NEWPORT, R.I. — To say that Aegir is advancing at a snail’s pace towards the finish line of the Transatlantic Race 2019 might be an insult to snails. After all, the world’s fastest snail has been clocked at .0085 kilometers/hour. Aegir is, of course, sailing faster than that, but race watchers would be hard pressed to realize that fact watching the boat’s snail trail on the YB Race Tracker.
At today’s 1400 position report, Clarke Murphy and the crew of the 82-footer Aegir were some 60 nautical miles from the finish line in Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. Since 0030 UTC last night, Aegir had covered just 60 nautical miles, stuck in the middle of the English Channel looking for wind.
“With high pressure dominating, overnight there was virtually zero wind on the northern side of the western English Channel,” said Aegir navigator Mike Broughton. “We took a dive southeast towards Guernsey which seemed to work pretty well and kept us in an average of 7 knots of wind. It was a busy night close to the shipping channels.”
Aegir has favorable current until slightly past 1600 UTC and then will have about seven hours of adverse current until about 2330 UTC before the current turns favorable again.
NEWPORT, R.I. — Like an immovable bouncer barring entry to the English Channel nightclub, the giant ridge, or zone of high pressure, continues to define this latter half of the Transatlantic Race 2019.
While the center of this huge “bubble” of light winds has retraced south gradually, its reach still extends north into the Celtic Sea (between Cornwall and southern Ireland). The latest forecasts show little prospect of it shrinking further south before the boats reach the Western Approaches.
Thus, for the next wave of boats that have spent the last week skirting the perimeter of the high, there is now no option: They must cross the high and accept a frustrating, but inevitable, down-turn in speed.
“Ordeal by ridge” has been the case since late last week for Clarke Murphy’s Rogers 82 Aegir (at right). Only this morning is the crew on board feeling some reprieve as not only are they through to the east side of it but have also “made land.”
Read more: July 8 Update: Swallowed Up in Celtic Sea Parking Lot
COWES, England – In the early hours this morning, British time, a familiar VO70 shape ghosted across a pitch-black Royal Yacht Squadron finish line off Cowes, Isle of Wight. David and Peter Askew’s Wizard arrived home second in the Transatlantic Race 2019 at 00:31 UTC with an elapsed time of 10 days, 9 hours, 1 minute and 42 seconds.
The Wizard crew included owners David (Park City, Utah) and Peter Askew (Riderwood, Md.), Richard Clarke (Salt Spring, Canada), Charlie Enright (Barrington, R.I.), Joe Faneli (Middletown, R.I.), Rob Greenhalgh (Sydney, Australia), Phil Harmer (Bishops Waltham, U.K.), boat captain Chris Maxted (Newport, R.I.), navigator Will Oxley (Castle Hill, Australia), Mark Towill (Honolulu, Hi.), John Von Schwarz (Charleston, S.C.) and Mitch White (Sydney, Australia).
Wizard and her crew have great pedigree, their steed being Franck Cammas’ 2011-’12 Volvo Ocean Race winner Groupama 4. Since acquiring her in 2017 for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, they have won the 2018 Newport-Bermuda Race and earlier this year the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Caribbean 600. Of the two finishers so far, the American VO70 is the present leader under IRC corrected time.
Read more: July 6 Update: Wizard Transitions to Waiting Game for Transatlantic Race 2019
David and Peter Askew’s VO70 Wizard was second boat to finish the Transatlantic Race 2019 this evening. Wizard completed the 2,970 nautical mile race in Cowes on July 6 at 0031:42 UTC for an elapsed time of 10 days, 9 hours, 1 minute and 42 seconds. Wizard finished some 6 hours and 48 minutes after the 100-foot maxi SHK Scallywag.
The Wizard crew included David (Park City, Utah) and Peter Askew (Riderwood, Md.), Richard Clarke (Salt Spring, Canada), Charlie Enright (Barrington, R.I.), Joe Faneli (Middletown, R.I.), Rob Greenhalgh (Sydney, Australia), Phil Harmer (Bishops Waltham, U.K.), Chris Maxted (Newport, R.I.), Will Oxley (Castle Hill, Australia), Mark Towill (Honolulu, Hi.), John Von Schwarz (Charleston, S.C.), Mitch White (Sydney, Australia)
Wizard is guaranteed to defeat SHK Scallywag on corrected time to win IRC 1 and is in contention for the overall victory, although that decision won’t come for a few more days as more than 10 boats are still on the racecourse and Wizard owes all of them time allowance.
“Of course, it would mean a lot to all of us—David and Peter really bought into this—if we won overall honors,” said Enright, the sailing master. “We probably sailed at 90 to 95 percent of our potential. There’s really not a lot that we left on the table. Huge credit goes to navigator Will Oxley, who did a fantastic job, especially picking our way through the Gulf Stream, and to Chris Maxted, our boat captain. We had few technical issues in this race.”
