Shekinah’s CEO to race Bare Knuckles in Fastnet
Shekinah’s CEO to race Bare Knuckles in Fastnet
When hundreds of boats set off from Cowes on the Isle of Wight to compete in this year’s Rolex Fastnet Challenge, John Hamblin, Shekinah’s CEO will be among them. One of ten crew members on board ‘Bare Knuckles’, the team will be led by owner and skipper of the racing yacht, Nigel Mashembo.
Nigel, who has logged up some 100,000 nautical miles during his past ten years as Ocean Yacht Master, examiner and instructor for the RYA, has one previous fastnet campaign under his belt and the boat has a fine racing pedigree. The seasoned skipper has led his largely ‘home-grown’ Plymouth team through an exacting training race schedule coursing Plymouth Sound, Falmouth, Dartmouth and The Channel Islands.
John is hoping to use the gruelling 608 miles offshore biennial race as a platform to highlight the work of Shekinah, Plymouth’s leading homeless charity and raise funds for its multifaceted work. Regarded as one of the most demanding sailing events with tricky tidal currents and changeable weather Fastnet provides a unique opportunity for amateur yachtsmen and women to compete alongside professionals. To be competitive in the Fastnet requires true skill, endurance and courage.
John Hamblin, CEO, Shekinah has been sailing since he was a youngster but has been involved more seriously over the last ten years and explains what drove him to become involved in this exacting race, “This is an exciting, lifetime opportunity so we’ll be pushing ourselves to the limit all the way to the finish line. In sailing anything can happen but the team is hoping for good wind and a bit of good luck too, “says. “I also hope this personal challenge will help boost Shekinah’s fundraising drive raise the charity’s profile beyond the city,” he adds.
Shekinah’s aim is to help local adults, youth and ex-offenders leave their chaotic lives behind, providing them with a fresh start and equipping them with the skills, motivation and confidence to integrate back into the com
Mileage Builder Week April
Bare Knuckles Racing has just completed an impressive mileage building week covering over 500 nautical miles in a week. The weather could have not been any better with light easterly winds of 10 – 12 knots, flat seas and glorious sunshine for the whole week.
The weather forecast set the tone for the week sending Bare Knuckles and her crew to the east rather than to the west as originally planned. Leaving Plymouth on the Sunday evening Bare Knuckles headed for St Peter Port enjoying a fantastic night time sail. Monday saw them heading for the Isle of Wight with Yarmouth the first port of call before heading finally up to Cowes for a well earned rest before the next cross channel sail.
Tuesday after an early start Bare Knuckles headed back across the channel bound for the French port of Le Havre. The light easterly breeze allowed for a spinnaker reach at 9 knots allowing the crew to reach Le Havre in daylight. After a short rest he crew headed for Cherbourg to refuel before proceeding onto Alderney for a well earned rest and evening ashore.
Friday arrived with little wind and flat seas making sailing impossible with the only alternative being to motor a course was set for Salcombe before finally arriving back in Plymouth on Saturday lunchtime. The crew covered over 500 miles, 8 ports and 4 channel crossings in glorious sunshine providing them with a wealth of experience towards the RYA Yachtmaster Coastal Skipper and Offshore qualifications.
Fastnet Race 2011 price reduction
Bare Knuckles Racing is pleased to announce a price reduction of almost £500.00 off the cost of the 2011 Rolex Fastnet Race berth cost. This has been achieved through sponsorship from Yacht Haven Quay Plymouth which has allowed us to reduce the berth costs for all crew joining Bare Knuckles for the Fastnet Race campaign in 2011. There will be no change to the training program or items included in the race package.
