First 24 hours of racing on BSL...So far so good!
The father and son duo of Ross and Campbell Field are currently competing in their first competitive race on their Class 40, BSL, in the Rolex Fastnet Race. Read the latest update from the duo here, in Campbells latest blog.
Sunday was a pretty eventful day for the team on BSL, and to be honest a bit strange for Ross and I to have a few extra bodies on board to consider!
The Rolex Fastnet started reasonably well for us at 11:20 off Cowes, a conservative start that turned into a very busy few hours short tacking up the Solent. Great fun and very interesting to already start comparing our speed and potential against the top boats in a fantastic Class 40 fleet. Once we exited the Solent we managed to settle into a steady pace and already some big decisions needed to be made; north or south, stick with the fleet or go our own way? We settled for a mix of the two, staying to the right and in contact with the majority of the fleet as we tacked our way out past Swanage to Portland Bill. A bit of a split in the fleet at the entrance of Lyme Bay left us wondering a bit how we were going against the fleet as the majority chose a lower road to the south over night. At daybreak, SW of the Lizard we still found ourselves in good company and learnt a great deal as we appeared to at some stages have the doors being blown off of us, but after a bit of reconfiguring, we were back in the game...a constant learning process.
The boat is proving to be everything we hoped it would be after the refit and a few minor modifications. The new inventory from Norths are a vast improvement, and the wetsanding session last Friday is paying dividends.
At 10:45 today (15th August) we find ourselves 3rd behind the two new Farr boats, and barely ahead of Tauguy who probably has the most miles of anyone in these boats. We have quite a few boats in sight, we are measuring every change in trim and speed against them and we are hanging in there.
Bruce, Magnus and James are doing well and seem to be enjoying themselves however seemed to be a bit surprised to be served nasi goreng for breakfast this morning...
Anyway, we are ghosting along in 8 knots with the zero up trying to lay Runnel Stone Light, better get back to it. We have almost finished the preparation for the blast we are expecting later today, conditions this beast is built for.
Team BSL out.
