Pegasus in Race 2

The Skipper writes:
"This one came from Sail Training International at Race Control.

Taken shortly after the start it shows us in full cry. We had already passed the rest of our fleet and after this photo was taken, we rolled over Astrid Finne, the white boat to the left and put them in their box for the rest of the race. Helena, the schooner in the background, finished before us but was unable to save her time and we beat them after time correction."

Message from Bornholm

The skipper writes: 10:28 BST 6 Aug 2009
"We are having a little r and r on the Danish island of Bornholm before setting off the Holtenau in Germany tomorrow. The breeze looks good and weather fair for an overnighter in on Saturday evening.
The crew are planning to hire bikes this afternoon and cycle around the island and this morning have been invited to climb the rigging of the square rigged Lord Nelson, also here for the day. Wayne and Phil already did this in St Petersberg so the others are keen. Wayne is going again but this time with his injured foot (acquired during football tournament in Klaipeda). Fortunately Lord Nelson is designed and equipped to deal with sailors with physical disabilities so he should be fine! The sun beats down and Josh is working up some relaxed jazz on the saxophone he brought. Just nice......"

Photo from the Baltic

This photo just arrived from Diggory. It shows the Pegasus with various of the crew.

"The photo was taken from Black Diamond shortly before we all plunged into the fog! It shows us during the cruise in company which is why the tops'l is not set."
That must have been on the way into Helsinki.

Starting the journey back

The skipper writes:

And so the race is over. Our trophy is safely stowed and the fleet is dispersing back to the corners of the globe from which it assembled and for the first time in a long while the VHF is silent. No more "Sharki", no more "Roald Amundsen", no more "Race Control".

We have a gentle North Easterly and we are undersail, the engine is on tickover because for now at least, the tops'l remains firmly in its bag! We are catching up with our sleep and I hope this will reach you as we skirt the coast of Bornholm on our way west. We might call there but it would be a shame to waste this favourable breeze with so far still to go.

The race forecast of light winds from forward of the beam was always going to suit Pegasus with relation to the others in our class but from the start we established a good lead on corrected time and built on it all through the race.
"Helena", the only boat in our class that actually fininshed before us, is a great big schooner and very able in the light airs but her time correction factor was her downfall. Well done to them and especially to Knut and his crew aboard
"Gratitude". We stayed ahead of them for the whole race but that did well in the light airs. "Gratitude" is a Brixham Trawler in Swedish hands so class B had a Devon 1/2! Very happy.
Thank you Knut too for the lovely celebration in the snug crew cabin aboard, the Gin and Tonic was perfect if a little warm! Bye bye for now but sometimes you know when you have made a freind for life.
We have had some crew changes as I have already reported and it is with some reflection that we say goodbye for now to Captain Clare, Marko and the "Lord Nelson" gang, to Magda, Martha and "Sharki" and really well done!, Wojciech and "Queenian", Henk and "Ebb Tide" and Frank and Joost with "Jacob Meindert". "Rupel" must not go unmentioned, thanks for the champaigne! We will see you all next time! 7ft of water under your keels.... Thank you too to Veronika, our crazy Canadian/Lithuanian Liason Officer. She did so much for us! Ask the lads........
Thank you too to Halvor from "Christian Radich" and Marcus from "Statsraad Lehmkul", both captains so complimentry about Pegasus as she skipped lightly around these two sailing giants. It was a pleasure and honour to have you onboard in Klaipeda.

Amy left her mark in that city forever leaving behind a cast of her footprint to be set in bronze in the port (Klaipeda means "clay foot"). Go and see it sometime, it's a lovely place.

And so the long trip home has started and we will retrace our steps through the Kiel Canal. Our plan is to explore a little in this part of the world but there will be time to share more experiences in the coming weeks.....

Diggory
{received 00:12 5/Aug/2009}

Pictures from Klaipeda

This picture shows Amy and Diggory with Ben, Matty, Daryl and Wayne, holding their trophy.
Missing from this picture are Vanessa, Claire, Barry and Phil.

This is the trophy:

Leaving Klaipeda

The Skipper writes: Monday 3rd Aug, 10:40 BST "Just leaving for Bornholm. Will send a more extensive entry from there. We have said goodbye to Vanessa, Claire and Barry and hello to Josh."

Note: Vanessa was with the boat from Portsmouth. Claire joined for the second race leg. Barry was also on from Portsmouth and is travelling back to continue with his application to join the Fire Service.