Ballytrim - Ballytrim final day 25/25th May 2014

Our final few days of the rally proved to be very exciting indeed.We were sailing on our fastest point of sail, a beam reach, and the occasional fetch. Ballytrim just loves these points of sail and she excelled - almost continuously surfing above her hull speed. We felt privileged and somewhat awe inspired by the performance. It was almost as if we were in charge of a horse that had sensed its stables were nearby and it was up and galloping - heading for home...... It was very impressive for us all to be part of this finale.Much of the time we had dolphins for company: All sorts of shapes and sizes. Some playing tricks with each other, whilst others simulated displays like the Red Arrows, darting in from opposite directions - seemingly to collide, but somehow avoiding each other. They. read more...

Ballytrim - Ballytrim Day 11 23rd to 24th May 2014

Noon 23rd to noon 24th- 198 nautical miles travelled. ( equals the record from the last leg to Bermuda).The last 24 hours has seen some hard work go into maintaining speed and attempting to 'open the gap' between ourselves and the other yachts around us. The effort put in by the boys appears to have paid and we have for our second day in a row exceeded 190 miles in 24 hours. Well down the team ...... Its an achievement in itself, to gain the miles we have, but more so because the seas/wave patterns are often at variance with the wind direction which adds to the challenge of making the boat steer in the right direction. Surfing down a wave in pitch black does make for an exciting time!This morning was fun. It was Tony's birthday, so the watch before he got up blew up balloons and. read more...

Ballytrim - Ballytrim Day 8 21/5//2104

We have been 'charging along all day', often making 8+ knots and having to reduce sail to keep down the stress and strain on the yacht...... The enthusiasm to do well is infectious, so on my part there's also a certain amount of restraint/restraining going on so we don't stretch ourselves too soon. There's several days to go yet and we need to keep fit healthy and alert. So far I can say all of that's working and the team spirit remains as high spirited as ever!!!!!! ( that's lots of banter and 'Mickey taking'. ) One of our group has become known as "Velcro" - because he seems to be stuck and unable to get out of bed!!! Who do we think that is?Last of the fruit was eaten today, and the last of the fresh bread yesterday. Laurie, our youngest crew member keeps whistling for wind, as he is. read more...

Ballytrim - Ballytrim Day 7 19/20th May 2014

169 miles sailed between noon 19th and noon 20th May.Its not so easy to describe the highs and lows of sailing, as they ( I hope you'll forgive the pun ) drift in and out with changing circumstances way beyond our control. Yesterday for example, we had a plan of where to aim for and the wind was supposed to change in our favour. We stuck to the plan and sailed our 'pants off' ( more on that point - of anatomy later) but woke this morning to a totally changed picture. Here is our story for the last 24 hours.......Our 'boat time' is between 1200 and 1400 daily, unless I decide to remove an hour because we are sailing East and are gradually 'losing time' against UTC (threats GMT in the UK). On 18th we 'lost an hour to -2 UTC and on 22nd we will lose another hour to -1 UTC: ( blooming. read more...

Ballytrim - Day 6 19/5/14 Ballytrim

Hi All,Every thing goes well over the past 24 hours. Despite the sea still being confused and the wave direction at variance with the wind, we have made excellent progress. ( Its not so easy to make good speed when the wave direction is different to the wind direction - you get short choppy seas and the hull of the yacht bashes its way through the waves, rather than cuts though or glides down them!). We were very pleased to make 160 miles between noon 18th and 19th May.Regretfully our progress was not in a direct line with our destination Faial (Horta) in The Azores! This seems to be our way for most of the journey: we have had to divert a hundred miles to avoid wind and now we are having to do the same, in a totally different direction but to find wind this time!! Such is the life of a. read more...