ARC Final Report... Part 2 - News - Britannia Corporate Events

Mobile News Regatta 2008 (Telecoms Sector)
4-5 Jun

Lutine Lineslip Regatta (Insurance Sector)
11-12 Jun

The PPP:PFI Challenge (PPP/PFI Sector)
13-15 Jun

Banking and Finance Regatta (Banking and Financial Services Sector)
20-21 Sep

LATEST NEWS
NAUTICA WATCHES ANNOUNCED AS TIMEKEEPING SPONSOR FOR BRITANNIA

JACKO’S WEATHER

Solent weather with some tips from us!

NEWS: PRESS RELEASE

JACKO CHECKS THE RIG

LANCELOT RACING WITH SPINNAKER

THE SKIPPER WORKING HARD ON DECK!

PAUL WORKING EVEN HARDER

ARC UPDATES DAY 9 UNTIL FINISH!
5.01.06

Day 10 - ARC Race - Lancelot - First beer for 10 days!:
Lancelot slips into second place having been over taken by an all female crew from Turkey, aboard Odienne a dufour 40!

Crew Report - Tuesday 29th November 14:35hrs:

We have now been at sea for nine days and progress has become frustratingly slow. Winds have been fickle as we make our way westward towards a low pressure front ahead of us which promises stronger winds. Still, the sun is shining and the calm seas enable us to catch up with house-keeping and carry out running repairs.

Although we provisioned very well we are beginning to run low on certain items such as kitchen roll, sugar, sweets and biscuits (many a sweet tooth on board). After another lovely dinner last night consisting of dorado and tuna caught late yesterday afternoon, however, we are convinced we can live off the sea if need be! I have acquired the nickname "the butcher" as I have taken on the roll of gutting, cleaning and preparing the fish we catch for the pan. I am passing this skill on to Paul as it will come in handy during his season skippering the yacht in the Caribbean. Kate and I seem to have taken on the roll of ship`s cooks which is quite fun. As we are on separate watches it means we more or less take it in turns to cook, keeping the menu varied and limiting the burden on any one person. Today even our logistics expert, Richard, ventured into the galley to heat two delicious tinned treacle tarts for us, yum... To keep the crew`s morale up we were issued beer rations yesterday (one can per head). It tasted wonderful and we made it last as long as possible.

The beard-growing competition is still in full swing (Kate seems to be losing) and I am convinced the kids will mistake me for a blonde father Christmas when they see me in mid-December. Our big spinnaker is now up and we are making about 6 knots on our desired heading so the crew are beginning to cheer up a bit.
Well, that`s all for now! Julian

Day 11 - ARC Race - Lancelot - Do Dominios deliver mid atlantic?:
Crew Report - Wednesday 30th November 18:30hrs:

Hello all!

After a great day of sailing with the wind up around 20 knots for most of the day I have come down to write the report just after which the wind has died and left us! Hopefully not for too long!

Last night we where able to fly our light weight spinnaker all night pulling speeds of around 8-9 knots all night on a perfect wind angle. At 0800hrs on the watch change over we droped the spinnaker and put our headsail back up and continued to make the same sort of progress on a slightly better course as the wind had shifted slightly.

As soon as daylight came Richard dropped the fishing line over the back of the boat to see if we could catch some lunch. No luck! However Kate took it upon herself to create pizza out of these funky spanish tortilla things. (Dominos in the Atlantic!). Just as the first of the pizzas was coming out of the oven the fishing line started to run. After around 10 minutes a big Dorado was reeled in which looks pretty good for dinner tonight!

The beard growing contest! Tim has taken to shaving his beard off for the moment as he has decided withing 6 hours of growth he can look like Captin Birdseye! (no-one disagrees!) Julian now has a full beard, along with a good effort from Richard, Andy has a full face of stuble now (which I know Sarah will love!), Paul keeps fairly trim (on one random point though, he has had no clean shorts for around three days now, day and night, even in the storm, has only worn underpants!!!), Dave has a designer goate but more could we expect from "Famous Dave"! Kate is still losing which I don't think she is that bothered about, I don't think she is getting into the spirit of it and needs to try harder. More impressive than my beard is my hair growth, After shaving my head my hair has started to grow back quickly and it's still blond!

