Richard Hewson

Rich fixed was able to successfully inspect his keel in the port De Baiona on the Spanish/Portugal border yesterday. He got underway last night. At this stage he is is 250nm from the leading boat, however he is only 80nm from the fleet. There are light winds close to the Pourtugese coast, however as Rich heads West he will have more breeze, with 20-25 knots from the NE and building. See the map below, supplied by our good friends at Passage weather (www.passageweather.com).

It must be freezing out there. I woke up in Palma de Mallorca this morning, freezing! I went out for a walk in the pouring rain and decided to put on my new Zhik jacket, I was most impressed that I stayed incredibly dry and it made me feel happy that Rich was out there in such wintery conditions in the North Atlantic, but presumably dry inside his Zhik wet weather gear. Thanks Zhik!

So, if you have not used the tracker before, go to the mini transat site (www.minitransat.fr) and go to "The Race" in the menu, and then click on "Cartography". This will bring up the race tracker. Click on "Series" at the top right hand corner of the map (There are two types of boats competing, "proto’s: and "series"). Then scroll down until you see Rich’s name. Under his name you can see his speed in nauticle miles, the direction he is heading, how many miles he is from the first yacht, and how many miles he has to go.At the top left corner of the map you will see different symbols. The arrows give you the weather and next to it is a time line you can move to see the weather predictions in the next 24 hours. There is even an online mini transat game you can play if you wish to race from the comfort of your own home!

Todays News from Mini Transat (www.minitransat.fr)

While Gwénolé Gahinet is en route to Portugal aboard a fishing boat having been picked up overnight night, other skippers continue to move towards Cascais, at the entrance to Lisbon.

Carlos Lizancos (431 Reyno de Navarra ) is only a few miles from the Lusitanian port, where François Lamy ( 566 Guadeloupe Espace Océan) decided to seek refuge to fix his steering problems. Diane Reid (655, One Girl ‘s Ocean Challenge) and Pip Hare (743, The Potting Shed ) are also headed for Cascais while Yann Le Clech (692, Diaoulic) is now less than sixty miles always under jury rig.

On the Baiona coast in Spain, Richard Hewson (816 RG65.org) has meanwhile left again following his keel inspection. After a heavy landing after being airborn on the first day of racing, the Tazmanian feared for the structure of the appendage and preferred to divert to check things more closely. The result seems conclusive because RF650.org has already resumed his journey. Clement Bouyssou (514, No War) and François Guiffant (159 Scidiam) are meanwhile still undertaking technical stops in the Galician port. Its the same struggle for Joel Miro Garcia (835 Lady Argo) who is in Camariñas after breaking his two rudders

On Thu, Nov 14, 2013 at 3:57 PM, amanda hewson <amanda.hewson> wrote:

As I woke this morning after what I saw as a very tough start for the fleet and a tough day for Richard. As the night went on the conditions didn’t improve……. there has been quite a few retirements and forced pitstops. One of the first was the ARGO of Joel Miro who had rudder damage after an impressive start. We hope that he can get restarted ASAP………..Next was Ian Lapinsky who was involved in the battle to win the abandoned first leg. Ian and Richard fought it out for two days – we all know what happened there. Ian was dis-masted and his race is over……..
Then at about midnight last night Richard was trying to control the conditions as best he could – reaching speeds in excess of 16-17 knots on big unsettled waves when he crossed paths with an ocean fishing boat which was heading to port…….. This was fine but the huge wake that followed took Richard by complete surprise and he hit it at nearly full speed, the boat launched completely out of the water…….. In Richards words " the boat was completely airborne "……..
On impact which was huge Richard heard a strange noise and decided then and there to head in for a look……..
Richard arrived in Port De Baiona on the Spanish – Portugal border.
Richard has done a close inspection of the boat and cant see any major damage but to be sure he will lift the boat this morning to check everything.
In short it is a precautionary measure that I believe shows pure seamanship and intelligence in a race that has over 3500 miles to go…………..
All going well Richard will resume at his 12 hour time slot this afternoon…………..
Its not over…..!!!!