Clipper 09-10 - Hull & Humber set for Tuesday departure

by Clipper Ventures on 27 Nov 2009
Hull & Humber is the lone member of the Clipper 09-10 fleet left in Cape Town after Cork resumed racing yesterday evening following the start day crash that forced her to return to port for repairs. She had been back at the Royal Cape Yacht Club since Sunday afternoon and a team of boat builders has been working around the clock to get her ready to resume the race to Geraldton, Western Australia.

Yesterday lunchtime the marine surveyor pronounced her fit to leave and the crew, who had gathered at the yacht club this morning made their final preparations for the 4,700-mile race that will take them into the Southern Ocean along the Great Circle route to Geraldton, Western Australia.

Cork's delayed departure from Cape Town follows a collision on the start line on Sunday afternoon when she slammed into Hull & Humber's port side, causing both teams to return to harbour for repairs. Teams of boat builders from Action Yachting at Royal Cape Yacht Club have been working on the bow of the boat which was damaged in the crash. At 1834 local time (1634 GMT) the yacht slipped her lines, the repairs complete a day earlier than predicted.

Cork's skipper, Richie Fearon, was keen to get going again. 'I'm glad we're getting away. I'm a bit upset for Hull & Humber that they won't be coming with us. It'll be good maybe to get away and get a bit of distance between us and Cape Town to put this incident behind us and move forward from that.

'The crew are great and they've been looking after me - I've been pretty down about it but they've looked after me well, so it will be good to get back out on the water and do what we do best.'

Race Director, Joff Bailey, said, 'I'm really pleased we managed to get the repairs completed so quickly and we've been able to get them out racing again. The Race Committee has some decisions to make in the next couple of weeks with regard to the incident on Sunday, but for now we'll be focussing on getting Hull & Humber's repairs completed so they can start racing as soon as possible.'

Hull & Humber's repairs are still on track and the estimated date of departure remains Tuesday. Early this morning they removed the form from the outside of the hull and top of the coach roof. There are teams working both inside and outside of the boat.

Today Hull & Humber's crew are off to watch the One Day International between South Africa and England. They'll all be in their orange kit so if you're watching the game on TV you may well spot them in the 50,000-strong crowd at Newlands.

Before the fleet left the V&A on Saturday they threw their leftover South African Rand into a bucket and the proceeds of the collection were presented to the Red Cross Children's Hospital in Cape Town yesterday. The 3,200 SAR will be put towards a specialist piece of equipment to treat children with acute breathing difficulties. The children very often come from remote locations and without the equipment would not be able to leave hospital. The nurses teach the mothers how to use the equipment at home so their babies can leave hospital.

Out on the race track the fleet is making a bee-line for the scoring gate at 55 degrees east, about 800nm from the leading trio. None of the teams can afford to lose focus in the coming days as the others will be ready to pounce and capitalise on their mistakes, denying them the all-important scoring gate points. The first team through will get three points, second team two, and the third team to cross will get one.

Cape Breton Island has been holding off Spirit of Australia and Team Finland for the last two days, but the Scandinavian team has managed to nudge into the lead.

Watch leader Mark Cole reports, 'The last 48 hours have seen us in light airs and fog, a bit of thunder with a passing front, big swells and winds often substantially greater than forecast. But it is all in a day's work for the crew of Team Finland as we strive to balance sail plan with wind angle, so it's back up with the poled out Yankee 2 and a gybe in over 35 knots; maybe even the heavy weight if this swell drops.

'Despite the number of evolutions we have had no dramas and hopefully this will continue as we sail the boat like we know we can. Yesterday's scheds had everyone in buoyant mood as the gains on the leaders were announced, and sneaking into second gave everyone a boost. However that was tempered this morning as the midnight numbers put us back into third behind Spirit of Australia and Cape Breton Island. But the resolve of the crew has been stiffened, we know we are in a race, it's time to remind those in front that they are as well, as we push on through the scoring gate to Geraldton.

It's still a long way to go, and the numbers don't tell the whole story, we feel we're in a good position, one which, if the wind gods are kind, we can take advantage of.'

Cape Breton Island is further south than Team Finland and skipper, Jan Ridd, is planning his next move. He reports, 'Overnight as the low pressure tracked to the south of our position the winds backed from a northerly (warm air from the equator) to a south westerly (cold air from the Antarctic) and all the crew are piling on the layers before going on watch. Overnight the expected stronger winds never came through but knowing now how quickly the wind can change I decided to stick with a more conservative sail plan and sailed very comfortably all night still maintaining a reasonable boat speed.

'I expect the low pressure to continue tracking underneath us today with the winds backing to the south and easing and eventually becoming very light and variable. With the leading boats all being so close this tactical first light airs will be very important to the race, I feel the team that can keep themselves moving may have the opportunity to pull out a sizeable lead. Team Finland have already possibly tipped their hand by heading to the north; they have not got their routing decisions wrong yet and, as far south as we are, I have been studying the weather information to see our best strategy.'