I just want to say a thankyou to Alan Baker from Gleeds who has gave me my new nickname of Golam (that creature from Lord of the Rings). Thankyou so much! The boat is starting to run low on lighters and all lighters aboard have now been nicknamed "my preasous".

I just have been called on deck as we have got Whales around us! There where around 3-4 whales off our starboard beam, the closest getting around 50 yards away, we have some photos of them but I don't hold much hope of them coming out very well!

Looking at the position reports we are all fairly happy with where we are, however there is a Dufour 40 that seems to be putting in some exeptional milage for a 40 footer, on the last report we got they are over 180 miles ahead of us and only 50 miles behind a Lutra 56, it will be interesting to see how this all pans out!

Anyway, everyone back in England will be pleased to know that it has just started to rain, Tim is cooking and everyone has left Kate on deck!

C u all soon
Jacko and Lancelot

Day 12 - ARC Race - Lancelot - Cabin fever sets in on Lancelot!:
* CAUTION *
This press releases contains pharses/ word which some people may find offensive!
Lancelot and her crew are now making good progress towards St Lucia averaging 150 miles a day, they have just reached the half way point!

Crew Report - Thursday 1st December 2005, 18:30hrs:

Well shiver me timbers, throw me over the yard-arm and give me a damn good spanking, yeah baby!

Today's position I think should be the scissors !!

My wind has eased today but outside its SW 3-4. We've had the kite up all day (best done in the park really) & are making good progress. We saw some dolphins who quickly disappeared for some reason when Chris came on deck, word obviously travels fast in these 'ere parts !!!!

Nothings broken recently so its possibly time we found another storm, it gives us something to do apart from etcha-sketch & hangman (we did let Andy down after an hour honest). I thought a good test for etcha-sketch prowess would be to do a donkey (ok as 60 miles off shore) & I've got to say I've never seen such ugly donkeys in all my life.... Altho there was this one particular time!!!!!

Andy, (Byham the Broacher) has had to take it easy today as yesterday he did his weekly sit-up and its taken it out of him. Dave the great is currently on deck choosing his next gimp, I'm hiding, someone else's turn!!!!

I've just looked up and there's Paul in his boxers, I pity the next unfortunate girl (I believe there are help lines).

Julian's driving, Canada or Argentina, I'm not sure. Richards gone to bed, he sleeps well that man (national level at least). Mr Burns, oops sorry Chris, is now adopting some ancient Chinese foetal position (alone thank god) and Kate has also gone to slumber after a hard day of making us all slightly confused.

We also had baby flying fish land on board which was disappointing as Chris had said he'd bite the head off if one did, we were hoping for something slightly larger than 1 inch (although personally I've never had any complaints !!!). Nibbles are running dangerously low and we suspect the other watch, a guard HAS been posted. (Whilst I freely admit I can nibble for England as well as sleep we can't get near the food cupboard at night due to our strapadectomy harness lines so don't know where all the empty biscuit packets are coming from - Richard, he of the other watch!)

We're all biting at the bit (thanks to some hastily bought S & M gear) to get there, especially me as Dave has promised to find me a voluptuous lady in the night.... Or was that "of the night" ???!!! He must know where they hang out, local knowledge, fantastic !!!

Anyway clouds on the horizon so best get suited n booted early as that rubber suit is hell to get into especially with no talcum powder ....!

Cheers and luv to all Tim

PS Jack & Hannah be good

PPS I`d like to thank the Samaritans, Thomson local & finally Ordanance Survey for helping me when I was lost !!!!

Day 13 - ARC Race - Lancelot - The half way point!:
The crew final reach the half way point in mileage terms! A great boost in morale for everyone on board. Read about there celebrations and yet another freak storm!

