] and I had a small window to get out of the bad weather but with the current and winds against us, winds 9-13mph, it meant rowing together as far as we could to try and make the 16.2miles to Cape Wrath…and the top of Scotland.

We rowed for five hours, making just 6.2miles and were dead beat. We tucked in to allow the strongest current to pass , to eat and sleep. A 2.5 hour rest and we went again. This time, the current was really strong and in our favour! Nothing in the charts suggested this and our window was getting wider!

We pushed on together for another 4 hours and turned round a nasty Cape Wrath jut before 8pm. The charts are suggesting a current with us of 1.7knots maximum but we were getting 4-6knots with just one on the oars at a time!

While this is awsome, we’re all too aware of the tide changes around 1am, so let’s wait and see…This certainlywasn’t expected and we’ll take it…We continue to swap oars at regular intervals.