From The Deck of Prospector 18 October 2300Z

What the Wind Gods Give, the Wind Gods Take Away

We are just settling in for the night having just passed the volcanic 

island of Stromboli off the north east corner of Sicily.  The weather 

today was beautiful and the scenery spectacular (check out Instagram 

for some photos).  Sailing was a bit of a mixed bag.  The wind was up 

and down, right, left and sideways.  It shifted through all 360 degrees of 

the compass, with speeds from 2-12 knots.  Sometimes we looked like 

heroes.  At other times we were clearly goats.  

We left the Straits of Messina in almost the same position in the fleet as 

we entered it toward the back of the pack of 8 boats, 12 miles behind 

our class leader and 6 or so miles behind the rest of the pack.  

Rambler88 has begun to show her stuff and is legging out from the rest 

of the fleet.  Pressing up behind her is Momo, the 72 foot mini maxi.  

Then comes our gang of 8.  

But that summary of the beginning and end of our journey along Sicily’s 

eastern shore and the toe of the boot of Italy obscures the real story of 

the day.  In between we had a stretch where the wind gods smiled on 

us and we clawed our way to the front of our gang of 8.  We worked 

hard as we sailed passed the historic Sicilian coastal city of Syracuse to 

get close up along the beach to take advantage of the land breeze 

triggered by the night time cooling of Mt. Etna, which we now know 

thanks to Tim Keyworth’s research is the highest peak in Europe south 

of the Alps, and the sea breeze we expected to develop during the day 

today.  

It got crazy.  Our gang expanded and contracted on the course with 

each zephyr.  Last became first and first became last depending on 

where and when the wind decided to touch down.  At one point we 

were on the outside of a group of three boats, with Varuna on the 

inside and Mascalzone Latino in the middle.  We were all ghosting along 

side by side on the same tack within 150 feet of each other.  After 30 

minutes sailing along like this things changed in a sudden and 

unpredictable way.  Both we and Varuna, lost the wind and slowed 

down, putting our bows down and heading to the left.  Mascalzone, on 

the inside, amazingly got a puff of wind and sped up and turned its bow 

up to the right and pulled away from us.  We sat and marveled, stewed 

actually, that the wind got to the middle of the three boats in the line 

and neither of the other two.  As Mascalzone pulled away, we then had 

to sit and watch as the wind found its way to Varuna and they too took 

off on us.  

As we licked our wounds and wondered why the wind gods had 

abandoned us so harshly, we began to focus on our next challenge, 

getting through the Straits of Messina.  Well into the morning it looked 

like we would get to the Straits in time to have a favorable current push 

us through.  As morning turned to afternoon and the wind got light any 

hope of that disappeared.  We know had to focus on getting through 

the Straits in light air and foul current, or corrente in Italian.  We and 

our gang abandoned the beach in Sicily and headed across the Straits 

for the beaches of Italy.  Here again we were treated shabbily by the 

wind gods as the boats in front of us and to our right benefited from 

stronger winds at better angles.  We thought about petitioning the jury 

to waive the rules on outside assistance so we could order some pizza 

to pick up as we sailed along the jetties of several towns to console 

ourselves but thought better of it.

So that is the how we came to find ourselves in almost the same 

position as we sailed away from Messina as we were in at Cap Passero.

We passed Stromboli after dark, disappointed that the rumors of its 

peak glowing orange against the night sky were untrue.  We are sailing 

downwind to the west on a 124 mile leg to Capo St. Vito on the 

northwest corner of Sicily.  It promises to be a quiet night as we trundle 

on down the track.

We are 5th in our class of 9 and 25th in our fleet of 111.  We are happy 

with our performance in conditions that don’t really suit our big girl.  

The forecast ahead promises stronger winds and a more upwind work.  

Prospector loves those conditions.  We are not far out of second in our 

class, with skill and luck we might pull off a podium finish in our IRC2 

class.  We might be able to top finish in the top 10 in the overall IRC 

fleet which at the moment is being dominated by the smaller boats 

who carried more wind with them to Sicily as the bigger boats were 

first to get in to the lighter winds along the coast.

L. Moore photo credit

Utterly Becalmed 

We are a painted ship on a painted ocean as the saying goes. Not a breath of wind. The good news is that we are among the leaders who at this point should be miles and miles ahead like Wild Joe, Varuna and Mascalzone Latina. We can see the mini maxi Momo. All of us are parked up underneath the breathtakingly beautiful Mt Etna as we claw our way towards the straights of Messina. So the scenery and the company is good and it’s not even really hot yet. 

