Gameweek 7 Progress
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The fleet left Portsmouth at noon on Saturday to begin this years adventure.
Pool A Screenshot -
StandingsPresti Spudgunners,
Its Just Not Cricket and
Sultan of Barnet FC were first to round Waypoint 1 and turn west into the Channel at the end of tack 2 with the rest of the pool in hot pursuit.
Tack 5 saw the last boat,
Smoke City cross it, and by this time
Chester Draws had hit the front and was still leading when he reached waypoint 2 on the next tack.
Its Just Not Cricket and
Isaiah Forty:31 reached the marker next and these three were still out front when the bulk of the pool cleared the Channel and headed into the open ocean.
Tack 9 and crewman Van Persie took
Chester Draws to starboard and Defoe to port on board
Isaiah Forty:31 - close racing coming to waypoint 3.
atx1303 was still in touch in 3rd while
Ajax Hamster Jam tried to find better winds by going due west - but moved back towards the fleet on tack 10.
It was on tack 10 that
Sultan of Barnet FC took the lead making a massive 550Nm push thanks to crewman Defoe (with the aid of 7+ points carried over from the previous tack). This meant he went from waypoint 2 to waypoint 3 in one move. This took a lot out of his crew and on tack 12
Self Cleaning Ovens took over from him at the front.
By the end of the final tack
Self Cleaning Ovens had held onto the lead - with
LUFC 1963 moving up to second when crewman Wheater took the wheel.
Sultan of Barnet FC was in third followed by
Getafe King Life,
Its Just Not Cricket and
Isaiah Forty:31.
Chester Draws by this time had fallen back to 7th.
These leaders are now heading between the Azores and the Canary Islands so all could certainly change next week.
Smoke City,
Equipe Chat's Noir and
The Bare Bones bring up the rear.
Pool B Screenshot -
StandingsFirst to waypoint 1 were
Kelly's Heroes,
At it again and
Luke's Giants on tack 2 but they were closely followed by the bulk of the pool. By tack 4
Nutstars was out in front with
SuperSlaves,
At it again and
Green Peace line abreast in 2nd. Poor tacks by Clichy and Laursen had dropped
Kelly's Heroes back to 7th.
Tack 6 and strong sailing by crewman Ireland pushed
A Smoked Cheese Pig to the front with
Y'all be bad and
At it again sharing water in 2nd.
A lucky escape for
Ajax Trees Down as he got rather close to the small island of Burhou near Alderney ... and
No-Eye Deer finally passes the first marker buoy
By the end of tack 9 it's still
A Smoked Cheese Pig in the lead, and approachng waypoint 3.
SuperSlaves is next with
Time for Trumpton having moved into the 3rd spot. The rest of the pool are now at, or coming up to, waypoint 2.
By the time the leader crosses wayline 3 at the end of the 11th tack he has been caught by
Kelly's Heroes - who had Adebayor to thank for a 380Nm leap on tack 10. All boats have now cleared the second waypoint and have entered the Atlantic - with
The Drogs bringing up the rear at this point.
But how quickly things can change ... as
The Drogs goes from last to 3rd= with the help of Turnbell (plus points carried over) to cover the full distance between waypoint 2 and 3 in one 480Nm tack - his 12th of the week.
Kelly's Heroes takes over at the front of the fleet - and keeps that lead until the final tack of the week when
A Smoked Cheese Pig takes it back followed by Crazy Canucks just 14Nm behind him. The rest of the pool are not far behind - while
No-Eye Deer resumes his traditional position at the back.
Pool C Screenshot -
StandingsIt was tack 2 again when the front of the fleet reached the first waypoint at that honour was shared by
Zuluwarriors,
Doomsday,
Förbrytarbeteende IK and
Hoops!.
Hoops! continued to sail the ideal line for a few tacks more and was in the lead by the end of tack 4 - with
Förbrytarbeteende IK just behind.
This continued on with skipper
Jonathan passing waypoint 3 first and opening up clear water by the end of tack 7. On this tack
Zuluwarriors,
Cow Tipping Frogs,
Lythgoe's Disciples and
Förbrytarbeteende IK also reached the 2nd marker.
Ardley Athletic was bringing up the rear at the half way point.
Tack 8 and crewman Geovanni launches
Hoops! at the 3rd wayline ... but changes course just inches from the line and it takes the skipper another 3 tacks to finally get his crew sailing in the right direction -
Oh dear This was all
Lythgoe's Disciples needed and he took full advantage to take over at the front on tack 9.
Cow Tipping Frogs also gained ground but was another boat to make
a bit of a hash of it and it wasn't until tack 14 that he finally sorted himself out.
Förbrytarbeteende IK was another to gain from others' misfortune and found himself ahead at the end of tack 12 - with
Hoops! closing in on 2nd placed
Lythgoe's Disciples. At the back were
The Drog's Ballacks and
Doomsday who were still at waypoint 2.
The final few tacks of the week had
Förbrytarbeteende IK keep the lead and
Lythgoe's Disciples remain in 2nd - but from within the main fleet a late surge by
Apathetic Thistle, thanks to crewman Cahill (with points carried over), saw him take 3rd position - but will having Madeira and the Canary Islands between him and waypoint 4 be his undoing - we'll find out soon enough.
Pool D Screenshot -
StandingsLeg 1 began in a similar fashion to the other pools with the 1st waypoint being reached on tack 2 - in this case by
A Team of Johnsons,
Halfway Up Virginia and
LANESRA.
Halfway Up Virginia made a bit of space for himself the next tack but on tack 4
grob's grasshoppers and
Bullys Special Prize both sailed past him. And it was
grob's grasshoppers who was first to reach the 2nd waypoint on tack 6 with the rest of the field strung out behind him.
... the rest that is except one unlucky skipper.
Trigger Happy and his crew aboard
Mid Table Struggler have the unenviable distinction of being the first boat to run aground this year. Cutting through the Channel Islands the boat was another to go
close to Burhou near Alderney - however on closer inspection it was just
a little too close and the keel was severely damaged as it made contact with the rocks (and those are rocks there not clouds unfortunately.) This required a 2 tack delay while hasty repairs were made. Not a great start but a least they were close to home so a new parts were relatively easy to get hold of.
Tack 8 and crewman Lampard on board
grob's grasshoppers made a slightly wayward tack which by tack 10 had cost him the lead which
Honeyballs grabbed with a 420Nm contribution from Adebayor (+ carried over points). Also to move through were
A Team of Johnsons,
Bullys Special Prize and
Darlo Queens - and
LANESRA was not too far off the pace in 6th.
Kazma United joined the front runners on tack 11 but by tack 13 it was
Bullys Special Prize trying to extend a lead. At the back
Mid Table Struggler was now back in the race but only approaching the 2nd waypoint along with
....................,
Robots in Disguise and
luckysevens who never really got going this week.
The final few tacks brought about another change at the front and it was
Darlo Queens who ends the week with the advantage - just ahead of
LANESRA, who is another who will have to be careful if he is to avoid Madeira.
grob's grasshoppers and
Kazma United are dead level in 3rd and
Bullys Special Prize just 5Nms behind them - close racing indeed.
.................So all in all fairly incident free racing so far - no men overboard and just one run-aground but that could all change next week as the fleet passes the Azores, the Canaries and the Cape Verde Islands - all of which claimed many victims last year.
... and a final look at our Pool leaders after the 1st weeks racing....
edits: sooo many typos
)