Crew Report - Friday 2nd December 2005, 18:30hrs:

Friday position 23 40 65 N 040 25 125 W Weather 20 knots SW

Life on board is getting hotter by the day, down below is like an oven, dispite conditions ouside being wet, cloudy and windy! We now have had no sun for 3 days.

Yesterday evening the wind died and re built and died again and on the horizon we could see the largest squall to date, we tried to steer above it but we kept getting drawn back into it all the time! At the time of hitting the squall we were flyin the "Black Mama" as it has been called on board, which we hastedly dropped! I was on the wheel, kate and Richard were in the cockpit and Rat Boy "Jacko" was sent onto the foredeck where he proceeded to drag Granville out of bed to pull the sail down below. He was not a happy chap, suffice to say all went well.
At thispoint the wind started shifting 270 degree angles for about 15 minutes increasing and decreasing all the time. Think Rat Boy desrves a medal for going on foredeck with me on the wheel! Also the tempature changes were amazing from warm airs to very noticably cold breezes and pitch black skies with thunder, like something out of a movie - think this will be a memory from the trip I will not forget, obviously we cannot forget the Force 11 last week!

After this passed the winds decreased and we made slow ground through out thr night and since 8 am this morning we have had a constant breeze of 20 knots and are making great progress to the beach and bar in St Lucia!
Oh and the finishing line.

I served everyone some of my culinary delights for lunch today, fried bacon and smash with mixed veg, by all accounts they really enjoyed it!

Julian is still hoping for another dorado today for dinner, but to date, no joy!

Also this morning we officially crossed the half way mark, Fantastic!
Morale on board was high especially when we were greeted by Paul and Jacko waving a goody bag for us all, Awesome touch Sarah! Cannot belive you didn't tell me! The Champagne was slightly chilled and greatly received! As the celebrations were coming to an end we all commented how nice it was not to get wet for a change, before getting back down to the sailing! We spoke too soon Kates World hit a freek wave (apparently) and drenched us all!
However, atleast we now counting feel that the end is in sight... who knows what else we have in store!

We have also had various ongoing surprises on board hidden away 10 in total we believe! We've found 5 and I cannot belive we are still missing some, next watch I am again going on a mission. There cann't be that many more spaces on a 40 ft boat! Any clues from HQ???????????????????

Only injury on board on board so far happened to me, the cutlery draw decided to hurl itself out of its stowage and took out my knee, nothing major thank god just another thing that has decided to drop off the boat!

As I am writing this message at 16.45 Kate, Dave , Julian and Paul are on watch. Tim, Jacko and Richard are sleeping ready to come on watch 5 - 9pm. My turn to wake them up, cold water I think!

Time now for me to go on deck and get wet, all the crew would like to send therir best wishes to all at home

Andy and the Lancelot Crew

Day 14 - ARC Race - Lancelot :
Crew Report - Saturday 3rd December 2005:

As I type, the sun is setting on the most beautiful day mid-Atlantic and the crew aboard Lancelot couldn't be happier.
At last we are sailing in conditions which the ARC is famous for - clear skies and hot, hot sunshine (the boys are thankful to hear the end of my moaning about the lack of it)!

All the time the breeze is swinging round from the upwind slog we've had for the last few days, to more favourable downwind (fast!) sailing. I'm convinced our luck has changed because we're entering an area mid-Atlantic called `Kate` (around 81,000 sq miles named after me!)!

Since Andy wrote yesterday, we had a squally night and have since been sailing with the No 3 headsail and full main in around 10 - 15 knots breeze, averaging around 7 - 8 knots boat speed.

The boys can hardly contain their excitement at the prospect of some trade wind sailing and I can hear Dave up on deck making final checks before dark, so the kite can be hoisted tonight if the wind comes round far enough. We need to try and claw back every mile we can, as the finish draws closer.
We know that once the predicted trade winds of 20knts + kick in, it'll be a case of hanging on as we surf down the waves and trimming that kite day and night with not a free moment, except to eat and sleep.

