Day Five : Crew change onboard Scarlet Oyster for day five of racing
The crew onboard Scarlet Oyster changed today as six young adults joined The Ellen MacArthur Trust racing in Class 5 IRC for Skandia Cowes Week 2007.
The new crew have been getting to grips with the 48-foot monohull in a class of 54 other boats, racing at one of the largest and oldest sailing regattas in the world. The young crew aged between 14 - 16 joined the boat yesterday afternoon and took her out for a sail in order to get some practice in before racing today. One of the crew Daniel noted how empty The Solent looked when racing had finished, "Once all the boats are back in form racing The Solent just looks huge, it's amazing how small it can feel when you are out there racing with 982 other boats in the regatta".
Conditions today were good as they set out with a 12 - 15 knot breeze that lasted through the race, all the new crew tried their hand at helming making the most of the good weather and some solid downwind sailing on the course. Rebecca (15) took to the water for her first time sailing, which was quite a baptism of fire, yet by lunchtime, she was helming the boat as if she had been sailing for years!
Just past Elephant Buoy (near Newtown Creek) there was a small traffic jam as several boats crashed into one another calling protests from the sailors, whilst the boats debated the cause of the issue, it was a perfect opportunity for Scarlet Oyster to sail pass and gain several places within the fleet.
Whilst crew onboard Scarlet Oyster have gained themselves quite a reputation on the water for starting various water fights with the other boats in their class, it seems that they are now becoming the target of other boats who have cottoned onto their tactics and invested in water bombs of their own. The tables turned today as one boat in particular took aim at Scarlet Oyster and her crew, with a direct hit for everyone onboard. As a result the crew from The Trust have invested in a fresh stock of waterbombs and are looking for some revenge out on the water tomorrow, other boats of Class 5 IRC you have been warned!
On Land
The Ellen MacArthur Trust stand is back on Cowes Parade, it features a state of the art sailing simulator which Trust patrons Ellen MacArthur and Shirley Robertson have set their own personal times for people to beat, tickets for The Southampton and London Boat show will be awarded each day for the top times.
This year The Trust has joined forces with Island-based skincare specialists and Skandia Cowes Week skincare sponsor Liz Earle. Ellen MacArthur Trust lanyards with Liz Earle sunscreen SPF 25 are available to buy from the stand for £5.00 with all proceeds kindly donated to The Trust. Raffle tickets will also be on sale with the chance to sail onboard one of the most exciting boats racing at this year’s regatta, the Extreme 40. At 40-foot long, these lightweight carbon fibre catamarans can reach exhilarating speeds of up to 40 knots (just under 50 miles per hour). For more information visit The Ellen MacArthur Trust stand located on Cowes Parade, open from 10am until 8pm each day,
Text To Win Competition
To celebrate our second year as official charity of Skandia Cowes week we have teamed up with Corum Swiss Timepieces with a new “Text to Win” competition, with the chance to win a Corum Swiss Timepiece worth £3,695.
Question: Where does Skandia Cowes Week take place?
1. London 2. Cowes 3. New York
Text the word EMT followed by a space and the number 1, 2, or 3 and send to 80806. (E.g. EMT 1 or EMT 2 or EMT 3 to 80806) (entry costs £3 (2 x £1.50 texts) plus your usual network charges. The Ellen MacArthur Trust receives £1.28p from each entry), for full terms and conditions please see the website http://www.ellenmacarthurtrust.org
For further information about Skandia Cowes Week, log onto: www.skandiacowesweek.co.uk
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