The Rolex Fastnet Race (approx 608 miles)
Cost: £2495.00
Start: Sunday 14th August off RYS, Cowes, IOW
Course: Cowes – Fastnet Rock – Plymouth
Finish: Plymouth
Distance: 608 miles
Fastnet package includes:-
• Sat 19th & Sun 20th March or Sat 16th & Sun 17th April Plymouth Sound Inshore race training
• Sat 7th May RYA ISAF Offshore Safety Course (provisional date)
• Sun 8th May RYA/MCA Small Craft Basic Sea Survival (provisional date)
• Fri 13th – Sun 15th May 2011 Plymouth – Falmouth/Dartmouth Offshore race training
• Fri 27th – Sun 30th May St Peter Port Race Offshore race
• Fri 17th – Sun 19th June Guernsey Nonstop Race Offshore race
• Sun 14th August 2011 The Fastnet Race Cowes – Fastnet Rock – Plymouth
• Professional Skipper and Mate qualified to RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Ocean & Yachtmaster Offshore
• Embroidered crew t-shirt and fleece
• Embroidered Crew Race Jackets
• Crew Bag made from an old carbon mainsail
• 20 days sailing & 1500 sea miles
• Use of foul weather gear
• All food & drink while sailing
• All race entry fees, berthing costs and fuel
Fastnet Race 2011 News
Bare Knuckles Racing is now officially entered in the Fastnet Race 2011. With entries limited to 300 and over 100 boats registered on the first day of registration, the demand for competing yachts is higher than ever this year.
After 8 days of registration 280 boats have already signed up for the yacht racing event of the year.
Crew places onboard Bare Knuckles are limited to 10 with 6 places already gone we have only 4 berths available.
Training starts in just over 2 months with an Open Weekend planned for Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th March from Sutton Harbour Marina in Plymouths Barbican area.
Don't delay on the chance of competing in one of the most famous offshore yacht races the Rolex Fastnet Race 2011.
Bare Knuckles Newsletter January 2011
I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and thank you all for your support during 2010.
This year we have some big and new events in the racing calendar which include:-
Rolex Fastnet Race
80th Anniversary Round the Island Race
60th Anniversary JOG Regatta Week in Falmouth
Torbay Offshore Week
We are offering discounts of 7.5% on all bookings made before the 31st January and 5% for bookings made before the 28th February.
Overview of 2010 Season
Bare Knuckles achieved some god race results in 2010 finishing 340th overall out of 1800 boats in Round the Island Race averaging a speed of 7.3 knots over the 55 mile course. The season ended with a 3rd overall in the RWYC Icicle Series which finished on December 12th. The conditions proved to be challenging with ligtwinds, bright sunshine and freezing decks.
Fastnet Race Open Day
Over the weekend of Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th March we shall be having a Fastnet Race open day for potential Fastnet crew to come along and experience Bare Knuckles and talk to the skipper about the race. We shall be sailing out to the Eddystone lighthouse for a little taste of offshore sailing. Places are limited to 9 people per day to please call to book your place.
Fastnet Race 2011
This is the biggest event of the year and Bare Knuckles will be competing against some of the best sailing crews in offshore racing. The Rolex Fastnet Race is the most famous offshore yacht race in the world covering a distance of 608 miles from its start in Cowes out to the Fastnet Rock then back to the finish in Plymouth. We only have 5 crew places remaining so see you at the Fastnet open day.
For full details of all races and events please view our website www.bareknucklsracing.com or contact Nigel on Tel. 07773 111860 / 01752 241815 or e-mail info@bareknucklesracing.com
Summer is on its way so hope to see you all out on the water sometime this year.
Nigel Mashembo
RWYC Icicle Series 2010
Bare Knuckles finished 3rd overall in the Royal Western Yacht Club Icicle Series which finished on Suday 12th December.
Plymouth Round Table sailing evening
A group from the Plymouth Round Table enjoyed a pleasant evening’s sail around Plymouth Sound in the late summer sunshine.
The evening was a training session for the forthcoming Area 45 Presidents Cup due to be held in the South West over the 9/10th October.
Area 45 Presidents Cup
The 2010 Round Table President’s Cup ‘The Eddystone Challenge’ takes place this weekend in Plymouth. 14 yachts, all flying RNLI and Round Table pennants, will assemble on Saturday morning and will be escorted to the 09.30 start by the Plymouth all weather lifeboat, Sybil Mullen Glover and the inshore lifeboat, Millennium Forrester. The following day they will be escorted by the Fowey all weather lifeboat, Maurice and Joy Hardy and the inshore lifeboat, Olive Two.
