August 21st, 2009
British team Conrad Humphreys and team mate Ryan Crawford look healthy but worn after five days of racing when we meet them in Sandhamn of the finish of leg 2, day 5 in the Archipelago Raid. They are just mending their jib halyard that broke earlier today. Not the only thing that broke. Two dagger boards went in two pieces when they hit a rock. Fixing the damages is not their main mission, though. Humphreys explain why they are in this race: “In a nutshell – it is about engaging people in our natural environment, using sports”, he says. Many people today are not aware of what the nature can offer them or how to treat it. The reason for the Blue project to take interest and promote the Archipelago Raid is because it is an environmental friendly and sustainable race. The best example of that is that each team sail without using power, just sails. Each team bring onboard just what they need for five days of racing, food, spares and tents to sleep in. “- We are not allowed to get outside assistance so we have to be happy with what we got – and we are”, says Conrad. Conrad Humphreys is a professional sailor that used to sail full time, one of the youngest persons to have competed in the Whitbread at age 19. Nowadays he is heavily involved in promoting the Blue project through different sports events. Conrad continues “- In a planet where we have limited resources, the Archipelago Raid is like a micro cosmos of that and that is what the Blue Project tries to promote. To try and get people to understand to be content with what they have got”. For more information about the Blue Project visit www.blueproject.org
Date: 2009-08-21 21:00:00
Taken from www.thearchipelagoraid.com
August 21st, 2009
21.08.09 – Day 5 of the Archipelago Raid
08:21:10 hrs
The teams gave the best of themselves in a very intense start of leg 7 this morning off Norra Stavsudda. A southerly 10 knots breeze helped the show. It was clear that the overall leaders wanted to start strong with just two days to go. Citus did the best start in the right side of the line, while in the pin side it was the German team W4 who got the best spot.
Thule passed in front of the bow of half the fleet right over the line. The wind picked up slowly afterwards to some 16 knots. Citus held their lead in the three first checkpoints, but followed very closely by Thule. The Swedish are far from giving up!
So far 2 teams have retired from the leg due to different problems and are sailing straight to the finish in Grinda. They are Ursuit and SWE 49.
10:49:44 hrs
Swedish Team Thule Strandberg/Örtendahl is increasing their lead doing 18 knots of boat speed in the strong southerly breeze. The wind has picked up since the start this morning and is averaging on 20 knots. Some boats have capsized due to the fairly rough conditions. Among them Team Audi Lewander/Thorslund and Team Blue Humphreys/Crawford that spent some time recuperating afterwards but then came back in the race. Team Mc Donald Huysman and team w4 also went on the nose. The fleet is now reduced with another two boats and 21 boats are now in the race. Conditions are again fantastic, good breeze, sunny and clear – what else could you ask for?
August 19th, 2009
Just a short update as I’m shattered and need some sleep. The day got off to a great start as we led off the startline in big breeze and sailed out in front for most of the first checkpoint, not bad for the old tiger!
Problems with the starboard rudder caused an early swim leaving the checkpoint, but we made some ground and finished in the top ten.
Second leg the breeze had built to 20 knots and in true Archipelago Raid style we had an amazing down hill run through the rocks at blistering speed. We had some great speed and passed through the fleet to record our best finish of the Raid so far with a 5th.
Tomorrow we will cross back to Sweden before the wind picks up. It’s going to be a 30 miler upwind- ouch.
More tomorrow
Conrad
Leg position: 5th
Speed: supersonic
Blue Miles covered: 74
August 19th, 2009
Downwind start at 05:10 in the morning in good windspeed and the F18 flying over the waves: that’s the raid. Team Blue made the best start off Ekerö on the right side of the line near the Comitee boat, closely followed by Audi and Garmin. Audio Network and the Nieminen Brothers onboard Ursuit made it right with good speed. Further right Swe 43 reached tremendous speed. While most of the fleet was flying in 20 knots, the Finnish-Kiwi boat Bohica was unfortunately dismasted in the middle of the course, but managed to get back on track. A few minutes later Audi capzized and lost the gains they made on the start.
At the first 3 minutes Check Point on Degersand beach Garmin took the lead, followed by Thule, Audio Network, Blue Marine and Swe 43. The 3 minutes checkpoint is nerve breaking for the sailors who have to stop for only 180 seconds before running back to their catamarans.
Date: 2009-08-19 06:03:38
August 18th, 2009
Night arrivals on day 1 and a lot of paddling on day 2.
Yesterday we left Stockholm with around 10-12 knots of wind heading north east for the nature reserve on the eastern side of Bjorko. There were 5 checkpoints before the finish. As the breeze died, the paddles came out and the slow progress caused the race to be shortened at checkpoint 5. The leaders crossed the line just before midnight with many of the fleet spread across the Swedish archipelago.
Day 2
An 4am start was delayed until 8am to allow time for the wind to fill in. With most of the teams still feeling the effect of the late arrival a large number of the boats were late for the start, including us.
We never really recovered, the late start meant that we were playing catch up for the crossing to Aland and with a dying breeze the back markers were left with a 10 mile paddle.
