For the first time in many years the PowerBar Three Peaks Yacht Race has reached it's maximum entry limit and will have 32 yachts on the start line at Barmouth on June 20th. In these times of economic gloom the spirit of adventure is alive and well in one of the UK's oldest and most prestigious endurance challenges.
The race, which was inspired by mountaineer and sailor H.W. Tilman, was first run in 1977 with seven entries and this had had grown to 25 by 1980, when it was first featured in a T.V. documentary. In the 1980's entries had to be put in promptly to win a coveted place on the start line at Barmouth, but in the busy 1990's entries fell. With the race taking the best part of a week to complete, and requiring boat delivery to Barmouth and from the finish at Fort William, it was hard to put together teams with the necessary skills and the time to compete.
Experienced sailors are needed for the difficult and treacherous passage up the West coast via Caernarfon and Whitehaven, a journey of 400 nautical miles which includes the passage of the rocky Menai Strait, rounding the Mull of Kintyre and Mull of Galloway, and plotting a passage through the inner Hebridean islands. To join them two exceptional endurance athletes are needed for the ascents of Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis, the highest peaks in Wales, England and Scotland. With the return cycle route to reach Scafell Pike from Whitehaven this is a total of 15,000 feet of climbing, 59 miles on foot and 30 miles on a bike.
In recent years the race entry has risen, with a very high standard of competition and an increasing number of club and family teams, setting out to test themselves against the seaborne Three Peaks challenge. The race is also attracting more teams from adventure racing and other endurance sports and has always had a strong entry from military teams.
This year's entry includes teams from all these backgrounds, as well as an all female team racing as Helly Hansen UK. They are skippered by Helen Acton, who works for the Ocean Youth Trust, and their runners are two of the UK's top adventure racers, Nicola MacLeod and Maria Leijerstam. There are several military teams taking part, including team ABF (Army Benevolent Fund) with runner Andy Stockton, who lost an arm while serving in Afghanistan in 2006. Teams are raising funds for 15 different charities and hoping to top last year's fundraising total of ?34,000.
The 32nd race starts on June 20th with yachts leaving Barmouth harbour in procession at 5pm and starting off shore at 6pm.
The race website ( www.3peaksyachtrace.co.uk) has profiles on all the competing teams and there will be daily coverage, picture galleries and a race leaderboard throughout race week on the adventure racing website www.SleepMonsters.co.uk. Positions at sea will also be tracked by satellite via the website.
About PowerBar Established for over 20 years, PowerBar is the pioneer in nutrition for athletes. It has been developed by athletes, for athletes and each product in the range is designed to give athletes the edge to perform at their best. The company's product line is divided into distinct categories for both pro-athletes and regular gym users. The pro-athlete product range includes PowerBar Performance Bar, Performance Sports Drink, Harvest bars, PowerGel energy gel, ProteinPlus Recovery Drink and bar.
Already a market leader in the US and with a high presence in continental Europe, PowerBar is endorsed by a number of high-profile athletes including Olympic gold medallist and World Record holding long distance runner Haile Gebrselassie, seven times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and World Ironman champion Faris al-Sultan.
For more information on the brand and its product range please visit www.powerbar-europe.com
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