Monday 23rd - Milford Haven to Bangor (ish)

Obviously there is no way to test an engine under load when it is on a trailer in a car park in Milford Haven so by the time we went to bed we had cleared all the fault codes by just going over as many things as we could think of. This was yet another late night, by the time we got to the hotel it was nearly time to get up again, but even if we had not been dog-tired we would have slept well in anticipation of an actual race start later that morning.




We were craned into the water at Pembroke Dock and started the engines, and to our dismay there was no cooling water coming from the other engine (the one that we had had no trouble with so far) and as this really is turning out to be a voyage of engineering discovery we set to, and found the method of removing the air locks that happen when the boat is lifted out of the water, in the capable hands of our chief engineer Eric we were soon gushing cooling water and ready to go.

We watched the beautiful Wettpunkt roar off just in front of us - Ed the navigator's wiry, coiled frame standing solid on the engine covers as the Diesel exhaust misted the wake, the silver white race suit and black patch faded away into the sunshine.

We set off in luke-warm pursuit - there was a couple of seconds when the revs picked up but we were fading, fading from the race, and had to come back in to the pits to come to terms with the news that all our hard work last night had not changed a thing.

Instead of going to Bangor, we are standing on the dockside and talking with Ilmor to discover what has gone wrong. They kindly and patiently talked us through several diagnostic steps and we still could not fix it. Astonishingly they invited us to their flaghip technical installation in Northampton to see if they could find out what we were doing wrong with their usually bullet-proof machines.
Sadly we are not alone - the fabled Fabio Buzzi has come back in with engine trouble, such a terrible shame, we are hoping and hoping that he is up and running as soon as possible to add his unique style and expertise to the race.

We went home to London in preparation for a day out in Northampton with Ilmor and then possibly a trip to Inverness for testing the next day. A chance to regroup, too tired to watch television, or talk on the telephone, but must feed the clothes...wash the cat.. . or something...