But I have leapt ahead. 

All of us arrived in Malta in good form and Thursday was spent getting used to Valletta. We had two fabulous local chefs who prepared a fantastic crew dinner at our flat (see we are already talking Euro). We all then decamped to the Royal Malta Yacht Club for the crew party which turned out to probably the best regatta party your correspondent has ever attended. When we arrived at about 10pm the band was just winding down and we all hopped around and shouted for them to continue a bit sad the party was winding up. What we didn’t know, us innocents abroad from New York and New England, was this was the Med and the party was just getting going! Little more than 10 minutes later a new, better, louder band complete with dry ice jumped on the stage and started pumping out the music. The place filled up with incredibly stylish Europeans and it felt like it was going to go all night. And maybe it did but discretion being the better part of valor, we withdrew before we could do something stupid.

The next day was predictably a bit slow in the morning. We got out sailing about midday Friday and were lucky to get Claire and Toni to come with us. While the wind was light, it was spectacular to motor out and around the ancient walled city of Valletta with its soaring fortress walls spilling down to the impossibly blue sea. We are a long way from Dering Harbor. 

Coming back to the quay which is actually pronounced key but really means dock, Tery shifted into reverse and revved the engine which produced a lot of noise but no visible propulsion. A quick look through the window in the hull revealed that the prop had spun off. Not a good thing. With the benefit of a little zephyr and Tery’s skilled driving, we managed to make it back to the quay. Now the treasure hunt began for a new propeller at 4pm, on a Friday, in Europe.  Panic, or at least mild concern had set in, as we had 19 hours to our start and no prop, no race.  Rules are rules.

Undaunted, Team Prospector, as always, rose to the occasion.  Divers were dispatched to hunt for the old one, phone calls were made to Italy, England and even the US to see if could get one flown over. Our rattle trap rental car made the rounds of the ship chandlers. We toured the boat yard looking for potential donors and began to consider liberating one from a boat in the boatyard. 

In stepped the kindness of strangers. In short order we had not one prop but four.  A three bladed version that fit, was installed.  But it would slow us down. Meanwhile at the YC for the skippers meeting, Larry worked the crowd like a politician hunting for votes and voila!   Just after we got the jury to agree to give us ratings relief if we had to go with the fixed prop, a lovely member of the Malta YC told us we could have the folding prop off of her boat which was out of the water. Told her husband had already declined to lend it to us, she airly waved her hand and said: “I own half the boat, you can have the prop.”   Mille Grazi Amata!!!.  Taking yes for an answer, the prop was procured and fitted early Saturday just in time for the race.

The start was a scene in the narrow confines of Valletta harbor with thousand (and no you didn’t read that wrong) of spectators lining the fort walls to watch us depart. For once we were glad for light winds as the maneuvering was tight with boats from Malta, France, England, Croatia, Italy, Hungary and Russia to name a few vying with us few Americans for space. Pictures are the only thing that can do it justice.  

Spurred on by the load cheers from our shore team on the Valetta Saluting Battery, we got a decent start and were on our way to Sicily. Shortly after we cleared we began to pass the slower boats who had started earlier. As we ground above a Croatian entry and threatened to block his wind, the driver began gesticulating wildly for us to go below so he could block our wind. That didn’t seem to be a great idea and we declined. That only seemed to incense him more and he began shouting. Your correspondent politely, but firmly, told him “we are not going below you”. This evidently shocked him and he shouted “F**** You”. Being from New York we weren’t too offended as we often use the phrase with deep affection as in “I F***ing love you bro.”

We had a good first night in light but at least present wind. The weather was beautiful and we seem to have the old girl both moving well and with Larry’s help, in the right spot. But now what? We sit and we wait for the wind…and it’s starting to get hotter.

The Prospector crew has gathered once again, this time in Malta, for the Rolex Middle Sea Race which starts on Saturday, October 17th.  Prospector has been in Malta since early September after a 12 day delivery from Portsmouth after the Fastnet Race, or the Slownet Race as the Prospector crowd now calls it. 