Jacko and Nadders did, however, take some time out today to play `throw the raisin in Kate's tummy button`, which they thought was hilarious. My sense of humour failed after the second packet was emptied on me (and they didn't even score once)! I'm sure we're all going a bit mad out here now...
With a top dinner (pasta and tomato sauce, `a la Jacko`) and even chocolate sponge cake for dessert, the other watch are sleeping and it's time for me to go on deck and finish our 4 hour shift.

Not a lot to see out there, no ships for days (apart from the imaginary kamikaze fishing boat Dave saw last night), but we did have the pleasure of the company of a few dolphins this morning - surprised to see them so far from land.

Perhaps tonight we'll have some company from fish of the flying variety? The first BIG one landed in the cockpit last night (I couldn't convince jacko to bite the head off it) - Julian eagerly dived after it as it flipped around in the steering well. Plenty of entertainment at 4am!
Looks like a clear night, no sight of any squalls, just lots of stars to steer by and a warm breeze.

Goodnight from a very happy Katesworld and crew.

Day 15 - ARC Race - Lancelot - Believe your geography teacher!:
Crew members realise that they could have just taken their geography teacher's word for it - the Atlantic is big. Still nearly 1,000 miles to go and a very light airs ARC is putting resolve to the test.

Reports from the last two days reveal the ups and downs of life in the ARC. When the wind blows the crew is delighted. When it stops they aren't too pleased!

Crew Report - Sunday 4th December 2005, 18:30hrs:

Hi again from all on yacht Lancelot! What a wretched night we spent last night, dying to move forward as quickly as possible to get the best result in this race and yet being forced to sit in the middle of an ocean as smooth as a millpond from around 11.00pm until around midday today when the wind finally began to pick up again. We certainly cannot be accused of having undue luck with the weather in this race! Anyway, the respite from all the activity associated with sailing fast enabled Andy, Richard and me to have luxurious sea water baths on the swimming deck at the back of the boat in wonderful sunshine. It also enabled Kate to prepare us a lovely tuna and pasta lunch without the inconvenience of having the galley tilted at a fairground angle. The afternoon wind also brought more luck on the fishing front as we landed two good-sized Dorado which we had for dinner tonight (one cooked on the BBQ by Andy as an experiment - very successful). Later this afternoon Dave went up the masthead to inspect our spinnaker halyards as we expect to need them quite a bit over the coming days and they have been fraying lately (he found that they were OK but we need to keep an eye on them). Today also brought news that Leopard of London was the first ARC boat to reach St Lucia. At about 100ft long they are considerably larger and therefore faster than we are but it was still a little irritating to think of them enjoying a cool drink at Rodney Bay Marina tonight whilst we are still slogging it out here!

One thing I have concluded from this voyage is that the Atlantic is a very, very, VERY big ocean. Most intelligent people take their geography teacher`s word for this, others, like me, need more proof. Today was our 14th day of sailing and we are still over 1,000 miles away from St Lucia. Take it from me, you should believe your geography teacher...

That`s all from us for now. Love to all of our friends and families, you are in our thoughts.

Julian.

Day 16 - ARC Race - Lancelot - Ever wondered what a Trans-Atlantic version of the film '10 Things I Hate About You' would be like? Well here it is - '14 Things I Hate About Sailing'!:

With just under 800 miles to go the crew of Lancelot are nearing the end of their epic journey. In the meantime, ever wondered what a Trans-Atlantic version of the film '10 Things I Hate About You' would be like? Well here it is - '14 Things I Hate About Sailing':

Crew Report - Monday 5th December 2005:

Crew morale is great but we would not be human if after 15 days at sea there weren`t some things that had begun to irritate the heck out of us. So, today we are going to try to list some of them to illustrate what life on board the gallant yacht Lancelot is really like. Things that are beginning to irritate us:

