Clipper Round The World - Unpredictable winds challenge crews

by Clipper Ventures on 13 Jun 2014 In the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race, conditions are testing the crews with headsail changes taking place on the foredeck in three metre waves amidst changeable winds.

The crews are also on iceberg watch and regularly monitoring the water temperature as they near an area known for drifting ice floating down through the Labrador Current.

The boats at the front of the fleet are experiencing stronger wind of around 30 knots after it veered round to the north after a series of frontal squalls 36 hours ago.

Jan Ridd, skipper of Team Garmin, currently in sixth, said: 'The conditions have been very testing with the wind changing strength and direction making the crew’s job doubly hard as they continuously adjust the sail plan to match the conditions.

'Earlier this morning the graph function on the Garmin radar-chart plotter showed the wind strength going from eight knots to 25 knots in a regular pattern of about 15 minutes. As soon as we had identified this we could prepare to put in reefs and shake them out.'

Chris Hollis, skipper of PSP Logistics, in eighth position, said: 'The wind at the moment is really all over the shop. It is shifting 40 degrees in a matter of seconds, and dropping and increasing up 15 knots in an instant.

'All this makes it very hard to set the sails for a desired course. The helms are doing a great job in guiding us through the conditions. We are pushing the boat hard to keep pace, or rather, outpace our rivals. One boat in particular is Jamaica Get All Right, whom schedule after schedule is posting big numbers. I don’t know what they are doing there, but they are doing it right at the moment.'

Standings

Position - Team	DTL
Henri Lloyd	0NM
Great Britain	0NM
Jamaica Get All Right	0NM
Derry~Londonderry~Doire	66NM
Switzerland	42NM
Team Garmin	112NM
Mission Performance	108NM
PSP Logistics	135NM
Qingdao	138NM
Invest Africa	140NM
One DLL	165NM
Old Pulteney	167NM

http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/" target="_blank">Event website