The Rolex Middle Sea Race is a 608 mile classic that starts in Malta and goes counter clockwise around Sicily and finishes back in Malta.  The start is in the historic old harbor of Valletta, between the ramparts of the Saluting Battery and Fort St. Angelo.  After the harbor start, the course turns to port (left) and heads northeast to Sicily.  Leaving Sicily to port (at this point lets just say that Sicily will always be to the port/left) the course heads north passing through the Straits of Messina, then passing the (active!) volcanic island of Stromboli.  At Stromboli the course turns left to the west past the Aeolian Islands to the Egadi Islands including Levenzo and Favignana on Sicily’s northwest corner.  From there the course makes a sharp left to a southerly heading down the strait between Sicily and Tunisia, leaving the Africa to starboard – the right this time - and the islands of Pantelleria and Lampedusa to port.  At Lampedusa the fleet goes northeast back towards Malta, through the South Comino Channel (with Malta to starboard/right and Comino to port/left) before making a final turn toward the finish in the Marsamxett Harbor.

The weather for the race will be dominated by the varied geography and topography that surrounds the course; on a large scale by Europe and Africa, and on a smaller scale by Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and the Italian Peninsula.  Unlike the Transatlantic which was pretty much a straight shot with a few wiggles, this course has a lot of corners and frequent changes in wind and weather.  The crew’s gonna be busy with a lots of sail changes, probably using every single sail on board – and that’s a lot of sails!

Based on the present forecast, we should (hopefully) finish in three to four days. 

There’s a lot of information, some cool videos and a race tracker on the race website:

www.rolexmiddlesearace.com

or on our website, www.prospectorsailing.com at:

http://www.prospectorsailing.com/racetracking/

or on the Yellowbrick website at:

http://yb.tl/rmsr2015

Yellowbrick tracking is also available on the race website, or through the Yellowbrick app on iPhones, iPads or Android devices:

http://www.rolexmiddlesearace.com/tracker/ - pt

We will, as usual, post updates on our blog at:

http://www.prospectorsailing.com/latestnews

And photos on:

http://www.prospectorsailing.com/photo/

We are also on Facebook and Instagram from the links on our web page.

Finally we need to make a special shout out to the team chef/angel Colette, who

has stuck with Prospector on every single race and delivery.  Bless you Colette!

We hope you follow us along on our latest adventure.

From The Deck of Prospector 1100 BST 19 August 2015

The Decision

As with most decisions, if you wait long enough, our decision on which route to use exiting the English Channel around the Land’s End TSS was made itself.  We preferred the southerly exit through the Scilly Islands.  It is shorter and positioned us better for the left shift we were expecting on the other side.  The first four monohulls to get there, Comanche, Rambler88, Leopard and MOMO all chose that route.  So did all of the fast catamarans. Fortunately for them, they got there with the current running with them.  Unfortunately for us, we got there with the current against us.  Despite the foul current we were still thinking of giving it a go.  Just ahead of us Tonerre and Sorcha, two very well sailed boats with pro crews were facing the same decision.  We watched on AIS to see what they did.  When they headed north along the coast of Cornwall our decision was made for us.  We followed close behind them and picked up a two knot push from the current and began short tacking between the coastline and the TSS Zone.  Tactically it was the smart thing to do because it kept us in the same water as our competitors. In the short run from a routing perspective given the favorable current on that route it was also the smart thing to do.  We hoped the other boats in our fleet just behind us would make the same choice.  We worried that the boats further behind would pick the southerly route and make gains.  The other risk we faced in choosing this route was that the light northerly wind we were sailing in would die and that the current would turn against us before we got over the top of the TSS.  We didn’t love the decision, but didn’t love the other choice either.  

