I'm loving this side comp Romyn, so thanks again for doing this...
It certainly helps that I am currently leading my group, come on boys (and one lady!) ...catch me if you can!

the ineveitable fall from the lead to follow

Time for some skippers to put their emergency training into action

Gameweek 8 Progress
(Week 2 of Leg 1)
Gameweek begins 10th Oct 5pm

GE Link updated - Refresh to view


Pool A
Screenshot - Standings

By the end of tack 4 Its Just Not Cricket has a slight lead over Sultan of Barnet FC and Self Cleaning Ovens but by the end of tack 6 Chester Draws has come from within the pack to share the front running. and as they approach waypoint 4 at the end of the 8th tack they are still 1 and 2 with LUFC 1963 and Isaiah Forty:31 close behind.

On passing that waypoint however crewman Zaki takes Its Just Not Cricket onto the rocks on Santo Antao in the Cape Verde Islands leaving Chester Draws on his own out front.

The Cape Verde Islands nearly claimed some more victims on the next few tacks but some good sailing by LUFC 1963, Sultan of Barnet FC and Isaiah Forty:31 saw them be more fortunate

By tack 12 Chester Draws was still in the lead with atx1303 having moved up to 2nd and Getafe King Life in 3rd - after getting very close to the African Coast.

Tack 14 and it was Zaki again who let his crew down - this time on board Donkeys Ride Again - and it was the island of Maio that claimed this boat.

On the same tack more bad luck for Its Just Not Cricket as Valencia fell over the side. The closest 2 boats to him at that time were Sultan of Barnet FC and atx1303 who both rushed to his aid. atx1303 was not best pleased with this as they were trying to catch up with the leader and had to change course and travel north instead. Neither boat got to Its Just Not Cricket in time and he therefore will begin next week still pulling Valencia from the water.

Chester Draws finished the week in 1st with clear water between him and the rest of the fleet.


Pool B
Screenshot - Standings

Tack 3 and it's A Smoked Cheese Pig with a narrow lead which he loses and regains again over the next few tacks with 8 boats all sharing the same water. Family Bereavements could have been with them but became the first victim of the Azores, which wrecked so many boats last year, when he hit the rocks of Sao Miguel at the end of tack 4.

Tack 7 and A Smoked Cheese Pig and Crazy Canucks reach waypoint 4 together - and Kelly's Heroes would have been with them had they not turned north to go to the assistance of Time for Trumpton who had lost Valencia overboard on the previous tack. The Drogs also answered the SOS but it was Kelly's Heroes who made it in time and saved Time for Trumpton the extra tack.

Tack 9 and it was now Nutstars vying for the lead with Crazy Canucks.

Tack 10 and the Cape Verde Islands claimed their next victim - this time it was SuperSlaves with an premature land-fall on Sao Tiago. He was joined there by Y'all be bad on tack 11 - a tack that saw Green Peace make a 888Nm tack due west to avoid trouble.

Some strong sailing brought A Smoked Cheese Pig back in contention by tack 12 and into the lead on tack 13 - a lead which he kept by the end of the week.

Towards the back and Valencia had gone swimming again - this time off the deck of Lukes Giants. Neither At it again or No-Eye Deer could get to him in time to prevent him spending 2 tacks in the water.

Atlético Tcf will begin next week making repairs as he to had Zaki at the wheel when he collided with Maio.


Pool C
Screenshot 1 - Screenshot 2 - Standings

By tack 4 Lythgoe's Disciples had taken up position at the front of the fleet - with Förbrytarbeteende IK, Apathetic Thistle and Hoops! the closest to him. Another half dozen boats are within striking distance - one of whom, Cow Tipping Frogs, is there thanks to some nifty sailing through the Azores.

Lythgoe's Disciples stretched his lead by tack 7 as the other contenders got hung up trying to pass waypoint 4 but Apathetic Thistle finally sorted his crew out and launched them into 1st place by the end of tack 8.

Tack 10 and Apathetic Thistle had been joined by hodol kutkut but both were heading for the north coast of South America - a course they both corrected quickly.

Navigation seemed to be a problem on board Cow Tipping Frogs - we're still unsure exactly what they were doing on tack 10 and 11 but as long as they were having fun

Tack 11 was unkind to Galatasarky as well as it saw him crash into Boa Vista in the Cape Verde group when 5th was in his sights.