Brendan Hall, the skipper of Spirit of Australia is also pondering his team's next move. 'As I sit here in the nav station, I find myself in a conundrum,' he explains. 'The wind up on deck seems to be easing and I know we should be putting up more sail if we want to keep the boat going at its fastest. The trouble is that the barometer is dropping and the weather data file I'm looking at indicates the wind is about to pick up. It says 27 knots of wind, although last time it said that, we ended up getting over 40 and had to do a very messy emergency drop of our heavyweight spinnaker. Should I be bold and put up that bigger sail? Or should I play it safe, hoping I'll thank myself later when the wind suddenly jumps up? The racer in me says one thing, the prudent sailor in me says another. I wonder what Sir Robin would do if he was sitting here in this nav station looking at this same information?'

Uniquely Singapore is taking the same central course, mid way between Team Finland and Cape Breton Island and the crew can see themselves making gains on the leading trio. 'It's been a cold night with plenty of squalls in which the wind goes from 20 to 35 knots making sail selection quite the challenge. However with our trusty poled out number three and reefed main we managed some good speeds and are steadily gaining on the top three, keeping the pressure on as we look towards the gate,' says Singapore-born skipper, Jim Dobie.

Racing through the Southern Ocean puts immense pressures on the yacht and Jim and his crew are keeping a thorough watch on their equipment. 'Chafe is always on the mind at the moment,' he says. 'Craig and Sean, the bosun and bosun's mate, are constantly checking the yacht for signs of wear and tear on the sheets and halyards and checking that are sails are not missing any hanks. As this low moves across the wind is heading us and we will dip a little further south to await the next low.'

'It was a good day yesterday for Qingdao,' says skipper, Chris Stanmore-Major, in his morning report to the Race Office. 'We have worked hard to maximise our speed to get us back into this race. It was only a few days ago that we were in a similar position to overtake California when our opportunity was snatched away from us when we fell into a wind hole that, sadly, did not affect anyone else. Not so this time! There is good wind forecast and we are bang in the middle of it.

'Being able to catch up has been due to great efforts by the crew to settle down their steering in bouncy conditions and direct each knot of speed forwards down our course instead of ranging around all over the place. Yesterday we managed to pull 25.1 knots, witnessed by all and measured on our satellite GPS system as accurate, but this was only the peak speed reached amongst many runs up to 22 and 23 knots, all heading east along our direction of travel. This was part of an 80 nm six-hour run in which we smashed our boat best of 71 nm.

'I am really proud of the concentration and persistence of my crew who are making each mile won back against the fleet a small victory. Morale is high, making the rigours of the world's toughest ocean a trial borne by all and suffered by none. When you consider all the boats and crews are identically matched and equally competitive, to exceed the performance of those around you and reel in boats in the most trying conditions so far is a victory we shall take out of the Southern Ocean, regardless of our race result.'

The learning continues on all of the boats during the 35,000 mile Clipper Race and Chris's pride in his team's ever-improving levels of skill are echoed by Jan on Cape Breton Island. He says, 'During the first leg to Rio they made a lot of fun of me because of I was continually popping up the companionway to ask if the helm was on course, or to tell the helm to bear away as sails were flapping wildly when the boat came too high on the wind. It even became a yardstick by which the crew measured their watch. I cannot recall the last time I had to pop my head up and do a 'meerkat' in either this leg or the last. If they keep on improving I wonder if the crew will actually need me at all towards the end of the race!'

By 0900 GMT Qingdao had Edinburgh Inspiring Capital in their sights, having moved ahead of California whose race is typically eventful. Skipper of the American boat, Pete Rollason, says, 'The wind has backed around to the south west and we are still enjoying some great sailing and surfing on some big seas. The temperature below decks is 15 degrees but obviously the wind chill on deck caused by the 30+ knot winds means it feels like a very cold winter's day. Add to that the free shower from the cold Southern Ocean water every so often as another wave crashes over the deck and it's fantastic.

'We had one moment last night when a large wave picked up one crew member and washed her across the deck, thankfully her safety line prevented her from going too far. The crew have adapted well to the colder conditions and rougher seas and are really sailing the boat like a true racing crew.'

There's a visitor taking advantage of a free ride on California at the moment. Yesterday a bird landed on board and spent a good part of the evening sitting in Pete's beanie hat at the nav station. The hitch hiker is feeling quite at home and enjoying the company. 'Martin' is doing well, had his (or her, not quite sure) morning exercise and is now sitting on my arm while I am typing this email,' writes Pete.

People from around the world have been signing up to take part in the next edition of the Clipper Race by more legitimate means and demand for places on Clipper 11-12 has never been higher. Berths have been filling up fast for the race which, at 40,000 miles and including the addition of a new leg from the west coast of Australia to the east, via New Zealand, will be the longest race in the world.

To find out more, email oceanracer(at)clipperroundtheworld.com or come along to the recruitment event at the Guildhall in Hull on Monday 30 November at 18.30 GMT.

POSITIONS AT 0900 UTC, FRIDAY 27 NOVEMBER

1 Team Finland DTF 3844
2 Cape Breton Island DTF 3849 DTL +5
3 Spirit of Australia DTF 3854 DTL +9
4 Uniquely Singapore DTF 3885 DTL +40
5 Jamaica Lightning Bolt DTF 3900 DTL +56
6 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital DTF 3954 DTL +100
7 Qingdao DTF 3968 DTL +124
8 California DTF 3981 DTL +137
9 Cork DTF 4699 DTL +855
10 Hull & Humber DTF 4773 DTL +929

(DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader)
Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.