Anchored

At first the choice to go north looked golden.  The northerly strengthened we had a push from the current and it looked like we would be over the top of the TSS in two hours, well in advance of the next foul current.  Also, the boats closest behind us, in particular our sister ship Venomous, followed along behind us.  Then the northerly began to fade away and it all began to unravel.  We spent the next several hours milking what we could out of the last of the wind and current to get north.  The boats in our class that were further behind us decided, as we feared they would, to take the southerly route to the Celtic Sea, and began to gain on us.  It was painful.  The only good news was that we were drifting better that the boats in front of us and were gaining on them.  After several hours we were well north of the north eastern tip of the TSS and tacked to the west towards Fastnet Rock.  But the current had other plans for us.  As the wind shut off altogether the current turned against us and started carrying us back toward the TSS.  We tried to tack back to the north, but that didn’t change things as we just drifted backwards rather than sideways.  At 00:30 BST, in imminent risk of entering the TSS we decided to anchor.  In 200 feet of water.  The gear was rigged and the anchor and nearly 1,000 feet of line went over the side in a desperate, last ditch attempt to avoid incurring a 20% penalty for entering the TSS.  At the last possible instant the anchor dug in and brought us to a stop exactly one tenth of a mile, almost 500 feet from the TSS.  Having miraculously avoided a nasty penalty we settled down to wait for either the wind to come back or the current to change so that we could resume racing.  From what we could guess from the tracker a couple of other competitors, including Venomous, anchored too.  The boats ahead of us that we had been gaining on were slowly being pushed away from us by the current they were in.  We could also see the boats that had selected the route through the Scilly Isles making slow, but steady progress and moving past us on the leaderboard.  We were not a happy bunch. Two hours after we anchored, still without wind, we noticed the current beginning to carry Prospector away from the TSS.  Desperate to get back in the game, and perhaps too optimistically, we weighed anchor, hoping to drift away from the TSS while waiting for the wind.  Collectively we held our breath as the anchor came up while we waited to see which direction the current would carry us in.  The anchor and its makeshift supersized rode were readied to be redeployed if necessary.  After a nervous few minutes we all began to breathe again as Prospector began to move to the north, away from the TSS.

The Celtic Sea

The trip out across the Celtic Sea and back again is 320 nautical miles.  We began our crossing drifting to the north away from the TSS, waiting for the wind to show up so we could turn west towards Fastnet Rock.  Eventually the wind picked up from the northwest and we were on our way.  It was a warm sunny day and everyone enjoyed driving in a building breeze after 36 hours in very light air.  We could see several boats around us including SCA, BancPopulaire, Camper, Caro, Tonnere and Black Pearl which gave us a yardstick to measure our performance against.  We picked up a pod of dolphins who kept us entertained as we sailed on towards Fastnet Rock.  The wind built and backed to the south as we sailed the 160 nautical mile outbound leg to Fastnet.  The crew was kept very busy as we changed headsails multiple times to keep pace with the wind.

Fastnet Rock

As we approached the turning mark of the race the weather steadily deteriorated.  The wind built in to the mid 20s and it began to drizzle rain.  We rounded Fastnet Rock at 00:46 BST and turned for home.  It was a bit of a disappointment to round the rock at night.  All of us had been hoping for a daylight rounding so we could get a good look at the classic old lighthouse and if we were really lucky a picture from a photo boat of Prospector with Fastnet Rock as a backdrop to memorialize the race.  All the same we were happy to see it, seemingly passing near enough to touch it as it appeared in framed in silhouette by its powerful light.

 Homeward Bound

Fastnet Rock receded quickly into the dark, drizzly night.  We had a short upwind beat to clear the Fastnet TSS and then bore off on to a reach on the 152 nautical mile leg to the southwest edge of the West Scilly TSS.  These TSS zones have become more than a little tiresome haven’t they?  We sped along at nearly 12 knots and covered the distance in a little more than 13 hours.  Prospector enjoyed the sportier sailing conditions, though her crew had become a bit spoiled by the extremely gentle weather we have had for most of the race.  The TR2015 veterans in the crew remembered the weather today, the worst of this race so far, as the best they experienced in their Atlantic crossing.  

Toward Plymouth

Early this afternoon we turned towards Plymouth after we cleared the West Scilly’s TSS.  We set our newly repaired A6 and began the just over 90 nautical mile final stages of our Fastnet Race.  We are currently in 6th place in IRCZ.  13 boats started in our class.  Three have retired.  Of the five boats ahead of us, only one, Snow Lion, is a heavy displacement racer/cruiser.  The other five consist of a 72 foot maxi and four lightweight modern planning boats.  Those five are nothing like us.  Most importantly we are well ahead of our sister ship, Venomous, in what we have decided is the Farr 60 World Championships!  We have had none of the carnage to the boat and her sail inventory that we experienced in the much rougher TR2015.  All in all in line with our pre-race expectations and something to be proud of.

From The Deck of Prospector 0900Z 18 August 2015

This is one crazy Fastnet Race.  The race is normally a beat out to the rock and a run 

back in a strong SW wind.  We aren’t experiencing anything like that.  Other than a brief 

sea breeze that kicked in a bit after the start and lasted until night fall on Sunday we 

have had mostly a light wind out of the NW to NE, or at times, no wind at all.  We have 

also had to deal with very strong currents, often greater than 5 knots, particularly around 

the headlands we have we have been passing on the English coast.  The combination 

of light fluky winds and strong currents have made the race thus far a navigators 

nightmare.  