Saturday morning arrived with winds gusting up to 35 knots from the east with six to nine feet seas running also from the east. Most of the competing boats decided to play safe by putting in two to three reefs and a storm jib. Bare Knuckles approached the start line 10 minutes after everyone else with a code 5 jib and one reef in the mainsail reaching in at over 10 knots.
With average speeds of 12 knots the fleet were soon passed on the way out to the Eddystone Lighthouse. The last boat to be passed was Razzmatazz who started at 09.45. On reaching the Eddystone Lighthouse a large gust in excess of 35 knots forced Bare Knuckles to drop the mainsail and run under jib only. With just the jib and the wind blowing hard a large wave picked up Bare Knuckles and catapulted them to 15 knots.
With the main damaged it was decided to hoist the storm jib in its place. The only casualties of the day were Stuart who decided that his bacon sandwich was no longer required and Mark who got drenched by a large wave causing his lifejacket to inflate. At just after 13.30 Bare Knuckles crossed the finish line in Fowey with the only one other yacht in sight. While putting the sails away a mayday was called on the VHF radio from one of the other competitors who had also suffered gear failure. Fowey lifeboat assisted in getting Moonshine back into harbour.
Sunday provided the perfect sailing conditions with a force four from the north east and sunshine for the return sail back to Plymouth.
20th Michelmore Challenge Cup 2010
Michelmores Challenge Cup Yacht Race.
Bare Knuckles chartered by Maze competed in the 20th Michelmores Challenge Cup, an annual corporate yacht race around Torbay organised by the Exeter based law firm.
Yachts in the IRC class started at 1205 with winds reaching 17 knots from the east and a sea state to match. The start saw a couple of yachts over the line and one collision.
Bare Knuckles went for a safe start on starboard before changing to port tack to avoid the congestion of the main fleet. The first mark one mile to windward was reached in fourth place before close reaching to Eastern Blackstone.
Within half a mile of Eastern Blackstone the wind had dropped to 4 knots which made sailing with spinnakers difficult in the choppy conditions. A decision was made to drop the spinnaker and sail goose winged to the rock. With boat speed maintained Bare Knuckles was able to round the rock still in third place. With the difficult conditions Exocet was overtaken when they lost all boat speed.
At Berry head the spinnaker was hoisted for a run down to the start finish line before starting the second short lap to windward with a mark laid one mile north of Berry Head.
Bare Knuckles crossed the finish line behind Excellent and Joker in third position over the water and 6th overall ahead of Joker.
This year saw the best result for Maze on Bare Knuckles. The sail up to Brixham on the Friday saw challenging conditions with winds blowing from the east at over 20 knots at times. This resulted in a fast yet bumpy sail.
The return trip was blessed with light winds from the south east. Phil, Mark and Nigel reached Plymouth in around six hours.
Round the Island Race 2010
Everyone is celebrating this year's Race as being one of the most successful on record. Not only did the weather gods play fair, the racing was extremely close throughout the day proven by the tight finishes in most classes and the competitors came ashore happy and proud of their efforts whether first in class or trailing the fleet.
For once, most of the boats finished before sunset and in a fleet of nearly 1700 boats, that's pretty unusual.
From the 0500 start off the Royal Yacht Squadron line when ICAP Leopard, the current monohull course record holder powered her way up the Solent to the Needles, right through to the closing stages of the race, there was little time for the race management team at the Island Sailing Club to draw breath in order to record the finish times.
Following on from Bare Knuckles result in 2009 this year we crossed the line in 128th position finishing 340th overall with Valshedha the only IRC Class 'O' boat to best uson corrected time. ICAP Leopard might have been the first boat to finish but at one hour and swenty seven minutes behind us on corrected time.
This year has proved the best Round the Island for the crew of Bare Knuckles finishing third out of eight Prima 38.
The crew consisted of:-
Nigel, Mike, Jon, Claire, Bob, Peter, Tony, Graham, Peter, Ben, Stuart & Greg.
