Clipper 09-10 Round the World race - Cape Breton Island in Cape Town

by Clipper Ventures on 16 Nov 2009
Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race. Cape Breton Island – Nova Scotia’s Masterpiece has arrived in Cape Town against the imposing backdrop of Table Mountain, crossing the finish line at the end of Race 3. The stage from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, saw the crew race 3,300 miles across the South Atlantic.

The Canadian entry in the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race was the ninth boat to finish the race and it proved to be a challenging sail that delivered big seas, high winds and low temperatures for the crew of everyday people who decided to embark on this challenge of a lifetime.

Skipper Jan Ridd, from Weymouth, UK said, 'We had an awesome sail – it was so much fun to have this boat surfing down four or five metre waves doing 20 plus knots. Everyone was grinning!'

At the outset of the race from Rio, Cape Breton Island opted for a course midway between the two groups that had chosen to stay north or to dive south. So, on reflection, does he regret that early decision?

'I’d say ‘yes’ in hindsight but at the time when I was looking at our position I was very pleased with it. Both Cape Breton Island and Spirit of Australia got caught in our own personal wind holes and it wasn’t there on the forecast.

'It was very frustrating for the first couple of days when the fleet started to pull away, then we got into some wind and we started pulling back; then the second time they kicked into some wind and we didn’t and they pulled away. But there comes a point when you actually have to accept it. We sailed as well as we could, the crew performed amazingly, we got good boat speed when we actually had wind and we proved that.'

Cape Breton Islander, Elisa Jenkins, has taken time out from her job as a physiotherapist to compete on the whole circumnavigation. Arriving in Cape Town, the Sydney native said, 'It was fantastic! We had a lot of good wind, it was really exciting, the team worked together as usual and it was a really enjoyable trip.

'It was much different from Leg 1. Then we were just fighting to get enough wind to keep moving. In this one we pretty much had weather systems working with us most of the way. We fell behind in the first one which cost us some positions but we managed to keep up the good speeds through the rest of the crossing and managed to have a great race.

The South Atlantic has delivered some fairly hairy conditions for most of the crews but Elisa has taken it all in her stride. 'We didn’t really see any stormy conditions so we’re lucky in that respect. Put it this way: I haven’t been scared yet – ask me again after the next race!'

Luke Dampier is a gap year student from the UK. His skill, driving the boat down the front of the huge South Atlantic rollers helped him record the boat’s top speed during the race. 'That was the best bit,' he grins. 'Going 23 knots down a wave and I was on the helm. Very happy about that. The whole experience has been fantastic so far and the race down to Cape Town was unbelievable. Position wise we’re not that bothered but the race was fantastic. We’ll definitely make it up.'

With just three of the 14 races in the series there are still a lot of points up for grabs and Luke’s confidence in his team mates’ ability to bounce back is echoed by the skipper. Jan says, 'We were sitting in third overall, now we’ve dropped down – it just means we have to win the next one!'

Race 3 was won by Cork, Ireland, who finished at 1438 local time (1238 GMT) yesterday. Team Finland emerged victorious from their battle for second place with Uniquely Singapore who finished third.

California, the tenth 68-foot racing yacht in the Clipper fleet is due to finish tomorrow and is expected at Royal Cape Yacht Club on Sunday afternoon.

The whole fleet will move to the V&A Waterfront on Friday 20 November where the yachts will be available for public viewing. The race will restart on Sunday 22 November, the yachts departing the V&A at 11am for start of the race from Cape Town to Geraldton-Greenough, Western Australia, at 2pm.