ARC Final Positions
Flyer of Lorne
Dave Sturrock
Tue 23 Dec 2008 13:17
This placed Flyer 2nd in class D behind Skllark and ahead of our Irish competitors
Mollyhawks Shadow in 3rd. Flyer was also listed as 27th overall in the ARC fleet
which was mightily impressive and I think stems from the fact that we hardly used
the engine for forward propulsion. The crew will tell you I was on suicide watch
when we were becalmed and were forced to motor as I had really wanted to complete
the crossing under sail power only. However I think the 7hrs and 20 minutes we
recorded was the lowest in our class and many of our competitors had recorded
between 30 and 80hours running.
I am delighted with our placing and this is testament to the teamwork and commitment
of everyone on board which never waned from start to finish. Time to celebrate our
achievement boys!
It is all the more rewarding as the last 2 days of the race were very difficult with
the Easterly winds forcing Flyer to gybe downwind and add to the distance run. We
felt at this point that any "podium finish" had been lost as we gave up so much
ground on the race leaders.
Footnote: pat Clark has been adjudged the winner of the guess our ETA to finish the
ARC with a guesstimate of 14:30 local time.. It was a close run thing with Charlie
Grossie but choosing GMT for our finish timewas to be the downfall of the man from
Portrush!
Dave Sturrock