Round Britain sum up

[Adam]

It was a really sad day for me in Plymouth - watching everyone pack-up and head of to Milford Haven - such a great spirit between all the competitors and unlike any other racing, just knew we were going to miss out on a great adventure!

Really enjoyed my one leg of the race and met so many friends, old and new. Saw and read about some great performances and so pleased for so many people who achieved so much and often against the odds.

Hopefully this will lead to some other great events in the future.....

 

[Jon Fuller]

For the record

Here's a few pics of the first ballancer to fail, on the way out of Bangor.

damage to oil pump by slapping outer pulley

mating damage to back face of pulley

the two halves

 

[ciao!]

Quite!!

I felt for you in Plymouth when you said "I've broken my driver and he wants to quit".

Would have been nice if he'd said, "I can't go on, can you find someone else to run with you".

As far as penalties go, my personal opinion is, there was far too much dishing out of this stuff (across the board) and it really isn't in the spirit of this kind of event. Also, the OOD lied to me, was totaly unhelpful and I got the impression he just wanted an easy time and our issue was too much agg. A miserable old sod. ho hum. I'm always sadened when the sport becomes a game of chess tween officials and competitors with one trying to outsmart the other, rather than an offshore race. Communication would make a world of difference.

Stewart said it was his last OOD-ship, never mind.

IMHO I think some teams had lawyers on board -

Stewart is an old fashioned ex-racer / OOD and had no idea of the weird protests that would happen.

Had FB got his boat together he wanted 2 hours cut off his overall time for hitting the submarine barrier!

Thank goodness we didn't have that protest.

JF's team raced the race, treated it with the right attitude and spirit.

Perhaps when the nights draw in I will post my thoughts on other teams.

 

[Mrs Smillie]

Rb08

Hi

Just like to tell you of our experience in the RB08. As most of you may know 558 spent alot of time on the trailer but the crew NEVER gave up. Myself and kids followed them all over the UK and also spent days in places that where not on the route. Since we have been back Eric and Co have worked on the boat to sort out problems and hopefully they may be ready for CTC. I cant say too much as i am no engineer. Just to say even though we had problems on the way round we all had a great time even though my poor old car done around 3000 miles but survived. When 558 was going it went and looked great. So hopefully we will see the other competitors in August.

Thanks

Claire