MOD 70 Musandam-Oman Sail, skippered by Frenchman Sidney Gavignet, is now over 40 miles ahead of the Volvo 65 fleet and has averaged an astonishing 27 knots since the start. At that speed, Musandam-Oman Sail will finish the race in 2 days and 18 hours, smashing the race and course record.

The leading monohulls are a trio of Volvo 65s: Team Campos (ESP), skippered by Iker Martinez, holds a slender lead from Azzam (UAE), skippered by Britain's Ian Walker and Dongfeng (CHI), skippered by Frenchman Charles Caudrelier.

The race leader overall under IRC is Andrew Budgen and Fred Schwyn's Volvo 70, Monster Project, having pulled out an 8 mile advantage on the water from Brian Thompson's IMOCA 60, Artemis - Team Endeavour. Brian Thompson contacted the race team at 1230 BST this afternoon; the Vendée Globe winner and solo round the world expert is not prone to exaggeration.

"Blasting past Beachy Head in sight of all the Volvos, Monster Project is just ahead. Musandam-Oman Sail was quite a sight blasting past us. We were happy to be first boat through the Forts and out of the Solent. Lots of water on deck - so much that two of our life jackets self inflated!"

With wind reports of over well over 30 knots the fleet in the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race are eating up the miles. Big conditions are expected in the North Sea tonight, with high winds and a significant sea sate affecting the progress of the entire fleet. Currently the North Sea is experiencing wind speeds in excess of 40 knots from the south west. There is a significant sea state emanating from the Norwegian coast with waves as high as 8 metres. It is likely that the majority of the fleet will hug the eastern coast of the United Kingdom. However, inshore oil rig platforms and sand banks will pose navigational problems.

Cowes resident Jonny Malbon was the skipper of Artemis Ocean Racing, the overall winner of the 2010 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race. Jonny is racing on Class40, Concise 8, and sent this video back from on board:

See Video

Girls in the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race

Volvo 65 Focus: SCA - Abby Ehler

Abby Ehler was born in Plymouth and is no stranger to the Volvo Ocean Race. She was part of Amer Sports Too, the last all-female entry in the race. Abby spoke to the Royal Ocean Racing Club by satellite phone as the Volvo 65 SCA was hurtling past Dover.
 
"After training for over a year, it's pretty awesome to be lined up against so many other teams. It has been a heavy weather start, we have just gybed and we are back up to 25 knots, so it's very exciting right now. It's like being in a washing machine on a roller-coaster, the noise is pretty deafening and most of the time it is hard to hear each other but it is exhilarating. It was what we want and it will be like this in the Volvo Ocean Race- it's what it's all about. We are expecting a real tough first night with a lot of wind and obviously we are a bit nervous and anxious about what lies ahead but it is all about getting the basics right and sailing the boat safely. It is pretty wet and wild at the moment but we are expecting the worst of the weather tonight."

IRC Two Focus: Scarlet Logic - Helen Liddell

Scandinavian by birth, Helen Liddell lives between the UK and Thailand. Her partner David regularly takes part in the King's Cup and raced in the 2009 Rolex Fastnet Race. Helen wanted to take part in a challenging race and thought the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race would be the ultimate challenge.

"The early conditions we have witnessed are making this a hard race and immediately more challenging than David's Fastnet," commented Helen "There should be some interesting banter once we are reunited! I looked at a few race charter options but decided on Scarlet Logic as the Oyster is well built and, over the last few years, has been very competitive. We should do well in the race."

As Scarlet Logic powered past Ryde, they sent this blog back from the boat: "Just touched 20.7 knots with a goose winged Oyster! Wind 37 knots. Great start, we flew down Solent. The huge 70 foot trimaran passed us, leaving a massive rooster spray from the one hull in the water. British Soldier did multiple broaches in front of us and an Open 40 blasted by on the plane. Volvo 65s came by like Formula 1 racing machines. Rainbow as shower came through. Ryde lit up in the sunshine."