2010 Yacht Racing Calender for Bare Knuckles
Dates for your diary
21st – 23rd May St Peter Port Race: The RNSA annual cross channel race starting in Plymouth Sound and finishing outside the Castle in St Peter Port. Just over 85 miles of offshore racing the perfect start to the 2010 offshore sailing season.
3rd – 6th June St Malo Race: The Royal Western Yacht Club’s annual race to St Malo has seen some very competitive racing in the past years with over 30 entries recorded. The race starts from the RWYC line in Plymouth Sound followed by one or two marks before racing the 125 miles across the channel to St Malo.
19th June Round the Island Race, I.O.W: The annual mayhem of Round the Island Race 2010 is expecting around 1700 boats from across the globe racing round the Isle of Wight.
24th – 27th June Trebeurden Race: The annual Yealm Yacht Club race to Trebeurden in Northern Brittany. With a start in Wembury Bay at 1830 on the Thursday should see us arrive in Trebeurden sometime n the Friday afternoon.
10th – 16th July Cork Week Regatta: The fastest growing regatta in Europe. Cork Week is a little different to the others with no professional crew allowed to compete. With two training weekends before the regatta the crew of Bare Knuckles will be ready and trained to compete with the best.
31st July – 7th August Cowes Week Regatta: One of the largest sporting events in the UK and the largest sailing regatta worldwide attracting over 1000 yachts and 8000 competitors. Cowes offers a very exciting racing schedule together with a full social programme ashore throughout the week. Join Bare Knuckles for a fantastic opportunity to compete in the world’s largest regatta.
9th – 15th August Falmouth Regatta Week: The main regatta is a series of races over seven days, with courses laid in Falmouth Bay and the Carrick Roads. Bare Knuckles will be competing in the Bay Fleet which includes multihulls, IRC and PY yachts.
Falmouth Fowey Triangle Race 1st - 3rd May
The season kicked off with the annual RWYC Falmouth – Fowey – Plymouth Triangle Race sponsored by Alan Cummings Estate Agents. The Grashoff family and friends chartered Bare Knuckles to compete in this years event over the first May bank holiday weekend.
The first race experienced varied wind speeds from 7 – 30 knot with rain showers and wind shifts of 40 degrees. With 15 boats on the IRC ‘A’ start line the racing was going to be competitive. After just over 9 hours Bare Knuckles finished in 9th place having sailed fast and hard in difficult conditions.
Sunday saw even more wind with gusts reaching 35 knots. Having sustained mainsail damage before the start, Bare Knuckles motored to Fowey to collect a new mainsail for Monday’s race.
The final race brought a fresh breeze from the north east with flat seas. Bare Knuckles crossed the line in 5th position with Jalfrezi, Musk Ox, Dark & Steamy and Arcanum in front. Once Bare Knuckles got into her stride with Ben Grashoff at the helm every one bar Dark & Steamy was overtaken. With shifting winds and a strong tide running in Plymouth Sound Sir Ducktion and Quickbrew managed to squeeze past. A fierce tacking dual was fought with Quickbrew within 400 meters of the line resulting in Bare Knuckles regaining her 3rd place finish over the water.
Michelmores Challenge 2009
The 19th Annual Michelmores Challenge Yacht Race is to take place in Torbay on Saturday 5 September, when over 40 yachts and 300 crew compete in one of the UK's largest invitation-only corporate water borne events.
The Exeter based law firm is renowned for organising prestige events, which include the 1200-entry 5 kilometre charity road race around Exeter city centre and the regional annual commercial property awards.
Michelmores Director of Client Services, Andrew Maynard said: 'The Michelmores Challenge was established in 1990 and has grown in size and competitive endeavour since then.
'The event is now routinely featured in national yachting event listings and is accorded the accolade of being referred to simply as 'The Michelmores' for which we are immensely proud.
'Last year's victorious crews came from property consultants the Bailey Partnership, who won both the Challenge Cup and the Challenge Trophy, while accountants Francis Clark carried off the Michelmores Challenge Bowl
Maze UK headed by Richard May put in a sterling effort on Bare Knuckles finishing 3rd on the water having just pipped Papillion at the finish.
