Exciting Start but No Go Zone Entered

After an exciting start yesterday evening in strong NW winds and moderate to rough seas the fleet has had some fast sailing overnight.

Dar Mlodziezy (Poland) and Mir (Russia) have averaged over ten knots since the start and are leading the fleet having just rounded waypoint 1 which is 45 miles off Cape St Vincent.

It has been reported that one of the vessels taking part in Race 2 entered the ‘no go zone’ at the start line yesterday which leaves the Race Committee with little choice other than

to consider giving her a standard time penalty which would mean adding

2.5hours to her elapsed time. The vessel will not be named until the Race Committee has discussed with the Captain when in Cadiz. 

The Class A race is currently being lead by Polish vessel Dar Mlodziezy, closely followed by Mir a couple of miles behind. Fryderyk Chopin (Poland) is in third place approximately 22 miles behind the leaders.

In Class B, UK vessel Johanna Lucretia is leading the race with Rupel (Belgium) in second place followed by Maybe (UK) in third.

Winner of Class C in Race 1, Polish vessel Dar Szczecina, is currently leading followed by a local Lisbon vessel in second position, Vela Nautica II.  St Iv (Estonia) is in and in third position.

Lithuanian vessel, Lietuva is leading Class D followed by Tomidi (Belgium) and Urania (Netherlands).

Looking ahead to phase two of Race 2, the fleet will sail into light winds as they head towards Cadiz which will require some very challenging and tactical decisions.

Register to Follow the Fleet for live tracking (updated hourly) or for a

list of the official interim results which are updated twice a day, CLICK HERE 

The Tall Ships Races 2012, Presented by Szczecin and organised by Sail Training International is taking place in the following host ports: 

St Malo – Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 July (race start Monday 9 July)

Lisbon – Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 July

Cadiz – Thursday 26 to Sunday 29 July

La Coruí±a – Friday 10 to Monday 13 August

Dublin – Thursday 23 to Sunday 26 August

Behind the scenes insights on Twitter @tallshipsraces and Facebook