QM2's return to St Nazaire

It looks like she had quite a welcome

http://www.thmartinez.com/folio/464/retour-queen-mary-2-st-nazaire.html

And more details of her voyage here - I just managed to catch the sailaway, I'm not sure when the next "Live" broadcast will be but I assume we will be able to follow the race progress

https://www.thebridge2017.com/en/

Here's part of the sailaway

http://www.bfmtv.com/mediaplayer/video/coup-d-envoi-de-la-course-the-bridge-a-saint-nazaire-958433.html

Thanks Host Hattie.

"The Bridge 2017" event has a page on dailymotion.com with several videos (commentary in French of course) including the QM2's arrival in Saint Nazaire yesterday and a longer version of her departure today. That page can be found here.

https://www.dailymotion.com/thebridge2017

Regards,

John

Thanks John

I had been wondering if there was any possibility QM2 was going to make a real race of it during this Bridge 2017 event by being allowed to turn on her expensive gas turbines to get her up to a speed approaching 30 knots. As I understand it, the catamarans she is racing to New York are able to achieve sustained speeds of 40 knots during normal racing conditions. However I don't know what sustained speeds those catamarans can actually achieve on the open ocean during a prolonged six-day race like this. I see QM2 is currently making a speed of 24.3 knots as I post this, so I think that probably answers my question about the gas turbines, not that I was really expecting any different. That's all the speed she really needs to make her scheduled arrival in New York on Saturday morning anyway.

Wow, I just took a look at the race rankings on thebridge2017.com web site. It appears I shouldn't have been concerned that QM2 might need to use her gas turbines to be competitive. Those race rankings have QM2 leading at 24.7 knots and the four catamarans well back at speeds of less than 11 knots. It looks like they may be facing some stiff headwinds so no real surprise then, I guess.

Wow, I just took a look at the race rankings on thebridge2017.com web site. It appears I shouldn't have been concerned that QM2 might need to use her gas turbines to be competitive. Those race rankings have QM2 leading at 24.7 knots and the four catamarans well back at speeds of less than 11 knots. It looks like they may be facing some stiff headwinds so no real surprise then, I guess.

Wouldn't like to be on a catamaran under those conditions, but I would feel a bit safer knowing that QM2 wasn't too far away (hopefully) !

Wouldn't like to be on a catamaran under those conditions, but I would feel a bit safer knowing that QM2 wasn't too far away (hopefully) !

I agree completely, Salacia. I certainly admire the dedication, athleticism, and courage of sailors that participate in races like this. That's especially true for those that participate in races such as the OSTAR and TWOSTAR races that made the news a couple weeks ago when QM2 and other vessels and aircraft came to the rescue of sailors in distress. I also admire the dedication, professionalism, and bravery of those that assist in such rescues.

For the record, at 24 hours into the race, QM2 is now leading by 278 NM. And to correct a mistake in my previous posts above, the boats involved in this Bridge 2017 race are of course trimarans, not catamarans. Just wanted to set the record straight on that point.

Does anyone have an idea of how many passengers are aboard? I assume this voyage wasn't bookable by normal providers. (And could a smaller passenger load translate into less power demand for hotel/restaurant/water)

- Mark

Does anyone have an idea of how many passengers are aboard? I assume this voyage wasn't bookable by normal providers. (And could a smaller passenger load translate into less power demand for hotel/restaurant/water)

 

- Mark

All I have been able to find is a note on The Bridge 2017 web site that mentions more than 2000 passengers are on board.

At the 48 hour mark QM2 is now leading by 435 NM. The trimarans have occasionally been able to achieve speeds in excess of 30 knots, but it would appear that the longer more northerly route they are taking to achieve those speeds, combined with their course not necessarily being directly toward the destination because of the tacking involved, means QM2 continues to increase her lead.

Some nice photos on the Royal Navy website

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2017/june/28/170628-hms-richmond-pays-a-visit-to-brest#

Some nice photos on the Royal Navy website

 

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2017/june/28/170628-hms-richmond-pays-a-visit-to-brest#

Interesting article. Thanks for posting it.

Last night the trimarans were able to make up some ground on QM2, closing the gap to 402 NM. But today the conditions have been less favorable and QM2 has extended her lead to 538 NM at the 72-hour mark into the race.

The following article about the race (in French) from Le Figaro was posted earlier today.

THE BRIDGE 2017 : LE BROUILLARD COMME OBSTACLE

I found it interesting that this article says race meteorologist Dominic Vittet (who is on board QM2) thinks if the race had left Saint Nazaire a few days later the weather would probably have allowed the trimarans to make the crossing in only 4 or 5 days.

I see "thebridge2017" web site has now posted that Queen Mary 2 finished the race this morning at 4:45:00 local time in New York in an elapsed time of 5 days, 16 hours, 45 minutes. It's good to see her doing a crossing in less than 6 days again.

I'm not usually active over weekends but this other French edition flashed up from a friend on my iPhone.

I particularly liked it apart from the tricolours..

https://www.facebook.com/thebridge2017/?fref=nf

However to be filed under "Thanks for Nothing!"...

This M723 voyage was a full charter and inquiries went through The Bridge website. Twice I had entered for booking information and no reply. So I dropped any further pursuit of it.

Today in my inbox is an email "Boutique The Bridge - Surfez sur l'événement!". I am however quite welcome to buy the leftover t-shirts, bags, and branded chocolates. :mad: