TeamSnell Successfully Completes Cervantes Trophy, 200 Nautical Miles Left to Qualify for the RORC Rolex 2013 Fastnet

May 6, 2013 by  

FastnetLogo2013At 22:32 pm local time on Saturday 4th May TeamSnell crossed the Cervantes Trophy finish line at the entrance to Le Havre harbour. This gave TeamSnell its critical first 100 nautical miles towards a total of 300 that TeamSnell has to achieve in offshore races this summer to qualify for the RORC Rolex Fastnet 2013 race in August this year.

Organised by RORC, in association with the Société des Régates du Havre and the Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS), the Cervantes Trophy race kicked off on Saturday 4th May from the RYS line taking the fleet across the channel to finish in Le Havre.

In strong thirty knot (Beaufort Force 7) winds TeamSnell, racing its’ Beneteau First 40.7 yacht Parallel Blue, had a good start and kept pace with the other 16 yachts in IRC Class II. The total entry comprised of 104 yachts with competitors from Belgium, Britain, France, The Netherlands and Russia.

TeamSnellTeamSnell with its Anglo Canadian Dutch crew was at a disadvantage from the start with the unexpected absence at the last minute of two of its key crew members. Dutch bowman, Jan Meijer, experienced logistical difficulties traveling from Amsterdam and the mainsail trimmer, Peter Buckley, fell ill on the eve of the race with suspected food poisoning. Despite this, and the rough sea state  which had several crew members succumbing to severe sea sickness, TeamSnell completed the race in just over 12 hours finishing mid-class.

Watch leader and downwind helmsman Jeremy Millar, a former Canadian Olympic sailing team trialist commented: “this was an awesome first race for TeamSnell in challenging conditions. Our training to date has paid off and the team is really starting to work well together. Its a great base for all our crew and Skipper Ivan Snell. I am convinced we will do even better in the next qualification race at the end of May.”

 Read more about the RORC Rolex Fastnet 2013

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