Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - Closing on Rio

by Marina Thomas on 24 Sep 2015 Week four of the Clipper Race sees leader LMAX Exchange less than 500 nautical miles from the finish in Rio storming along, but starting to slow from peak speeds in excess of 11 knots having opened up a convincing lead, almost 300 nautical miles ahead of the other front runners, being led by Chinese entry Qingdao.

The past week has seen the leading boats cross the Equator and perform the time-honoured maritime tradition of the Equator crossing ceremony where the crew pay tribute to King Neptune to ensure a quick and safe passage.

Aboard LMAX Exchange, King Neptune was joined by Davy Jones and Her Highness Amphitrite, with crew who have previously crossed the Equator, known as Shellbacks, initiate the novices, called Pollywogs. Each has to confess to their faults and accept their punishment – a challenging diet of flour, water and Marmite.

All accepted their punishment and became ‘Trusty Shellbacks’ in the company of King Neptune. The full fleet of twelve identical 70-foot ocean racers is now spread over 1300 nautical miles, with the rear group just clearing the Doldrums where they experienced frustratingly slow conditions.

Max Stunell, Skipper of PSP Logistics, in eighth, said today: “At last we have made it out of the Doldrums Corridor and it instantly felt like a weight had been lifted. After a frustrating few days of poor tacking angles not helped by the equatorial currents and wind shifts, the breeze has backed and we are making good speed in the right direction for the first time in weeks!”

Visit Seattle is still leading this group but is some 500 nautical miles behind the front runners which have also entered the Atlantic Ocean Sprint. The fastest rather than the first boat between two lines of longitude picks up two extra points.

The first five teams have now completed the sprint section, and Qingdao has the fastest time so far at 30 hours, 11 minutes.

While LMAX Exchange looks set to clinch first place into Rio this weekend, Qingdao hopes to hold onto its current place in second, as a hundred nautical miles separates it from Great Britain, Derry~Londonderry~Doire and Garmin, who battle it out for the final podium place.

Winds are expected to drop after the fleet rounds Cape Frio when the leaders will slow and the chasing pack catch up.

LMAX Exchange Skipper Olivier Cardin talks about the challenges of the final stage.

“Wind will progressively go to the left (backing) and dropping slightly. Then wind will blow more than 30 knots around the Cabo Frio. We will then turn to the right, heading west for 70 miles. This section will be complicated as we will leave the Trade Winds for a sea breeze system generated by the temperature difference between the land and the sea (the wind from the land is light during the night, and the wind is good from the sea during the day).

“Finally, we will head up north in Guanabara Bay to cross the finish line six miles later. Not simple this finish…” he added.

The full fleet is spread over approximately five days of racing with the last teams expected to arrive into Rio by the middle of next week.

After more than 5000 nautical miles it looks like the last 500 will be a close fought battle for the top teams in this first race of fourteen in the global series.

As at 1400 UTC Wednesday the fleet positions were as follows:

1 LMAX Exchange – 500.45 nautical miles to finish
2 Qingdao
3 Derry~Londonderry~Doire
4 Great Britain
5 Garmin
6 Visit Seattle
7 ClipperTelemed+
8 PSP Logistics
9 Mission Performance
10 Unicef
11 Da Nang – Viet Nam
12 IchorCoal