FINISHED in DUBLIN

Enjoying a good pint of Guinness!

It is a well deserved reward after this challenging Sailing Race from Sweden. 


The last half day, sailing in the Irish Sea, I sailed a little Eastly, where other boats had a more direct course to the Finish. I thought however that the later wind shift would favour my course as it would fill up the Spinnaker better.


AND .......so it did, I could pass in the last 4 hrs of sailing some 12 boats to finish in 49th place in a fleet of 754 boats. 


I like to thank LiveSkipper for the organisation of this Sailing Race and my fellow Skippers for the fierce competition. 

Rounding the gate at Lands-End

If you round the cliffs of Lands End, than the route to Dublin is opened for you!


The Channel yesterday offered a fine day of Sailing. A strong Westerly breeze, was giving sufficiently power to make a good boats speed. The wind direction, however, made it a game of tacking. 
Quiet challenging to make all your tacks, in between all the other Sailing Boats that do the same. Constant alertness was required to sail save and prevent collisions. More than a couple of shouts "Starboard", could be heard :)


The target for sure was the gate at LandsEnd. Once that was passed, for me on autopilot in the night, the route to Dublin opened up. Passing other boats will be difficult however as it looks the Westerly wind will allow to sail the Spinnaker all the way, be it that the wind is later on backing into the South. 


Rank:54 in a fleet of 754, 

Passed London and through the Straits of Dover

   

Through the STRAIT of DOVER!

That was the main achievement of Yesterday! It was late in the day, but luckily still daily hours, so I was able to see all the busy marine traffic in the narrow; do have a look at the MarineTraffic on the TAB above. 

Earlier in the day, a challenging approach of Sheerness was required to validate a gate, that was located quiet deep into the Thames estuary. It went not too bad, though the winds were a little challenging to get there. 

On the way back, however, the wind turned SW and strengthened so I could sail away quickly from the London area.

Now sailing the English Channel in a most Westerly wind,................

You guessed it right, a lot of tacks and hard work for the crew. The wind is maintaining a nice strength 15-20 kts, so it is beautiful for sailing. And all the other competing boats have to fight the same winds :)

My Rank this morning:74

Sailing a Stormy North Sea

A hefty NW storm was joining us yesterday on the North Sea. 


Luckily it was forecast-ed so we could put the reefs timely in the main sail. But still the storm with the waves it accompanied did allowed us a good progress. 
So much that from the tip of Jutland, one day later, we are sailing at the coast of Felixstowe.


However, the winds have calmed now considerably and turning west, such that it will take some time to validate the gate at Sheerness. You can't have it all!


After rounding this gate the route goes Eastewards and then South towards the Channel. 


Rank: 75 this morning. 

Passing Oslo and Jutland

The view on the blooming fields and windmills of Jutland gives a nice picture in this time of year.


The sailing in the Kattegat, Denmark, enjoyed a nice strong wind filling the Spinnaker all the way. This gave us good progress, but not only me but also to other competing boats. However , I managed to pass some and gained some nice places before and while validating the gate close to Oslo. 


The night  gave some variable winds and though I put several WP's on the autopilot, I did loose again some valuable places. The wind update 1800gmt, apparently brought a change that was not foreseen in the weather forecast and favored the boats North of me more. 


Now , we have entered the North Sea and the water is wide open to choose a favorable strategy to sail quickest to London. 
The wind seems to be willing to help, as soon a strong NW wind systems fills in and will give us full spinnakers and plenty of boatspeed. 


rank this morning: 68 in a fleet of 759.  

Quick passage of Kobenhavn

No time to stop in Kobenhavn for sightseeing nor shopping as the Sailing Race goes on!


A good day of sailing in the Baltic yesterday; it could have been better though.


In the morning I thought I was a little to much to the west to be able to enjoy the beam winds lateron. So I made a tack to somewhat more Easterly locations. Later I saw that I could have made the tack SW earlier as the wind was also shifting. So a little lost to others and on the chase. 


In the night I put up the autopilot on WayPoints (WP) and correctly passed 3 race gates. Also the passage of Kobenhavn occurred in the night, so the picture is from the archive to show what I have missed rather.


After clearing the SW point of Sweden, the sail is changed to Spinnaker and full of wind is pushing me through the OreSund and into the Kattegat. With some trimming and slight optimization of heading, my target for today is to validate the Oslo gate and head to the North Sea.


Rank: 77 in a fleet of 760 boats.


Guess what some Flagships are also participating in this race, contrary to what I first thought. See the standings via the TAB above. 

Hard work on Return

The start at 1200 gmt went smooth with most boats leaving in time, some however had some delay in lifting the anchor or hoisting the sails


Holiday is over for sure as with the strong Southerly winds there will be a lot of work in making sure all the tacks are done properly. 
Later on Sunday the wind is backing to the East and most likely the Genoa can be changed for the Code 0.


My ranking this first morning is 64 in a fleet of 728 boats.