Tack 13 and Apathetic Thistle had pulled away from hodol kutkut due to the latter's easterly (rather than southerly) heading - a course which saw him fall back into 6th. And by the end of the week Apathetic Thistle was on his own entering the southern Atlantic having passed the 5th waypoint.

Hoops! again ended the week in the middle of the pack having started so well by repeating his troubles from the previous week and making a real meal out of trying to pass a waypoint . This may come back to haunt him as he will start next week going backwards as he, and The Cooler King, will be using their 1st tack to go to the assistance of The Drog's Ballacks who lost a crewman overboard on the very last tack.

Pool D
Screenshot - Standings

Close racing here as LANESRA, Darlo Queens, grob's grasshoppers, Kazma United and Bullys Special Prize are all up there for the few tacks. This carries on until tack 7 by which point Kazma United has fallen back slightly and A Team of Johnsons has also joined the fray. So to has Honeyballs who is only just ahead as the fleet approach waypoint 4.

But with the wayline in sight some terrible navigation by crewman Defoe on tack 9 take Honeyballs in completely the wrong direction and it takes her a few tacks to get back on track.

Meanwhile LANESRA and Darlo Queens take back the lead and temporarily head off line towards northern Brazil and Bullys Special Prize collides with the Cape Verde Island of Santo Antao. Kazma United also had some trouble on tack 10 when crewman Rooney took them on a 600Nm detour.

But Honeyballs was not going to let the midweek problems ruin her week and after giving her crew a stern talking to she was back with the leaders by the end of tack 12 and with Darlo Queens being stationery for 2 tacks after losing Valencia over the side (neither LANESRA or Honeyballs could help) the race was as close as ever and when the week came to a close Honeyballs was back out in front. Superb racing there

At the back is Naked Pirates whose week never recovered from losing a crewman overboard on tack 4 and although Robots in Disguise, as one of the two boats to respond to his SOS (the other being Mid Table Struggler) did save him a tack he never really go going and could be lucky to make port before the claxon sounds in 3 weeks time.


3 weeks to go in this leg but it's likely that the leaders will be in port in 2. Who'll be first to claim 15 points?

Sounds about right for me - I don't know my arse from my elbow and will be starting next leg facing the wrong way! Come on, Flyman. Slow down a bit will ya!

Great work, Romyn.

I also took delivery of my new sail design .... very nice



Only 3 custom sails in the fleet so far ... so if you want yours done also the Race Committee will be happy to provide the template on which you can build.

(M_M for one offered to help out if need be should you require assistance to make modifications - I'm sure there are others should there be a rush )

It's called taking the racing line Everyone else can take the scenic route if they want. Not me

Right that's it, Zaki's getting the chop from Atletico Tcf (from the wheel). Captain Ronaldo is aboard. Destination: Unknown.

Just added insult to injury really... last tack of the week meant Zaki was your 3rd sub

I feel alone.
Very, very alone.

My crew fled the nest
When we brush'd the Celeste.
Say I, say I,
When we brush'd the Celeste, say I.

Now toss'd to and fro,
Where 'ere the winds blow,
Go I, go I,
Where the cruel winds blow go I .....

Just one of those moments really. I was searching around the world wide (web) AK Fiso, and saw many threads upon Zakis injury.. and the fact he was playing Pool (every play I have playing Pool now - I'll play ) so thought it'd be wise to put him on the bench, but wait for it.

Had a choice of Delap or Marney to go in place of Zaki, I went for Delap.
This week I'm getting (aiming for) 84pts to up my weekly average to 60pts.

Yeah we were doing pretty well at that point. I had my crew nice and focused.

Then this happened............





..............We ended up having to send out crewman Ashbee in a kayak to lure the shark away, costing us at least 3 good tacks



Unfortunately Ashbee didn't survive and we had to bury him at sea.

Rest in Peace Friend.



The rest of the race shall be sailed in his honour!

Plodding along in the middle of the Ocean, same old story then

Thanks to re-reading most of this thread, I have only just sussed out how to follow my route properly on Google Earth! That, of course, made me realise that as I was considering taking a holiday in Cape Verde, I wanted to sail past them a few times to take a closer look. I haven't decided yet if I need a further look this weekend

Edit: Flyman seems to have managed a pretty perfectly straight course. How does he manage that then, Romyn?

