Route du Rhum - 31st October - Page 3

Channel Ribs · 30 October 2010, 13:45

Thanks all for a great evening, good company and plenty of talk of RIB cruises to come (really must find a boat).

Erin · 30 October 2010, 15:30

I must be a little out of practice. I do seem to have a bit of a sore head again today

. Good choice of venue too Matt.

martini · 30 October 2010, 18:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erin

I must be a little out of practice. I do seem to have a bit of a sore head again today

. Good choice of venue too Matt.

Don't worry, you'll get used to it!

Forecast for tomorrow still isn't bad, still got over 25kts of wind at the mo which is not due to drop until the morning so I'm keeping an open mind, all depends on how quickly the sea can settle down.

According to the website, the main race starts at 1300 which I presume will be 1200 local (not forgetting we're back to GMT when we wake up!)

Bassin Vaubin lock entry/exits run from 9.30 ish til 1400 ish gmt although being a special occasion it might all be on demand instead.

I still need fuel as they decided to shut early today but open again at 0800.

Anyone still interested? Must admit I'm not really feeling it as it's so miserable out there at the mo but could be interesting?!

Erin · 30 October 2010, 20:06

I do seem to have lost enthusiasm for it a bit today. Forecast is showing slight to moderate seas with intermittent rain, so all in all I think I'll be bailing out on this one even tho' that's a walk in the park for a Martini II.

Saw a little bit of preview on French telly earlier (we somehow manage to get French digital even though our aerial points completely the other way) and it certainly looked very busy with both boats and the public. At least we'll have Gotchiguy's photos and write up to look forward to.

gotchiguy · 30 October 2010, 20:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by martini

According to the website, the main race starts at 1300 which I presume will be 1200 local (not forgetting we're back to GMT when we wake up!)

Bassin Vaubin lock entry/exits run from 9.30 ish til 1400 ish gmt although being a special occasion it might all be on demand instead.

We're back over now, and will put to sea fairly early tomorrow. Went on a quick walk down to the port a few mins ago, although pitch black, the usually sleepy port is a hive of activity. The "rade" is awash with lights - most of the yachts racing are moored out in the middle, the rest of them have got to get out of the bassin Vaubin tomorrow before the start.

Our Osprey is on a mooring right out amongst them, as we flew in this afternoon we saw it is sort of squeezed in amongst them,

but its very accessible where it is and although the water taxi is going to be very busy, we'd be one of the ones dropped off first so its a good position. We should be on the water at ~9.00, planning for lunch on board. There are a fair few Cap Breizh boats due to be around, a couple of very nice Solents - one of which is a brother in bright red

. I think they're quite keen to hook up with us, and mentioned that they'd be delighted if some Jerseyers came down aswell. I think their plan is an evening dinner/picnic on Chausey, so that might work for those returning to the island in the evening

.

I mentioned earlier the restrictions around the area....

There are three zones of restriction, one at Cancale, which is where the start will be. This area is out of bounds to all spectators at all times. Going from the map, to which I will include a link, we reckon the best place to watch from will be south of Chausey, as close to the action as possible. We are currently unsure whether all the boats are starting at the same time, the lentgh of the start line is huge, so this would be a real possibility. If they are set off in groups, we would plan to follow the "G class" boat - the largest-, but if they are set off first we would wait slightly later to watch a couple of classes depart before catching the front runners at Cap Frehel and watching them all go past there.

The second zone of exclusion is at Cap Frehel, further along the coast to the west. It is quite a small zone: set up presumably because all the yachts will be taking the corner very tightly indeed, it is on the land here where the greatest restrictions are - police are to be stationed every hundred metres and parking is all to be heavy regulated etc etc.

The third zone is the entire area, right up the the Minquiers - the large green box -, to enter this boax you must be a powered vessel and must monitor channel 16 on a fixed set continuously. I assume that will not pose anyone any problems

All in all it should be a fantastic event, the second runway at the airport is closed for parking; Brittany Ferries is running a special service to watch it, as it Condor and all the local ones too. There are massive temporary one way systems being set up on the roads, and even air restrictions to enable all the TV and safety helicopters to operate safely. At least ten lifeboats have been called up from the auxillary fleet, having spoken to the crew of our local lifeboat as they were setting off, a continuous watch is being held overnight and it should all kick off in the morning. In my mind at least, it looks as if this event is definitely going to be one not to miss, I hope that anyone from the CIs debating (...Matt...

) does come down, it is going to be an absolute melee tomorrow!

We will ring around everyone's MMSIs tomorrow just in case you decide to come at the last minute

P.S. Small boats are never usually welcome in the Bassin Vaubin anyway, but you'd have no chance at all of getting in tomorrow since all the boats that live on the pontoons to which the racing yachts have been temporarily moored need to be moved back to their original positions. That is combined with the fact that there is a large temporary exposition hall on the quay, if you wanted a meal in St. Malo, the usual thing would be to moor in the large marina "Bas Sablons" and walk the mile to intra-muros.

