Virtual regatta

Just joined, although accidentally started the solar one first!!!!

i think its a combo of good sails and an almost religious dedication verging on addiction.

worried that ocrider is being distracted by the babes on the beaches, he’s about ready to run aground

Well this mornings weather wasn’t what was forecast for the Gibraltar area…..**** **** ****

Think im getting addicted!

Bugger…. been seen off by by the forecasters. That is OCR, Carbon and me stuffed.

We can only hope that the forecast is equally as fickle for the Western crowd too.

179° today. Should be catching the gust coming out of Gibraltar this evening.
I’m aiming to check my course twice a day and no more. This could get far too antiproductive if not!

20 knots due South. Ridin’ the low baby!

I think Rusty Floater must be off to visit some Yank relatives.

There’s a non upgrades ranking Here and a satellite image of all the competitors here green on the map for honest hardworking folk like myself and red for those who think that victory is simply bought.

heading west to catch the southerly from that low, hoping i’ve not left it too late,

doing 7 knots and watching those others skelping down at 20knots + is a bit disheartening. Wishing i’d packed a carronade now that’d slow em down a little.

Cheers for those links. Sat image is nearest 10000 boats to Cape Town. Atm all the ones sitting around twiddling they’re thumbs.

does not seem to work on ipad..

doing 7 knots and watching those others skelping down at 20knots + is a bit disheartening.

Chuck me a bungy cord and I’ll give you a tow.

20 knots due South. Ridin’ the low baby!

That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Woooooooosh!

Really not too far west either, currently on a heading of 180° and not going to pass that far west of West Africa at this rate.

Its the boys following the orange line who are in trouble at the mo.
Dazzlingboy is head on into the wind with a spinnaker

Yup next 12 hours are going to be dull, dull, dull cantral course. And a wait to see if CMG/VMG beats the western speedsters and the eastern gamblers!

Still you can see who the Asymetric boys are in the fleet 🙄 😆

(parkerknollrecliner)

EDIT:

Dazzlingboy is head on into the wind with a spinnaker

Not anymore he isn’t, and I was hoping to sneak past 👿 😀

Late starter. Currently doing 6.5 knots and hoping the 24/36 hr weather forecast proves correct 😕

after bottling going far west I went south, just west of the line now I see a way to get west into the big winds in 24 hours. if it comes off I’ll be flying..

cruising slowly at the mo, it is a bit of a lull and minor course correction. Just trying to get in to the depression. I was cruising early on.

its pretty unlucky to be near Gibraltar.

You have done well to get in to that low far in to the Atlantic then bring it back in…

Looking at the latest forecasts I think there is only “rusty Floater” I have a chance of beating to Cape Town.

What time does the weather update? Does it just switch every 12 hours or does it change all the time?

Forecast are updated twice a day. Twelve hours apart. 10 ish souns about right but I guess you would need to look on the virtualregatta site.

Changes at 7am and 7pm i.e 10 mins time.

finally made it to some decent wind, regretting not heading west and following bogillou when I had him in my sights,

seem to be making decent headway now 13knots with a 14knot tailwind is not bad but I’ve got some serious work to do to catch Stevo,

thanks re. forecast times 🙂

Come in xcgb (Rusty Floater) your time is up!

Maybe he is off to sail round the Bahamas for a couple of months hoping he won’t be missed then sneakily rejoin just in front of the leading group as they head up from El Salvador to Charleston 😉

Do we get extra bonus points for sailing north to rescue the lost skipper? maybe scurvy has set in already.

Hoping to catch some decent southerly breezes soon and doing some serious catching up.

Hoping to catch some decent southerly breezes soon and doing some serious catching up.

Reckon you’ll be in the fast air in an hour or so.

We are about the same distance as the current leaders to Cape Verde and will hopefully have much better winds over the next couple of days so should get there well ahead. I’m gaining 150 ish places every 10 mins or so atm.

(My names Doug and I’m a Virtual Regattaholic)

Maybe he is off to sail round the Bahamas for a couple of months hoping he won’t be missed then sneakily rejoin just in front of the leading group as they head up from El Salvador to Charleston

He’ll be in Charleston before I get to Cape Verde at this rate.
Still, 630th for now, although I’m guessing back up to around 1200 before breakfast. I’m going to have a very still day tomorrow.

I’m gaining 150 ish places every 10 mins or so atm.

Don’t even think about drafting me. I’m getting ready to repel boarders! 😉

Don’t even think about drafting me. I’m getting ready to repel boarders!

I’ve got one hand on your Camelback strap 😉

See you all tomorrow.

finally got a decent breeze, heading south now

fair winds and happy dreams all

I’ve blown it, went from 9000 to 19000 overnight

I dropped a load of places too. My aim is to try and keep the rest of you guys in sight

starting to catch up on stevo & doug, but starting to wonder how far west I can follow this breeze. I’ll need to turn east at some point.

Still not all lost yet.. I wont be beaten – I WONT BE BEATEN

Even if it means getting up through the night.

I gained nearly 2000 places overnight, but still not telling the whole story – all of you in-shore guys are still ranked ahead of me!

Easy enough today, looks like interesting times tomorrow. Decisions to be made!

I’m heading pretty much straight for Cape Verde for the next few days. I’ll tack back east at the 7pm wind change. Don’t want to be too close to Africa when I get there though as there’s usually a headwind coming up the west coast once you pass the equator.

Bah! Blown up overnight – falling well back and now stuck square in the middle of the low!! 🙁

Looks like ‘Tortoise’ is off to rescue ‘Rusty Floater’.

Rusty’s currently doing 0 knots so at least he’s not actually going any further the wrong way!

Maybe some massive North-westerly is going to blow up in a couple of days and we’ll all be laughing on the other side of our faces…

Been very quiet here today, everyone keeping their cards close to the chest? or did we all break out the rum rations early?

I’m now tacking in the strong sou’westerlys making up as much ground as I can, a steady 16 / 17 knots should see me well out into the atlantic.

Not sure how soon to turn and make the run down into the southern ocean but it looks like a busy 36 hours ahead with tacking into some strong winds.