Day 4 from the WART household

Sorry for the radio silence. We have more technology onboard than you can

shake a stick at and access to mobile connections I've never seen on my

phone i.e LTE, GPRS, 2G and 3G but nothing would send!?

The conditions onboard can only be described as moist - welcome to the

Celtic Sea. Last night saw our first headsail change and a reef in 25knots

of breeze. Strangely when the new watch came on the offer of a sausage

sandwich was vigorously turned down! I can report that chocolate bars at

7am was not favoured but we have been conducting our own taste tests on

cereal bars.. Conclusion even boys eat them!

I do need to report a strange phenomenon onboard we have grown men who are

now apparently out of sync but who really don't want to visit the heads.

I'm anticipating a queue for said heads once we are around the rock.

Ohh must stop here needed on deck...........

Right I'm back after a quick visit to the mast to drop out the reef and

we can see Ireland and Fastnet Rock! WARTs still murmuring about there

being no Guiness onboard!

Much excitement a few hours ago when we saw Dolphins. One leapt out just

in front of the bow.

Joke of the day "When is a Fastnet boat not a Fastnet boat? When it's

aground" (credit to

Nancy Pants).

As anticipated the weather came in late afternoon and with it the

anticipation of The Rock! The weather built up to a good 18 knots as we are

reaching away from the Isles of Scilly. With the start of the increase in

wind came a series of pods of Dolphins, 4 in as many hours, but only for the

one watch who now consider themselves to be the Dolphin Whisperers. They

were even seen darting in the phosphorescence at the start of the night

shift for that watch, which was a great sight to behold for those who have

never seen it before.

Shortly after midnight brought yet more wind and the call was made to move

down to the J3 from the J2, bareheaded for a short time it was a solid

effort in rough conditions with little visibility, rain pouring and waves

lashing over the deck it was great team work and a sense of achievement for

everyone when it was done. Action packed night watch for some of us and a

soaked foredeck crew, but that comes with the job. To celebrate we all have

a starburst!

Again as the sunrises, comes visibility of the fleet heading to the Fastnet

Rock from various directions, this brings out some competitiveness in the

team eager to round the rock and pass some boats. Winds lighten enough for

a headsail peel, J3 back to J2 a very tough one in the conditions but nicely

done and we quickly start to pass other boats as we speed up. Sergei (our

Russian contingent) usually quiet on the rail shouts and points - "there is

The Rock" pretty soon everyone is on deck ready eagerly to see and be ready

for the rounding.

To the right of us we see the amazing emerald of Ireland which so aptly

deserves that nickname, it looks haunting in the mist and just to the left

of us is Fastnet Rock, what we have been waiting for. We are beating upwind

towards the rock, racing and ready to round. Once we bear away and pass the

rock, we can't miss a few selfie and photo/video moments to capture this

event. Big cheers on the deck from all the crew with the last 24hrs

showing why the Fastnet race is a tough one and great achievement. Then not

much time to digest as we quickly get back to it for the race to Plymouth.

We start a reach back towards the Isle of Scilly and prepare to hoist the

Spinnaker!

If rocks are to be rounded, if finish lines must be crossed, do it Fast and

do it Furious!!!

©Martin Keruzoré - Mediaman Initiatives coeur

Day 4: Passing Fastnet Rock and have been doing so for what seems like hours. All we can currently think about is the beer in Plymouth.