Because we have been so busy dealing with very challenging sailing conditions, we 

haven’t had much time to write about the race.  This morning, in the middle of the Celtiic 

Sea, things have settled down a bit.  The approaching warm front that is the leading 

edge of the Atlantic low to our east has provided us with our first steady breeze since 

Sunday night.  Finally, we are pointed towards Fastnet rock, free of the various 

obstacles and obstruction zones along the English coast, with a steady wind and a little 

bit of speed.  We have some time to catch you up on our adventures so far.

The Start

WOW!  It was crazy.  An unbelievable spectacle.  None of us had ever seen as many 

boats in one place at one time.  It was an amazing experience to be part of such a large 

fleet. There were boats of all shapes and sizes.  Spectators in RIBs mingled in among 

the boats, checking them out, cheering on friends and watching the starts.  Nearly 400 

boats in one place with no wind and a lot of current, facing a 15 mile beat in a narrow 

channel.  For those of you on Shelter Island, imagine 400 boats racing in the channel 

between Greenport and Shelter Island, the only differences being that the channel is 

twice as long and the current three times as strong.

We arrived at the starting area, off Cowes, just before the first start at 12:00 BST.  

There was no wind and the current was still flooding.  Boats in the first couple of starts 

struggled get to the line, let alone get across it.  Our first task was to mark both ends of 

the starting line, which ran between the Royal Yacht Squadron flagpole and a buoy in 

the middle of the Solent, in our Nav computer. Because we were going to start in light 

air with a 5 knot current pushing us over the line, knowing the exact location of both 

ends of the line was imperative.  The Race Committee placed buoys marking the inner 

and outer and outer limits of the line, but the sailing instructions warned that they might 

not be on the line. The actual starting line was a transit formed by lining up the RYS 

flagpole with a white line on orange diamond on the RYS club house.  To help 

competitors locate the line the RYS installed two vertical light beams that get brighter as 

you approach the line and momentarily go out when you are on the line.  This is all 

simple in theory, but complicated in practice.  With all of the boats milling around the 

starting area, the RYS clubhouse, flagpole, orange marker and lights couldn’t be seen 

from the outer limit buoy.  After a few tries we gave up on that and headed to the Cowes 

side of the Solent to ping the line from there.  On our third attempt got a good ping on 

the port side of the line.  We headed back out to the starboard end of the line and 

finally, after about half of the fleet had started enabling us to see the RYS, got a ping we 

were happy with there.

With the starting line located, we put the deck computer in start mode, and began to 

experiment with different starting strategies.  We knew there would be a crowd fighting 

for a start at the inner marker.  Boats that had started there in the earlier classes had 

done better than boats out toward the outer marker.  We also knew it would be fatal to 

be over early.  We could see several boats from the earlier classes that were over early 

with their spinnakers up fighting the tide to get back to the line.  All of them were failing 

as they were swept backwards away from the line by a foul tide that was getting 

stronger.  These two observations became the basis for our starting strategy.  Not 

wanting to get into a fight we would likely lose to the likes of Comanche and Rambler88, 

we decided to start one third of the distance of the line away from the inner marker.  We 

also decided to intentionally be 30-60 seconds below the line at the start to protect 

against being over early.  We made several attempts at timed runs to the line, starting at 

15, then 20 and finally 25 boat lengths behind the line.  It was amazing to see how 

quickly we would be carried back to the line in the building current.  After several tests 

we settled on being 25 boat lengths behind the line 90 seconds from the start.

Our strategy worked well and we got the start we wanted.   We were 30 seconds below 

and one third of the way down the line when the gun went off.  We even got a little lucky 

to get a puff that we tacked to port on to get away from the boats that started to 

starboard of us and clear our air.  After few minutes on port we tacked back to starboard 

to head towards Cowes.  We crossed in front of several of the boats that had tried to 

fight for the inner marker and were off down the Solent.

The Solent

As crazy as the start was, our beat down the Solent was even crazier.  We had to sail 

among and through the nearly 400 boats, thirty of which started with us, and the rest of 

the fleet that started ahead of us.  It was an unbelievable sight.

Immediately after the start we were sailing in a 5 knot NW to NE wind with 5 knots of 

current pushing us down the Solent.  Every boat wanted to be in the same place, which 

was in the deep water to maximize the benefit of the current and wherever the wind was 

strongest.  Everyone also positioning themselves for the SW”ly sea breeze that was 

forecast to develop over the course of Sunday afternoon.