COWES, England – Lee Seng Huang's 100-foot maxi SHK Scallywag entered the history books today by winning line honors in the Transatlantic Race 2019. This accolade continues a prestigious, ancient lineage started by James Gordon Bennett Jr.’s Henrietta in 1866 and since including Charlie Barr on Wilson Marshall’s record setting three-masted schooner Atlantic in 1905 to a century later, Robert Miller’s Mari Cha IV, winner of the Rolex Transatlantic Race in 2005. The New York Yacht Club organized the first race in 1866 and this year was joined by the Royal Yacht Squadron, Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Storm Trysail Club.
The Andy Dovell-designed maxi crossed the Royal Yacht Squadron line off Cowes this afternoon at 17:43:19 UTC in a passage time of 10 days, 2 hours, 13 minutes and 19 seconds. Skippered by David Witt, the Australian now living in Hong Kong, SHK Scallywag’s crew included Anniemeike Bes (Haarlem, the Netherlands), Lucas Chapman (The Junction, Australia), Tom Clout (Sydney, Australia), Nick Crones (Sydney, Australia), Pete Cumming (Warsash, U.K.), Ian Flemming (Hong Kong), Ferdinand Galleta (Bauang, Philippines), Alex Gough (Brisbane, Australia), Jack Mcartney (Paddington, Australia), Ben Piggott (Thirrol, Australia), Trystan Seal (Cilcennin, Wales), Miles Seddon (Lymington, U.K.) and Charlie Wyatt (Brisbane, Australia).
Read more: July 5 Update: SHK Scallywag Wins Transatlantic Race 2019 Line Honors
- July 5 Update: SHK Scallywag in Final Throes of Transatlantic Race 2019
- July 4 Update: Weather Comes Good for Tailenders
- July 3 Update: Transatlantic Race 2019 Features Match Races Throughout Fleet
- July 2 Update: Transatlantic Race 2019 Leaders Setting Up to Slow Down
- July 1 Update: Wizard Posts 492NM in 24 Hours in Transatlantic Race 2019
- June 30 Update: Transatlantic Race 2019 Fleet in Too Much Wind or Not Enough
- June 29 Update: SHK Scallywag Overtakes Wizard as Both Speed Along at 23 Knots
- June 28 Update: Transatlantic Race 2019 Fleet Continues Upwind Slog
- June 27 Update: Transatlantic Race 2019 Fleet Contending with Light Patches and Gulf Stream
- June 26 Update: Transatlantic Race 2019 Comes Off as Straightforward as Possible
- June 25 Update: Stormy First Night Ahead for Transatlantic Race 2019 Fleet
- Askew Brothers Hope to Conjure Transatlantic Race 2019 Victory with Wizard
- Potts, Carina Line Up as Only Three-Time Entrant for Transatlantic Race 2019
- Super Maxi SHK Scallywag Sets Sights on Line Honors Trophy
- Teasing Machine Crew Means Business at Transatlantic Race 2019
- Well Traveled Pata Negra Looks Toward Yet Another Big Adventure in Transatlantic Race 2019
- Nakajima's Hiro Maru Lends Historical Adornment to Transatlantic Race 2019
- Round-the-World Veteran to Take The Kid Transatlantic in TR2019
- Prospector Team Digs in For a Second Go at Transatlantic Race
- Mele's Offshore Evolution to Continue at Transatlantic Race 2019
- Antigua Bermuda Race selected for Atlantic Ocean Racing Series
- Transatlantic Race 2019 Fleet Growing Steadily As Early Entry Deadline Approaches
- Prospector Team To Mine for More Golden Moments in Transatlantic Race 2019
- One Great Challenge, One Great Start for Transatlantic Race 2019
- Transatlantic Race 2015 Now in the History Books
- Day 19 Race Report: Curtain Closes on Transatlantic Race 2015
- Day 18 Race Report: Lucky Claims Top Honors in Transatlantic Race 2015
- Cowes Social Events
- Day 17 Race Report: Further Podium Positions Decided
- Day 16 Race Report: 60 Knot Winds, Record Boat Speeds and an Outstanding Classic
- Day 15 Race Report: The Fast and the Furious Reach The Lizard
- Day 14 Race Report: Top Results for Germany
- Day 13 Race Report: War Stories of the Giants, Comanche Sets New 24 Hour Record
- Day 12 Race Report: Line Honors and Bragging Rights for Lucky
- Day 11 Race Report: Tricky Finish Ahead for Lucky
- Day 10 Race Report: Storm-Force Winds in the Mid-Atlantic
- Day 9 Race Report: Gales and Flat Calms in the Atlantic
- Day 8 Race Report: Stop-Start Transatlantic Race
- Third Start Report: Final Four Make Lasting Impression
- Day 7 Report: Halfway Back to the Old Country
- Day 6 Report: From the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave
- Day 5 Report: Next Stop Europe
- Final Start: Third Time’s a Charm
- Day 4 Race Report: Second Time Lucky
- The Largest Group is On its Way
- Day 3 Race Report: Bigger is Better
- Second of Three Starts: Age is Just a Number
- Day 2 Race Report: Two Schools of Thought
- Day 1 Race Report: Stomach-Churning Opening Night
- First of Three Starts: Off and Running!