1. Damp clothes that won`t dry
2. Cigarette lighters that constantly disappear (now re-named "My Precious", because they are as elusive as The Ring)
3. Having run out of sweets
4. Spinnaker halyards that fray at the masthead, needing constant repair (Jacko and Dave are up and down the masthead like yo yo`s)
5. Having to dismantle our cabins every couple of days to get more water bottles out from under our berths
6. Waiting your turn to use the laptop
7. Wind that is either too light or, if strong, a hurricane and/or coming from the wrong direction
8. Emails from friends on posh yachts with air conditioning, wide screen TV, washing machines, etc, that are also taking part in the ARC, telling us about the roast lamb with all the trimmings that they had for Sunday lunch...
9. French boat makers that install cookers on gimbles that become finger-traps on a port tack (ouch! why do they do that?)
10. The OTHER watch always nicking the good biscuits
11. UHT milk that goes off after a day of being opened because the fridge is only on for two hours a day (when we run the engine to re-charge the batteries)
12. Being woken up to go on watch at midnight (and then again at six o`clock in the morning...)
13. The sat phone only rings for you when you are off watch and catching some zzz`s
14. The sun coming up at 9.30 am and setting at 9.00 pm (we have adopted the convention of keeping the ship`s clock and our watches to UK time but have now sailed over 1,900 nautical miles to the west, the equivalent of more than two time zones)

This list is not comprehensive but we hope it gives you a feel for the hardships we trans-oceanic sailors have to endure :)
Julian

Day 17 - ARC Race - Lancelot - Lancelot Holds Firm Again as Heavy Squalls Hit Hard!:
A very eventful 24hrs sees Lancelot loose a spinnaker as strong squalls make for fast but difficult sailing conditions.

As the call for help goes up, those off-watch rush from their bunks and find themselves fighting the elements on the foredeck in their underwear, in the middle of the night, in 35 knot squalls 600 miles away from the finish.

Something of a rude awakening!

Crew Report - Tuesday 6th December 2005:

What a fun filled, action packed 24 hours we've had since Julian's update yesterday! I think some people would call us mad (even some of the crew on board would say so too!)

After chilli & rice for dinner (perhaps not the best meal to eat when living in a confined space), we settled into another night watch with the black G-Spot flying nicely in 20 knots of wind.

All was well until I took the helm, and as normal, the wind picked up to 30 knots. This tends to happen every time I go near that wheel. As the breeze picked up the boat swung high into a broach, kite flapping out to the leeward side and pinned the boat over on its side.

We pulled out of the broach, but quickly I handed over to Dave, a more experienced and stronger driver, and we all sat on standby on the vang, sheet and guy as a `just in case measure` if we broached again. Pretty soon it was obvious that this was a bit too much wind to handle and we woke Jacko up to come and check out the situation.

Jacko took the wheel and as Dave called out the gusts to him... 22, 24, 27, 30 knots of wind, we rounded into another big broach. Jacko shouted BLOW THE VANG, EASE THE SHEET but the boat didn't come back down. We're all hanging on for dear life as she's down on her side and Paul is telling Jacko that the F***ing sheet is eased! The kite, by his time, was flying pretty damn high above the boat, and it was clear that even our sheets aren't that long
- the shackle had blown from the clew.

We shouted for "EVERYONE ON DECK NOW!" (by this time it was 3am) and in pitch black, rolling up and down in mid Atlantic swell, we soon had the jib up, the kite below deck, and thankfully both crew and spinnaker not hurt.

Jacko and Dave bounced around on the foredeck for a while, struggling to pole out the Genoa, and eventually it was set, we gybed the boat into a goosewing... Hitting 13.8 knots within the first 10 minutes! Lancelot went like a steam train through the night.

Everyone was grateful for their 3 hours of sleep this morning, and by 11am we still had 20 - 25 knots wind and decided to hoist another kite. This time the 1.5 weight - the big black one was a bit too big and powerful.

Our watch started at 1pm, and by 2pm it was clear that both of the sheet winches weren't working well, so Dave and Paul began dismantling and cleaning them.