Louis Vuitton Cup - Nice - Nov 2009
Nigel from Bare Knuckles Racing has been skippering the committee boat for Louis Vuitton in the WSTA regatta in Nice for the last couple of months.
Back in October two America's Cup yachts were towed from Valencia in Spain to Nice for the regatta. The tow covered 450 miles up the Spanish coast and across the Gulf of Lyon arriving in Nice 48 hours later with a average tow speed of 9 knots.
The regatta saw some fantastic match racing between the competing teams. After round robin one ETNZ lay in first position with Team Origin in second. The French team French Spirit had a collision with the committee boat during one of the races, causing their boat to be withdrawn fro racing for a couple.
With just two boats racing and very shifty light winds the crews had to endure considerable time waiting for the sea breeze to kick in. All but one race from round robin one was sailed.
Round robin two saw all four boats racing in some very competitive racing. The final was between ETNZ and Azzurra in the Mascalzone Latino boats. First race went to Azzurra after a large wind shift played in their favour allowing them to dominated the lead.
The second race was one of the best from the whole regatta with ETNZ requiring a win to stand a change of winning. Azzurra sailed another perfect race to win the Louis Vuitton Trophy - Nice - 2009.
Following the regatta Nigel and a crew of other dedicated yacht builders, riggers, sail makers and the like towed two of the yacht back to Valencia via La Ciotat in France. The tow saw some large waves just off Hyeres and the Cap D'Armes which caused some damage to one of the yachts and one of the tow vessels. After a weather break in La Ciotat the tow entered the Gulf of Lyon in a westerly direction to avoid strong winds and large sea further offshore. As the sea state settled down the tow speed went up to a blistering 15 knots.
After 48 hours towing the boats arrived in Valencia safe and sound.
Dartmouth Regatta 2009
The 2009 Dartmouth Regatta sailing events attracted 313 craft within 18 classes for a total of over 122 races over the week. The 4 days of racing were reduced to 3 when racing was called off on Friday due to strong winds.
Fortunately conditions on Saturday were ideal with a strong breeze and brilliant sunshine but by Sunday the weather had deteriorated and constant drizzle coupled with an 18 knot wind meant poor visibility.
RORC Fastnet Race 2009
While the previous Rolex Fastnet Race is remembered for the course record time being demolished, the only record broken in this year's running of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's biennial 608 nautical-mile classic was one relating to competitor patience, as light winds at the start and end, combined with powerful spring tides, made for a 'tactically challenging' race, and one of the longest in recent years.
The race started at 1305 for the IRC 1 class with the tide ebbing from the Solent out towards The Needles. The wind was light with the fleet splitting up between the north and south side of the channel. Bare Knuckles headed for the northern side out towards Hurst Castle with little wind. By the time the wind had filled in from the south west, it was decided to head out to sea as the tidal gate for Portland Bill had been missed.
At 0200 with 120 meters of warp, chain and anchor out, Bare Knuckles was still making 2.5 knots boat speed in the wrong direction. By 0500 the wind started to fill in from the west initially at 10 knots and slowly building to 18 knots. With this increase in wind speed, the crew got the boat up to speed and back into the race.
Over the next day, Bare Knuckles overtook boat after boat as it climbed up the fleet. By Tuesday morning, the south Devon coast of Start Point was reached, with still plenty of wind although visibility reduced to less than 500 meters. You only see other boats close up when visibility is reduced.
As the weather and visibility cleared up on Tuesday, Plymouth and the Eddystone Lighthouse soon disappeared out of view on the way to the next major landmark, The Lizard.
With the wind yet again reducing to a little over 4 knots, the sight of the Lizard Lighthouse took an eternity to vanish out of view. With light winds and clear skies, the horizon was a sea of red, green and white lights from the competing yachts and the odd ship, which must have wished they had stayed in port for a couple of extra days.