Shorly after our tack on to starboard to head towards Cowes, we found ourselves off 

Gurnard, and getting a persistent lift and crossing boats that had been ahead of us.  

When we tacked to port to head back out offshore we lost the lift and were in turn 

crossed by boats that heading in to the shore.  Based on this observation we decided to 

work the Isle of Wight side of the Solent and tack offshore only when necessary to avoid 

running aground.  This strategy paid off well for the first half of the beat down the Solent 

and we gained ground both on our fleet and the fleet as a whole.  We gave the 

shoreside spectators a thrill and got a big cheer as we tacked within feet of the shore off 

Hamstead Ledge.  

About this time the sea breeze built in and we enjoyed great sailing conditions in a 12 

knot SW’y wind.  The arrival of the sea breeze dictated a change in tactics.  With strong 

wind all across the Solent, and at its narrowest stretch, we began to use the whole 

Solent, tacking from side to side across it rather than only playing the Isle of Wight 

shore.  The key to this phase of the race down the Solent was finding and maintaining a 

good lane on each tack as we picked our way through the rest of the fleet.  The crew did 

a great job, picking the right moment for each tack and ducking or waving boats across, 

as necessary, to keep our lane clear.  We gave the spectators at Hurst Castle a thrill, 

approaching them on starboard tack at full speed and tacking away within a few feet of 

them to waves and cheers.  As we pulled away from our tack at Hurst Castle we saw 

Lucky aground, hard, just ahead of us, nearly where we would have been had we not 

tacked.

Our trip down the Solent ended as we tacked away from the Needles and out into the 

English Channel at 15:30 BST.  Both Prospector and her crew performed well and we 

found ourselves in third place in our fleet.  It was a fun, exhilarating, challenging and 

memorable experience.  Experiences like that are why we do these things.

The English Channel

Past the Solent we faced the challenges of the English Channel.  This section of the 

race covers approximately 165 nautical miles and is dominated by five iconic 

headlands, St. Alban’s Head, Portland Bill, Start Point, The Lizard and Land’s End.   

Around each of these headlands the winds and currents swirl and the sea can get pretty 

kicked up.  In a fair current you go as close to each headland as you dare.  In a foul 

current you go offshore to seek current relief.  These headlands act as tidal gates, 

alternately opening and closing every six hours.  Get them right and you can win the 

race.  Get them wrong and it is game over.

By the time we exited the Solent we knew we could get past St Alban’s head with the 

remaining fair current we carried from the start.  Portland Bill was another matter.  If the 

sea breeze held, which was unlikely, we might just make it.  If it didn’t we needed to get 

offshore in a hurry to pick up a light northerly gradient wind.  As expected the sea 

breeze began to die off as we neared St Alban’s Head.  Our decision made for us we 

headed offshore and got past Portland Bill at around 19:30 BST.  We remained 

offshore, approximately 20 miles offshore for the rest of the night, passing Start Point, 

as the wind velocity began to drop. At 06:00 BST, we pointed Prospector at The Lizard, 

to catch the strong currents that live there and in hopes that a sea breeze would 

develop over the course of the day.  We passed so close to the Lizard we could pet its 

snout at 12:30 BST.  Continuing to play onshore with the current and sea breeze we 

tacked in to Mounts Bay, between the Lizard and Land’s End.  Short tacking the shore 

we checked out the crowds on the beaches in the coves along the coast. 

As we neared Land’s End, we were wrestling with what might biggest decision in the 

race, how to deal with the Land’s End commercial traffic separation scheme, or TSS.  

All of the TSS zones in the area of the race course are designated as obstructions for 

the race.  If you enter them you get a 20% scoring penalty.  The other TSSs require 

relatively minor course adjustments to steer clear.   The one at Land’s End is a big deal 

for two reasons, it is the largest TSS requiring a large course adjustment and it dictates 

how you exit the English Channel and enter the Celtic Sea. Avoiding it leaves you with 

two choices to get to the Celtic sea, southeast through the Scilly Islands or north along 

the coast of Cornwall between the TSS and the coast.  Both routes are governed by 

tidal gates, when one has fair current the other is does not.  The route along the 

Cornwall coast is longer.  Which one you chose is determined by what the wind and 

current is doing when you get there, what your competitors do and what you think the 

wind will do once you get through.  It isn’t an easy decision and one we haven’t been 

looking forward to making.

More on that in our next post.+