Holiday in Sweden is OVER

The Holiday in Sweden is Over. 

It was the 10th of June that we Finished the Sailing race towards Stockholm, that also started a sun-drenched summer holiday; remember that the sun rises earlier and set later on these high lotitudes. 


So after a well deserved Holiday in the Swedish country-side it is now time to set sail back home. 


AND.............................
Guess what .......................???


LiveSkipper has organised a new Sailing Race down as mirror image of the trip  up to Stockholm.


So prepare the boats and be ready for the START in Stockholm harbour. 
Starting time is Saturday 6th August at 12:00 GMT.  
The route is a mirror course towards the Finish in Dublin, Ireland ; see the TAB "Route&AIS traffic" about for details.


I hope to see you at the Start. 
Fair winds and Safe Sailing  

Finished the Five Capital Sailing Race in Stockholm

HURRAY           

SURATNA HAS FINISHED 

THE FIVE CAPITAL SAILING RACE 

IN STOCKHOLM

Yesterday evening I could pass the Finish line in Stockholm. The Finish line was a little tricky as on the west it was in between a lot  of tiny islands, but in the East it was in Open Sea. The shortest distance however was sailing as close as possible to the Western buoy, in between the many islands !

Luckily my WayPoint scheduler helped me in steering nice free of the island in the shortest possible time to the Finish. 

I finished as 81st, not the best of my races but hee you can't have it all.

My total sailing time was 8days, 1 hour, 7 minutes and 39 seconds ; which is 7 hours, 49 minutes and 7 seconds after the winner. 

I was also teaming to steer the club Flagship LSYC and we reached a 2nd place in the Flagship competition; the Flagship finished overall in the 47th place.
All results in detail you can find back in the TAB's on top of this page, as well as a look at the Race track and the route I have followed. 

The was a very enjoyable race, in general nice winds, a little too much head winds  and sometimes some surprises with sudden wind-shifts. It is all in the game!. 

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog, 

upto the next race ...........where?..........when?

Rounding Sweden South Coast upto Stockholm Finish

Yesterday was a day with a lot of actions in variable wind situations.

It started with very weak winds in the Kobenhavn area which slowed the progress. Added to that my miss judgement of winds in the nights, so I was sailing to much west too close to the Mermaid. 
Luckily the wind picked up later and I could pass Gate#5 Kobenhavn and Gate#6 Falsterbo. By that time the wind had turned to the East and guess what I turned around the SW point of Sweden to follow an Eastern heading. 
During the night with setting some secure WP's, I passed the following Gate#7 Sandhammaren. 
I lost however some 15 places overnight, due to safe sailing, but that is still better then being grounded. 


This photo of Oland is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Now the winds are keeping nicely in the East and the turn around Oland islands make it possible to sail on Code0 and not too long from now I guess the Spinnaker will be hoisted to sail towards the Finish in Stockholm.

Rank 95 in a fleet of 934 

Waiving to the Little Mermaid

The progress yesterday was reasonable given the weak winds. While the night before the autopilot and un-expected wind shifts brought me too much West in the Kattegat, this helped me yesterday to climb a nice number of places. 

During the night I had to sail the Oresund on the autopilot again and though it was good to the effect that I did not ground, the boat sailed also not to the optimum during the whole night. 

Anyway this morning rank 91 and still on the chase. 

Today starts with very calm winds 2kts but after 600 gmt it will be doubled in strength. So today I expect to pass Kopenhavn, where a wave to the Mermaid is a must to please her,

and turn around the SW point of Sweden.

The leaders have rounded the SW point of Sweden already, so I get somewhat behind. 

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Sailing in the Kattegat

The Ytre Hvaler gate#4 close to Oslo was passed yesterday by the leadersboats. Those boats are now sailing the Kattegat heading to the passage between Denmark and Sweden along Copenhavn. 


The wind was weaker yesterday and also today it is weak with wind strength in the single digits. 
The wind is also changing directions constantly now, under the influence of a depression on the North Sea close to Denmark.


I had worked out a nice strategy to sail west of the island of Laeso, which worked out the fastest to come to Copenhavn. During the night sailing on WP's autopilot the wind update of 1800 gmt, must have changed more then forecasted. This morning I found myself sailing with wrong sail at half speed. The fastest route now goes East from Laeso, luckily I still have sufficient time to make that heading change. 


My rank dropped to 126, so the chase is on again. 


So sailing on today in a weak wind that still is expected to bring the leading boats towards the next Gate#5 Kobenhavn after sailing under the beautiful OreSund bridge. 

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Sailing to Denmark to pass the Oslo gate

The sailing on the North Sea was progressing good, notwithstanding the NE winds. The wind, however, becomes variable while coming under the Danish coast and a good strategic plan and some sail changes can help you gain in the fleet. 