P.P.S. Das linken... http://www.cg22.fr/fileadmin/redact_...e_rhum2010.pdf

GJ0KYZ · 30 October 2010, 20:49

Am I right in saying that there are only 75 yachts in this race and that all are sailed single-handed? In anycase, it'll be too rough early in the morning so I don't think I'll be going. By the way, Matt's friend's (Andy?) impression of Prince Charles last night was well good.

martini · 30 October 2010, 21:50

Andys a bit of a comedian, nice guy though!

Well if I'm there, I'm there, if I'm not, I'm not.
Team Gotchi, I'll call, text or dsc you if I do go, it'd be nice to meet some of the Cap guys as well.

Channel Ribs · 31 October 2010, 07:48

Jersey Met are giving 4 to 5, dropping to 3 this afternoon. Moderate or rather rough seas in the south, occasional showers and risk of thunder.

karlT · 31 October 2010, 09:04

Just had a peek at digimap AIS tracking. St Malo looks rather busy and Condor heading towards the crowd at 30+ knots ???

Channel Ribs · 31 October 2010, 09:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by karlT

Just had a peek at digimap AIS tracking.

Superb! I hadn't thought of that

It looks pretty busy down there...

martini · 31 October 2010, 09:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by karlT

Just had a peek at digimap AIS tracking. St Malo looks rather busy and Condor heading towards the crowd at 30+ knots ???

Yes I was having a look earlier, and trying to imagine all the boats without AIS on top of that

Not sure what the vhf working channel is for the race but listening to ch12 (St. Malo port) and ch16 is starting to give me a headache

Still pretty dull and windy, can't see me putting myself through 70nm of misery today

Rib race maybe, wafi race I don't think so!

GJ0KYZ · 31 October 2010, 09:35

I might be able to see the boats from my house when they go past Cap Frehel. By the way, what's this digimap AIS thing? Is it online? If so, does anyone have the address?

PS. It's ok, I've found it. Blimey, isn't that amazing? Is there no end to the ingenuity of mankind?

http://www.digimap.gg/ais

martini · 31 October 2010, 09:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by GJ0KYZ

I might be able to see the boats from my house when they go past Cap Frehel. By the way, what's this digimap AIS thing? Is it online? If so, does anyone have the address?

Thought you would know about that Paul?
http://marinetraffic.com

Channel Ribs · 31 October 2010, 09:49

Martini's link is the original one, like Digimap we too have AIS framed into our site.

It is fascinating, many a happy excuse to get the boat out when you spot a boat without a photo.

Geeky, I know.

There is a different site too:

http://www.shipais.com/

karlT · 31 October 2010, 09:49

I think the 20000 estimate may be a bit elaborate but certainly reckon there could be circa 10000 boats on the water. In the photos there are at least 3 or 4 support ribs per vessel. The yachts are leaving port with half a dozen crew or more who will need jump off somewhere.

http://www.routedurhum-labanqueposta...01p01_home.php

The pictures give a good indication of how many spectators vessels including the brittany ferry full of spectators !!!

Duck Witch · 31 October 2010, 10:53

You can join this race on line by playing Virtual Regatta, it shows the progress of the real yachts as well as those just playing online.

http://www.virtualregatta.com/index_rdr_lbp.php

If you join please add me as a friend, my yachts name is The Po.

Channel Ribs · 31 October 2010, 10:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duck Witch

You can join this race on line by playing Virtual Regatta, it shows the progress of the real yachts as well as those just playing online.

http://www.virtualregatta.com/index_rdr_lbp.php

If you join please add me as a friend, my yachts name is The Po.

Superb! I am in, "Alderney Star". Though I am supposed to be testing an inverter installation at the moment, so might miss the start.

Channel Ribs · 31 October 2010, 12:59

Looks like the pressure from RIB.netters has crashed their web site!

Erin · 31 October 2010, 13:14

Yep, I can't seem to get it to load either. And for that matter the AIS website doesn't seem to be showing any clusters of yachits. Where abouts are they likely to be by now? There seem to be a few just going round the corner, but not many.

Have to say the weather's a might calmer than they were forecasting so it probably wouldn't have been such a bad trip after all. Not too worry though, I've been busy checking tappet clearances and giving the o/b a good service.

PS It's alright, I've found them. Wasn't zoomed in enough. Just off St Malo. Just spotted the Victor Hugo amongst the melee and Condor Vitesse quite a way to the western end, presumably trying to get south without mowing them all down in the process.

martini · 31 October 2010, 13:29

It is settling down but not early enough for the trip there. A couple of big cabin boats set off from here earlier bound for the start line but turned around a short while later citing the sea conditions