Following a rather slow sail out to Lands End, it was hoped that the wind would fill in from west. However, yet again, we were left with light and variable winds ranging from 5 to 10 knots and changing direction by as much as 50 degrees. into the Celtic Sea, the conditions remained unchanged until late afternoon on the Tuesday when the wind settled down at 14 knots. With this increase, Bare Knuckles wound up to full speed and began the task of pulling back some places.
By daybreak Wednesday, Bare Knuckles was only 35 miles from the Fastnet Rock with poor visibility but a good 18 – 20 knots of wind. Other competitors were sighted, as the fleet tacked to reach the rock. At 1108am, the Fastnet Rock was reached, with visibility only 50 metres. It felt like a long way to not see the Fastnet Rock. After Pantaeneous, the spinnaker was hoisted for the long downwind leg to The Isles of Scilly. Speeds of 8 to 12 knots helped push bare Knuckles up the results board.
At the Isles of Scilly the wind disappeared altogether and Jaguar Logic with Pete Summers is only a few hundred meters away. At this stage its a battle to keep Bare Knuckles moving in the right direction. All it takes is for the tide to turn and we could be heading up towards Wales. The Code A O secret weapon is hoisted and all of a sudden we are moving at 1.2 knots in the right direction with only 2.5 knots of wind. The mood lifts on the boat as we start the last leg back to Plymouth and the finish line. At 0400 Friday morning we at reaching past Falmouth at 7.4 knots with the asymmetric and all crew members sat on the windward rail. During the night the fleet had converged between The Lizard Point and Rame Head. As daybreak arrived we are greeted to a sight of over 50 boats all charging towards Plymouth with their spinnakers up.
The finish was reached after 5 days 10 hours 38 minutes and 12 second placing Bare Knuckles 37th in Class and 186th overall out of 300 entries.
Congratulation to all the crew on Bare Knuckles who completed the Rolex Fastnet Race 2009.
Skipper – Nigel Mashembo
1st Mate – James Eastbury
Galley – Marcus Caston
Heads – Mike Houstoun
Port saloon bunk – Phil Trotter
Just for charity – Trevor Perry
Man with bucket – Fedor Sidorenko
Spinnaker – Ross Hayward
Fore deck – Adam
Deck fluff – Richard Wood
Trevor Perry's account of the race:
Trevor also raised over £1000.00 for charity doing this event.
My Fastnet started when I boarded the Cowes ferry from Southampton on
Saturday Afternoon. Knowing our start time was 1300 on the Sunday I was
a little nervous and a little excited. The nerves soon left me once I
arrived at the boat and met the crew, some for the first time. We were
to be a very snugly fitting 10 on the 38 foot Prima.
Once on the water, Sunday morning, we discussed our tactics for the
start. I just wanted to know where I fitted and what was expected of me.
My sailing ability not really up to race tactics. The next thing we are
over the line and away.
We were then 'blighted' with the lack of wind which scuppered a good
clean start. This was not the only time in the 5 days and 11 minutes of
the race where we 'floundered' around trying to keep the boat moving
forward. I had never experienced such frustration in my life. Especially
when you could see that other boats had wind or smaller lighter boats
were making better progress than we were.
The moral on board was always light hearted and we all seemed to 'gel'
together well whether we were on or off watch. The boat generally moved
forwards and most of the time fairly quickly (though not quick enough to
give us a really good finishing position for most of the crew I spoke
to). I am sure if we had winds of force 4 - 6 Bareknuckles would have
performed even better.
Overall I have an absolutely smashing time. Learnt a lot, made some real
friends and got a lot out of the whole experience. The most
disappointing thing about the whole week, and I speak for most of the
crew, was not seeing the Fastnet rock as we rounded it due to the fog.
Oh well better think about doing it again.
Plymouth Regatta 2009
Bare Knuckles competed in the annual Port of Plymouth Regatta Friday 31st July & Saturday 1st August in the IRC Div A class under the name Living Space.
With mixed weather the crew of Bare Knuckles managed to finish 3rd overall after 4 races and one discard.
