Challenge Stu

Let's be clear from the start - the Three Peaks Yacht Race is a bizarre event. Many aspects of it just would be very different if you designed the race today, but then you probably wouldn't do that anyway. It's a wonderful event, run by a group of really dedicated and hardworking organisers, but it's a serious undertaking: It's a long way, there isn't much sleep to be had, and if you're not standing on the walls and hanging on while using the toilet, you're going slowly. And if you're going slowly, you're about to be rowing. That all makes it sound like it's not fun, but that isn't true: It's amazing fun! This year I was racing with skipper Paul Jackson (father in law), navigator Nick Ridgeway, sailor Craig Williamson, and running with Dave Robinette. This was the team assembled for the 2020 race which finally took place last week. We were racing as many times before on Wild Spirit. WS is a very solid and pretty heavy boat and really ...

Last year's 3PYR was a memorable one: Particular parts that have stayed with me in the intervening months are: The time spent on sandbanks, and one particular sandbank which we shared (in close proximity!) with two other boats in the middle of the night The slow progress and eventual triumph of our passage through the Menai Straits Completing Ben Nevis with a sailor rather than a runner Not really winning any trophies! Those who are familiar with this race will know that 1, 2 and 3 are very regular occurrences, but point 4 is very rare... There really are plenty of trophies available! Well, this year everything changed: We didn't hit even one sandbank, we didn't go through the Menai Straits, we didn't go to the top of Ben Nevis, and we won loads of trophies (this pleases the skipper)! As last year I will try to tell the story primarily with photos, and I apologise if I have ordered things incorrectly as I tend to do this after multi-day events... - ...