The good news is that the second leg has been postponed due to bad weather so we can catch up on some sleep tonight and start fresh at 3am tomorrow morning.
Cheers
Conrad
Leg position: 14th
Blue Miles covered: 72 miles
August 18th, 2009
18.08.09 – Day 2 of the Archipelago Raid
09:54:43 hrs
The start of leg 2 went underway at 08.45 this morning. The fleet has started their crossing of Ålands Sea towards Ekerö from head quarter 1 at Arsläjan on Arholma. With a westerly breeze of 4 knots the teams got a light wind start. The wind will turn east during the day and therefore the fleet is headed directly towards Ekerö to sail the northerly route around Åland island towards Finland. A happy crew on board Team Audio Network British Sunnucks/Farren won leg 1. An interview with team Audio Network can be found under Audio. Last team to arrive to Arsläjan was Team Piano at 02.20 am, literally living up to their name. The race management let the teams get some sleep and delayed the start until 08.45 this morning, due to that the last team came in early this morning. The teams had to be towed from checkpoint 5 to head quarter Arsläjan due to no wind after 22.00. Rudder problems were reported from the Italian team yesterday but nothing they couldn’t fix. Severe damage came upon Team FG Porsche while they hit a rock in the night. The dagger board opened the hull with the result of a lot of water filling the hull. While they were towed in the night they almost sank and they realized early this morning at Arsläjan that the damage was too big to repair without professional help. Team FG Porsche has therefore decided to withdraw from the competition. Still 25 teams in the race – stay tuned!
After a day of racing, Conrad Humphreys and Ryan Crawford onboard Team Blue are in 12th place on the results table.
www.archipelagoraid.com
August 17th, 2009
Nice banter during breakfast, everyone has their own ideas about what spares to take. The mood is upbeat as crews tuck into the last proper breakfast. The next 6 days the diet will be power bars and lucozade gels.
The weather forecast is for the wind to die and I suspect we will have a long paddle to Fejan. It could be a long one! After that it’s anyone’s guess, the race organizers are keen for to go north of Aland which would put us over 60 degrees north, better pack some more thermals.
Ryan Crawford said
“woke to the sound of rain on the tent and breeze, now there’s nothing. Not looking forward to paddling on day 1!”
Daily blog, images and tweets live from Conrad Humphreys during the Archipelago Raid starting from Monday 17th August 2009.
For more indepth visit
www.conradhumphreys.com
Folllow tweets
www.twitter.com/conradhumphreys
Follow the race
www.archipelagoraid.com
Leg position:
Speed:
Blue Miles covered:
August 14th, 2009
14.08.09 The deadline for teams arrival into Stockholm was today with the quiet island of Lindingo bustling with F18 sailors rigging boats and making final preparations. In every corner of the boat part, there was the familiar sounds of drilling and sanding as the normal race specked F18′s are beefed up for 5 days of hard sailing in the Archipelago.
There’s a great atmosphere between the sailors that come from all over Europe to race in this great adventure. A quick glance down the entry list and you will see sailors from Sweden, UK, Finland, Switzerland, France, Italy, Belgium, Norway, New Zealand, USA.
Weather looks wet again for tomorrow and Sunday with a low forming over Sweden, which could bring some gusty conditions for Sunday. Tomorrow Conrad and Ryan plan to get a few hours sailing in the afternoon as the boats feel heavy and slow at the start so it will be good to get on the water for a shake down.
August 13th, 2009
13.08.09 Great to finally arrive in Stockholm, we are in good shape with no big jobs list and time to enjoy the City and surroundings. It’s been a busy few months with the media launch of the Blue Mile which was a great success and so nice to see so many Blue ambassadors together for the launch. Pre-registration has gone well and what is really pleasing is the number of schools who want to get involved. We will be announcing more details in September so make sure you register for updates at www.thebluemile.org
Nice to see Tonnerre have a good Fastnet and also Sam Davies and team getting the most out of AOR. It would have been nice to take up the call to navigate Tonnerre, but with a light forecast it was too tight with the Raid.
So tomorrow we will get rigged out on the water for a tune up. We spend the next few days fattening up and getting plenty of sleep. Nice to see so many Brits here, maybe it’s time someone organized a UK Raid?
Cheers
Conrad
August 9th, 2009
09.08.09 The anniversary of the tragic 1979 Fastnet is fresh in peoples minds with over 300 yachts setting sail in one of the world’s classic offshore races.
The sailors starting this race are unlikely to have any big surprises as the equipment onboard most of the yachts give them access to accurate forecasts.
With light winds forecast for the start, tactically the fleet will try to get a little offshore where the wind is forecast to be a bit stronger. The leaders will look to tack back towards Start Point as the breeze shifts into the west and builds.
After a beat across the Irish Sea, the lead boats will be looking to round the Rock early Tuesday morning and will enjoy a pleasant ride back with a following breeze.
ETA for the lead boats currently Wednesday morning unless the high pressure takes a grip.