Good navigation

Using a few of your tacks this week I'll try and explain the inner workings a bit more. (All the info for each tack is available by either clicking the relevant placemark, or waypoint, on the globe view or in the folder view on the left)

For all your tacks this week you were targeting waypoint 4 - which has:-

Max Navigation Error of 90°
This means the maximum your bearing can be off-perfect is 90°.
First a bearing is taken to your target waypoint.
Then the difference between a player's points and the points of the player in the same posution the previous week is taken. (This difference is Absolute - ie 7-2 is the same as 2-7 ... = 5)
This difference is then x7 .... and the result number, in this example 35, is the % of the Max that your bearing for that tack will be off by. So 35% of 90° = 31.5°. (Whether this is + or - is down to whether the player in question is playing at Home or Away.)
If your Bearing to your next waypoint was 180° and the player whose tack it was resulted in the above numbers your Actual bearing for that tack would be either 148.8° or 221.5°.

Next is the distance you travel on that bearing - the Distance per Point for your target waypoint. For waypoint 4 this is 40Nm and so if the player being processed scored 7, say, your boat will travel 280Nm along the bearing calculated above.

So on to a few of your tacks...

Tack 2 and Tack 3 were dead on course towards waypoint 4 as in both cases the players score was the same as that for the player in the same position the previous week - and therefore there was no navigation error.

and the Distance per Point is 40Nm (which means for every point each player scores will move you 40Nm) - in this case 240Nm each time as both players, 2 & 3, scored 6 points.

tack 4 and you were 6.3° off the ideal course (7% of 90°) - to starboard as Clichy was playing at home. This changed your course from 199° 23' 20" (ideal) to 205° 41' 20" (actual).

...and so on and so on.

Tack 8 was fairly crucial as if Geovanni had been playing Away you would have crossed the wayline - but as he was at Home he took a starboard tack and with a 50.4° error (56% of 90°) your actual bearing took you away from your target.

Tack 9 got you closer again but then tack 10 and the same happened ... moving away from the waypoint. T 11 back in, T12 no movement and T13 away again...

You were extremely unlucky in that 3 times you nearly got there but on each occasion the next scoring tack took you away from your target.

If you follow the same logic with Flyman's course you can see he didn't have any of those misfortunes and with fairly high distances managed to build a nice lead.

Hope that explains things a bit more and didn't bore the pants off anyone

That must be the longest and best excuse yet.

I had to put down a mutiny when half my crew took control of the boat and tried to revisit their Portuguese fishermen friends from last year

Is there any need to show off by drawing a giant "S" for Slarty as you sail along?

Some of us are struggling to just stay afloat.

I thought it was an "N" for naechance numpties

never been good with letters

Cheers, Romyn. The worrying thing is, some of that actually made sense! Appreciate such an in-depth explanation that will benefit not just me, but others too.

i am still having trouble seeing anything on google earth it still shows ships in portsmouth on mine

You need to refresh the link - right-click the main link in your My Places and Refresh - that will grab the latest set. If for some reason that doesn't work just delete the link completely and re-download it.

or...

You have the latest but you are just looking at the start - you need to move the time slider across to right - by default it goes to the beginning of the leg.

Did Doomsday sink last week

Flyman is storming off. But he's missing the sights. I think we're running last in Pool C - but we're lookin' good. Thinking of stopping off around Acension Island for some fishin'.

Nah. Managed to avoid a ramming attempt by hodol kutkut and is now hiding

Sorry if you didn't get a mention in there Razorback.... you're nicely placed in 4th

The coverage takes a few hours as it is and with 60 boats and 900 tacks per week it's difficult to give everybody a name-check. All boats appear in the screenshots and weekly standings links at the top of each pool's commentary though so, if you don't use GE for some reason, you will always be able to see how you're doing from those.

Because of the number of tacks I just pick on all incidents, run-agrounds, near RAs and men overboard (with those who change course to repond), lead changes, any other tack sequences that cause me some amusement (like Jonathan's this week) and anything else that stands out - and even then I'm sure I'll miss something myself.

Get yourself to the front or hit the rocks and I'll be sure to mention you next time

ah that's cracked it (preferred other view as i was level with all boats)

Crewman Cole! Nooooooooo...........

Too much Carlton