Quote:
Originally Posted by Black_Tornado
Fantastic pics as usual my Doctor!!!! 
 I try to understand; you was at Portland Bill then boat with the bow on the left means that returns from Torquay? In the background, then there is the Lyme Bay?
Boat with the bow on the right is the path forward towards Torquay? |
Quite correct Marco.The pics don`t really show the enormity of the seas running in Lyme Bay in that sort of wind.
I often wonder if there was a webcam looking out from Portland that was beamed back to the giant screen at Cowes,then a lot of competitors would be thinking,bugger that for a game of soldiers.
Many boats that have already had a bad enough crossing of Poole and Weymouth Bay head for the shelter of the Isle of Portland,come round the Bill and are confronted by an absolute horizon of breaking seas and foam,and think wev`e just been through hell and now this.
That`s what makes it the world`s greatest race and the challenge should be preserved for all those involved,competitors and spectators.
There was quite a crowd at Portland to witness it,and fortunately the weather was such to bring the majority of the fleet close inshore,but on a calm day,the run to Torquay could well have had the boats running well out to sea,so a mark is badly needed in Weymouth Bay to keep the spectacle and tradition alive for the onlookers at the Bill.
Apparently at Anvil the fleet was split,with Powerboat Asia leading one group out to sea on the direct line,while Red FPT led the majority inshore,so the die was cast there and then.
The race chopper went as far as Portland,landed at just North of the Bill and took off again once Red FPT was sighted past Bridport,and followed him back,so no footage in the horrendous Lyme Bay (which I can understand with costs being so high).
I observe with interest the other pics taken at Hurst,where with less of a sea and more boat speed the props are quite often displayed,as was the case at Anvil with sheltered wind,whereas at Portland the sea was so bad as to force the boats to climb the waves and fall into throughs,so it makes for a different sort of snap.
I wonder how long we shall have to wait for another rough classic like that.
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