The crew were fronted by Stuart Bayley on the Friday and Kirsty Bayley on the Saturday. Crew members were made up of clients and contractors of Living Space Architects.
Eddystone Chartiy Pursuit Race 2009
Contingency plans for the 8th Eddystone Pursuit did not have to be put into effect as the Race Director decided on the basis of the in depth analysis of the weather system available, that conditions were safe for the event.
Persistent rain and a south south west wind made it an uncomfortable beat out to the Hand Deeps Buoy, approx 3 nm north West of the Eddystone Lighthouse. Well over 70 yachts of the original 89 entries set out and, though a number retired, by the end of the day nearly 60 yachts had completed the full course.
Bare Knuckles the fastest boat racing started two and a half hours after the first boats started. By the time Bare Knuckles had reached Hand Deeps Buoy half of the fleet had been overtaken. With the spinnaker up and 22 knot of wind blowing the crew on Bare Knuckles set about the task of overtaking everything in sight. With boat speeds reaching 12 knot at times Bare knuckles raced past some of the boats that had been out since 09.00am. Bare Knuckles crossed the line in 13th place. The crew from Living Space Architects worked hard to keep the boat going while getting slightly wet from the constant rain.
An enjoyable evening back at the RWYC for the event supper, supported by an excellent Jazz Band provided the ideal conditions for the prize giving in which every entrant received some recognition and reward for their chosen charity.
Julia Creeke provide £12,975 for distribution as prizes, as well paying the cost of running the event, which, added to the £22,500 raised in advance by individual boats for their chosen charities, meant that an astounding £35,475 was raised by the event for local and national charities.
Bare Knuckles and the crew from Living Space Architects fronted by Stuart Bayley finished 24th after the complex points scoring system. A prize of £150.00 was won for Shelter the nominated charity for Living Space Architects.
Bare Knuckles Racing would like to thank Living Space Architects for their support.
Round the Island Race 2009
The wind had managed to play tricks, providing spinnaker-shredding gusts around St Catherine's Point before turning through 180 degrees and disappearing completely for some time at Bembridge. Despite the challenging conditions, 1,566 boats completed the course, an increase on 2008. Some, like the Cornish Shrimper Nornie and Catalac 8.5 Blithe Spirits had been at sea well over 14 hours, in contrast with fleet leader Oman Sail Masirah (Extreme 40 - Pete Cumming) which crossed the line in half the time.
The big boats suffered more from the lack of wind leaving the smaller, lower rated entries to carry off the top prizes. Tattarat (Folkboat - Philip Williams) won the Gold Roman Bowl by heading the leader board in IRC followed by sistership Nordic Bear (Brian Appleyard) with Scallywag (Quarter tonner - Ali Tyler/Steve Lawrence) third. In the ISC Rating System section for non-regular racers, Tudor Rose (Hunter Medina - Richard and Ian Cooke) gained a 35 minute lead on handicap from Clarissa (David Thomas one off - John Langdon) to take the Silver Gilt Roman Bowl.
Bare Knuckles finished 33rd in group, 71st in class and 351 overall out of 1564 finishers. Congratulations to the crew for finishing towards the front of the fleet.
Plymouth - St Malo Race 4th - 7th June
Bare Knuckles was delighted to welcome on board Rob Cummings for the Plymouth to St Malo race 4th – 7th June 2009, Rob’s first race since recently withdrawing from the OSTAR 2009 Single Handed Transatlantic Yacht Race.
Bare Knuckles stormed across the finish line at over 9 knots and in second place to ‘Bling’. Overall results are still awaited, but the prediction on corrected times is that Bare Knuckles finished third overall in IRC class.
The race started from the Royal Western Yacht Club’s start line in the Cattewater on Thursday 4th June 2009 at 18.15pm. Bare Knuckles crossed the start line in third place and immediately overtook the x-332 ‘X-rated’ before reaching Mountbatten pier. From then on, the race order was set.
The race started with light easterly winds which reduced to 6 to 8 knots overnight making for slow progress. By day-break, the winds had increased to 12 to 14 knots from the South East, allowing Bare Knuckles to get up to speed and pull away from all other boats in sight.