The fleet was broadening its course with some boats sailing far North in order to come Eastwards, where other boats followed closer the Dutch Wadden Islands and Danish coast. I have not checked what was the best option. I sailed somewhat in the middle of the fleet but lost some places. 


The next gate#4 Ytre Hvaler, again hidden in a narrow part of water and some diligent sailing will be required for not missing the gate and not loosing too much time.


The weather forecast in Oslo is promising some rain, welcome to wash some salts from the sails and boat. 


Rank: 58 in a still growing fleet of 942 boats. 


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Passed the Thames gate and now sailing the North Sea

Yesterday saw a very interesting day of sailing. First of all there was the Strait of Dover with the busy marine traffic. 
Then we had two gates to pass. First the one on the corner to the Thames, Kingsgate. Actually a logical gate on this corner and easy to pass as it was on the most efficient route anyway. 
The next gate at Sheerness lay deep into the Thames estuary and the passing was an almost 170 degree turning point. If the time between the game updates is a little awkward (you have to sail for 10 min. before you can make a turn), you could loose considerable time and ranking places. 
For me it worked out fine and using my WP scheduler trick, reduced the overshoot and I could win some places on the passage of this Gate. 


Next is the crossing of the North Sea to Oslo in a strong NE breeze. A lot of tacks are involved again, but a good progress is made. 


This morning already at the latitude of Den Helder and the wind is keeping pretty steady for the next half day sailing, after which she is weakening towards Oslo. 


I have updated also the AIS map, and publish it under the TAB "Route& AIS"


Rank this moring 42 

Passed the Channel and upto Strait of Dover.

Yesterday sailing was pleasant in the Channel. With the NE winds it was hard ware however as many tacks had to be made and some sail changes.
Coming at a stage closer to the French coast as in the West the winds were stronger south, there were some tricky islands. Luckily I sailed it in daytime on a bright sunny day, so there was no problem in seeing those tiny island and avoiding them.

In this game of tacking with the other boats in the fleet I did reasonably well, as I gained some 23 places. Now ranked 66 in a fleet of 943 boats.

Today will be a very interesting sailing day. First there is the Strait of Dover to pass. I have clicked the AIS on, so to warn other boats and ships of my presence. It can be pretty busy in the shipping lane and these hudge ships have little consideration with us small sailing boats. 
Have also a look at an AIS map and see to avoid the other ships!
An AIS map can be found on this link  Marine Traffic . And you will see that it is really buzy for today's sailing route.

While passing the Strait of Dover the Gate#2 Kingsgate are appearing on the NW horizon and indicate a turn to the Thames estuary. Deep inside the Thames estuary is Gate#3 Sheerness gate. 

The winds are keeping steady from the NE and the strength is even a little increasing to the hihg teens (kts). 

Do have a look at the rankings and the progress on route using the TAB's above this post.

St Bunya Gate#1 Passed Already

Last night, again a WayPoint scheduler action, I passed the 1st Gate , St Bunya correctly. 
Yesterday a first full day of sailing in the Irish Sea. The wind has a period of really calm, 2-3kts, and movement was slowly. Luckily in the course of the day the Southerly wind picked up and gave us a pleasant sailing again. 

Now sailing in the Channel Eastwards in a NE wind that is holding its strengths; if the forecast is right it could even become a little stronger towards Brighton. 

My rank this morning : 89 in a growing fleet of 939 boats.

Five Capital Sailing Race Started

Last night (well my night that was) the LiveSkipper Five Capital Sailing Race has started in Dublin, Ireland. 


I had a Start on the auto-pilot according previously set WP scheduler. It all went smooth with a SE course around the Irish coast to head to Landsend and the 1st Gate. 
Some change of sails performed in the middle of the night for better boat-speed.


My Rank this morning was 132 in a fleet of 914 boats. 


All ranking tables and trend charts have been activated and can be viewed by clicking on the TAB's above this post. The route map is also updated to Show the location of "Suratna" , that's my boat, each morning. 


For today the target is to pass the 1st Gate St. Buryan, to round the cliffs of Landsend and enter Eastwards into the Channel. 


Fair winds. 

Announcement for LiveSkipper Sailing Race

A Sailing Race will be held that will sail alongside 5 Capitals of West_European countries.

The Sailing Race is organised by LiveSkipper, in their Virtual Sailing Simulator. 

The Race will start in Dublin, capital of Ireland. The route will go along London, capital of GreatBrittain and via the North Sea go to Oslo, capital of Norway. 
From there it will sail in between Denmark and Sweden, close passing by of Kobenhavn, capital of Denmark. After rounding the South coast of Sweden the Race will have its Finish in Stockholm, capital of Sweden. 

The start will be on 1st June 2011 at 16:00 hrs UTC.

All players will use the same fast modern sailing boat, a monohull IMOCA60.The Polars for this boat are available on the LiveSkipper site. 


Registration is free and can be done LiveSkipper Five_Capital Sailing Race  


All you  need is an internet connection, a modern browser and your good sailing experience :)