The 2014 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, started at 0900 BST August 11.

All 28 yachts are now heading east along the Solent having now started the 1800 mile race around Britain and Ireland. A large crowd of spectators outside the Royal Yacht Squadron saw the fleet away. In bright sunshine, with a stiff southwesterly wind and a significant positive tide, it was a magnificent start with yachts flying through the surf under spinnakers.

At 1130 BST, all of the fleet are now past Selsey Bill, experiencing over 30 knots of breeze as they reach at top speed along the south coast of England. Musandam-Oman Sail, skippered by Sidney Gavignet, has averaged 30 knots of boat speed since the start. If the MOD70 keeps that up the team will finish the course in two and a half days, smashing the course record.

"We could be very close to the record but I am not sure at this stage that we will break it," commented Sidney Gavignet. "The computer says we can, but the reality is that the sea state will probably slow us down a bit - and we will still have 40 knots overnight, so for this we don't want to rush as the quicker we go the more wind we will have."

The IRC and Class40 Fleet start saw Brian Thompson's IMOCA 60, Artemis - Team Endeavour, judge the line to perfection, blasting through the short chop at full power right on the gun. However, Andrew Budgen and Fred Schwyn's Volvo 70, Monster Project showed terrific downwind speed to take up the lead. The two canting keel downwind flyers are now locked in a high speed duel averaging 20 knots of boat speed and that battle is likely to continue for the next four or five days. Just two hours into the race, Artemis - Team Endeavour are leading overall after time correction from Monster Project.

Concise 8, skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield, leads the Class40s, opening up a two mile gap on Burkhard Keese's German Class40, Stella Nova.

The five Volvo 65s screamed through the start line flying Code Zeros, all bar Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's Azzam, skippered by Ian Walker, which started with a smaller A3. Team SCA, skippered by Sam Davies, got the best start but Azzam soon peeled to the Code Zero to fly into the lead. However, Team Dongfeng, skippered by Frenchman Charles Caudrelier, was just in the lead at 1100 BST. Three teams have taken the lead in the Volvo 65 class in the first two hours, a pattern that may well continue right through the race.

IRC Zero

At this very early stage, Jens Kellinghusen's Ker 51, Varuna, is the class leader and third overall. In the last 12 months, Varuna has competed in the Rolex Sydney Hobart, RORC Caribbean 600 and the Transpac. Spanish navigator Guillermo Altadill and Australian Luke Molloy are on board to strengthen the highly experienced German crew. Varuna is fully lit up, averaging over 15 knots and surfing significantly faster in the downwind conditions.

IRC One

Jankees Lampe's Open 40, La Promesse, is revelling in the downwind conditions. The other half of the Dutch Two-Handed team is Bart Boosman, who was shouting for joy at the Skippers' Briefing when he heard that the course was being reversed. La Promesse is trucking along, averaging over 15 knots, leading IRC One and the Two-Handed Class and fourth in IRC Overall.

IRC Two

The fleet of five yachts are virtually neck and neck, with Ross Applebey's Oyster 48, Scarlet Logic, leading the fleet by virtue of having the lowest rating in the class. However, the downwind start will be highly desirable for The Army Sailing Association's J/111, British Soldier, as well as Chris Radford's J/122, Relentless on Jellyfish.

Conrad Manning, racing Two-Handed on Ian Hoddle's Figaro II, Rare, sent this message from the race track. "What a sight! The VO65 fleet just came screaming past us and we can see Oman Sail flying on one hull at an incredible speed. We are really flying as well, it's blowing 30 knots out here and the speedo hasn't dropped below ten knots since we started!"

IRC Three and IRC Four

The only boat in IRC Four, Lula Belle, leads the two faster IRC Three boats, Change of Course and Ruag White Knight 7 on the water, a fantastic start for the Two-Handed team from Ireland. The three boats are fairly closely rated and will be looking forward to their own battle around the course which is likely to last almost two weeks.

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