The French coast was sighted about midday and Bare Knuckles crossed the finish line in style at 16.06, 5 seconds BST making for a crossing time of just over 21 hours for the 140 mile race.
The team enjoyed a well earned meal ashore in St Malo before the return crossing which was smooth until the wind reached 25 knots from the north-west which made for an interesting sail back to Plymouth.
The sun shone throughout (save for nights!) and the crew enjoyed basking in the sun as can be seen from the pictures in the picture gallery.
Well done to the St Malo team of Bare Knuckles and a big thanks to Rob Cummings!
The results are now in and we finished 5th overall with only 20 minutes separating 3rd and 5th after 22 hours of racing.
OSTAR Transatlantic Race 2009
CHEERS, applause and the firing of a start gun signalled the launch of an epic 2,800-mile dash across the Atlantic.
Thousands of people flocked to vantage points around Plymouth Sound, crowding the popular Jennycliff and Hoe spots to witness the start of The Original Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race (OSTAR).
Hundreds of others took to the water for a close-up view of the start of the yacht race.
The historic event was given the royal seal of approval with HRH The Duke of Edinburgh firing the gun at 12.30pm, which officially started the race.
Favourable light winds saw the 33 multi-national competitors in their spectacular yachts get off to a flying start, gliding through the choppy seas beyond the breakwater.
With months and years of planning a distant memory, the sailors will now face fierce conditions – and possibly even icebergs – as they proceed to Rhode Island in America.
The youngest competitor taking part this time round is Rob Cumming, a 19-year-old from Higher Compton.
He was one of 16 UK entries lining up alongside sailors from countries including the USA, France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Ireland and Holland.
The former Eggbuckland Community College pupil said: 'It has been exceptionally stressful but it is an incredible feeling to be finally off.
'I am nervous but I'm sure that feeling will go when I get properly under way.
'I hope to complete the race in two to three weeks.'
Rob also praised the financial and other support he has received which enabled him to be on the start line.
'Without the support it simply would not have been possible,' he added.
'Taking part in this race is a dream for me. I cannot thank Plymouth enough.'
David Southwood, race director, said: 'It was a real honour to have the Duke of Edinburgh starting the race, and a large crowd was out to enjoy the sunshine and show their support for the competitors.
'The OSTAR is one of the most exciting events in the maritime calendar, and the Royal Western Yacht Club has worked hard to maintain its Corint
St Peter Port Race
THE Royal Naval Sailing Association's Plymouth to St Peter Port Race off the Stonehouse Camber attracted 15 yachts to the start.
Martin Wood in Red Wine and Chris Hughes' Riverdance were both over the line at the start but only Hughes returned to restart.
All the yachts were slowed crossing the Channel by light to no wind overnight with X Rated (Charles Gurney) reporting a four-hour windless spell.
While Just 4 Fun (Simon Mather) was apparently 'kept company' by a nearby ODAS buoy overnight.
Unfortunately, conditions led to both Red Wine and Djinn Seng (Jeremy Stevenson) retiring overnight.
Although the conditions were not ideal for competitors, it did prevent a possible international sailing incident at the finish where 124 French yachts were unexpectedly found to be starting their second leg to Perros-Guirec from the RNSA's finish line.
Tidal influences and light winds meant that only one of the eight PY yachts entered could finish by the 6pm deadline but all six IRC yachts managed to record a time.
After just over 19 hours Exocet Strike (John Dyer) was first over the line in the IRC Fleet followed 10 minutes afterwards by Bare Knuckles (Nigel Mashembo). But both were beaten by the Devonport's in Musk-Ox on corrected time.
Just 4 Fun took second place with X Rated in third and Imarra (Rob Davis) fourth. The Devonport's also took the IRC Two handed honours. Similarly, Nigel Philpott's Quid Non? won both PY crewed and two handed classes. Crews thoroughly enjoyed the prize giving reception hosted by deputy Mike Garrett of Deputy Head of Guernsey Culture and Leisure in the magnificent grounds of Castle Cornet.