I took the helm, and guess what... three squalls started chasing us from behind, and the breeze built to 35 knots. Not great news when you have a spinnaker flying and a winch in bits!

I handed over to Paul this time, and within 10 minutes the boat was sent flying up into another broach. Paul had the helm hard over to port, but no chance, with the side deck completely submerged, the kite ripped up the tape, and flew in two parts. Thank god it wasn't our G Spot! Lancelot swung out of the broach, and once again the crew jumped on deck to drop the shredded remains of our kite (Nadders and Jacko in nothing but their boxers, having been peacefully pretending to be asleep at the time!)

A rather expensive afternoon for Andy then, who was extremely calm about the whole episode - but much happier this afternoon having heard that the Britannia office have had a `good day` (thanks Simon - perfect timing)!

I think we're all in agreement that this is one damn fine ship! Fair play to Lancelot, she has taken us safely through nearly every kind of weather condition known to man and is still holding firmly together!

It's now 9.30pm and we are screaming along sensibly at 15 knots plus (again its gusting 30 knots wind), with a poled out Genoa and full main. These are definitely the tradewinds and this is damage limitation for us tonight (oh and hopefully Tim will get some sleep at last).

Kate, Lancelot & crew

Day 19 - ARC Race - Lancelot - Completes the ARC :
The Lancelot team successfully finshed the ARC on Saturday, after a long, tiring and eventful trip. Below is the penultimate crew report from the team, which will be followed by the last entry, once one of the team can be pulled away from the bar in St Lucia long enough, or sober enough, to type an email.......

Crew Report - Friday 9th December 2005:

Right, what has been going on aboard Lancelot.

Whilst sailing along in the great trade winds yesterday (25knts+), we noticed a small crack appear in the join between the Vang/Kicker/bit that holds the boom from flying up in the air! We kept tabs on this and over the period of a couple of hours the crack worsened, this forced us into a difficult decision. We decided the best course of action was to drop the mainsail and sail the rest of the race without. This was a hard decision to make, but the risk to boat and crew along with the costs involved if the vang had blown in 30 knots+ of wind was not worth the risk.

This decision has also affected the boat in another way in that without the mainsail in these winds we are also unable to fly the spinnaker, again this is very frustrating for the crew although we have been lucky enough to have the sort of winds we would think twice about flying a kite in anyway!

We are currently 167.9 miles away from St Lucia at 19.46h UK time, we are making steady progress and expect to be in Rodney Bay enjoying our first Caribbean rum by around 17.00 UK Time tomorrow.

On a more positive note! We have still been having fun!

Tim and Richard have both now been hit by rouge flying fish, Richard a day or so ago on the back and Tim yesterday whilst helming. Its quite off-putting when it happens cos they absolutely stink, I've smelt bad fish before but these things are just plain nasty!

We have decided that Tim used to be in "Dexey's Midnight Runners". He has this habit of wearing dungaree style waterproofs without a T-Shirt on, not the best look and if he thinks his luck is going to be in when he arrives in St Lucia he may have to change his wardrobe!

Andy now holds the boat speed record (which will not be beaten on this trip now) It now stands at 16.2Kts. We are all very happy, (bloody amazed, but happy) that the owner of the boat holds the speed record. Also in a squall with just the no.3 up yesterday evening, he managed to get the speed record with this sail combination of 14.5knts, the guys a speed freak!

We are also looking forward to showering for the first time in quite a while. Those of you who are already in St Lucia will be pleased to hear this as, speaking for myself, I have not had a shower in over 2 weeks now, with the last one being 2ltrs of Evian over my head! We Smell Bad!

Its been a good trip from my point of view, learnt a lot of things, (firstly, being in the ARC, go South!) and also really enjoyed sailing with friends. Its something I don't get to do that often and have decided that I must do it a bit more.

Anyway, Andy will finish off tomorrow with the final report from the trip, I look forward to catching up with everyone when I get back

Speak soon

Jacko and the crew of Lancelot