Clipper 09-10 - Spirit of Australia and Cape Breton Island fight on

by Clipper Ventures on 29 Nov 2009 Clipper 09-10 management has reluctantly accepted the resignation of Eero Lehtinen, skipper of Team Finland in the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race. The Finnish skipper will depart the boat in Western Australia at the end of Leg 3 and will be replaced by Southampton, UK, based Rob McInally.

Despite his personal difficulties, Eero has shown he is a consummate professional, once again leading his team to the front of the fleet as the boats battle across the Southern Ocean towards the finish at Geraldton-Greenough, Western Australia.

When he arrives Eero will hand over the reins to 37-year-old British skipper, Rob McInally. Rob is no stranger to Clipper or the Ed Dubois-designed Clipper 68, having completed a circumnavigation as skipper of Nova Scotia in Clipper 07-08. Prior to that he worked for both the Challenge Business and the Volvo 60, Pindar.

Commenting on his appointment, Rob says, 'I'm sorry to hear that Eero is heading for home and I wish him well. I look forward to meeting with the crew and spending time with them over the Christmas stopover. Eero will be handing over a strong legacy with three podium pennants so far and I look forward to building on that in the races that follow.

'Having completed one circumnavigation of the world I'm keen to share my experience with my new crew,' says Rob. 'Although I'm acutely aware that this race will be very different and you can never predict what Mother Nature will chose to throw at you. I hope that we can do Eero proud and keep Team Finland at the top of the leaderboard.'

Helsinki-based crew member, Emil Vartiainen, sent this morning's report from, 'On board a very motivated Team Finland.' There is no let up in the focus they are maintaining on the yacht - however hard a wind hole tried to put the brakes on their race across the Southern Ocean.

'A nice and fast day on board, which took us up to first place before Cape Breton Island and Spirit of Australia, came to sudden end as we drove in to a wind hole in the early evening. We weren't that worried about it as it looked on the GRIB file that everybody else should be in the same as well. But what happened when we got the next scheds was
something extremely unpleasant; we saw that it had been the biggest loss we've had so far in the whole race during a six-hour period. We lost almost 30 miles to every boat in the fleet! But that didn't put the fighting spirit down on Team Finland and everyone on board is now even more determined to catch up, as we now are beating into headwinds at steady pace of 10 knots.'

Jamaica Lightning Bolt was just one mile behind Team Finland at the midday sched. Skipper Peter Stirling says, 'It's not quite what you might expect when heading east in the Southern Ocean but we are beating upwind rather than flying downwind with big following seas and big speeds. According to the forecast we can expect the conditions to stay
the same for another 24 hours before the wind starts to veer back to the west and we get back on the rollercoaster. Though the wind strength has eased off a little it is blowing straight up from the Antarctic. Combined with the freezing spray flying over the bow it is making for very cold conditions for the crew on deck.'

Team Finland's misfortune meant Cape Breton Island sailed back into the lead again, a moment that was short lived thanks to the efforts of Spirit of Australia. The two teams have been enjoying a close fought duel since the outset of this race to Western Australia, and as well as the ten points at stake for topping the podium, they are hoping to pick
up the three for winning the race to the scoring gate.

As well as Cape Breton Island they're also getting to grips with the weather. Skipper Brendan Hall, paints an interesting picture with this morning's report to the Race Office. 'The cold southerly breeze blowing off Antarctica is keeping us all well rugged up on Spirit of Australia,' he explains. 'Five layers is the recommended night watch attire. When sitting on the rail the crew practice some bio-mimicry by huddling together like penguins, each person taking a turn bearing the brunt of the wind and sheltering the others. With the wind backing around, we are forced to start heading north again, beating into the wind until it dies off completely and we sit waiting for the next low to sweep us along towards Australia.'

Cape Breton Island's skipper, Jan Ridd, is also waiting for the next low. He says, 'Yesterday afternoon the wind eased so we decided to put up some more sails, still very aware of how quickly it can build. Last night we were going along nicely with the wind swinging to the south heading us all the time, slowly pushing our course further north, we
still managed to maintain reasonable boat speed all the way through the night but did come a little off course.

'The wind has died down a little overnight but we are still managing to keep the boat moving - not as fast as I would like - but I feel this is the start of the light patch of wind that was following the low pressure. This light wind patch could see some boats pulling away or catching up, we will just have to see who manages to keep their speed up. It will be interesting to see everyone's position in 24 hours time.'

The winds overnight have allowed Uniquely Singapore to slide into third place and the conditions provided something of a novelty for the crew. Skipper, Jim Dobie, reports, 'Surfing upwind was a new experience for us last night. The wind has shifted around as expected so we are now going upwind however, with the residual swell it is actually fairly pleasant with no slamming and we are occasionally still surfing. So far the wind has stayed in the South which has allowed us to keep tracking east. Soon the wind will turn more to the east so the decision whether to go north
or south will once again become important as the new low comes in behind us.'

That decision will have even more importance as Uniquely Singapore has been penalised two points for sail damage incurred on the race to Cape Town. They blew their lightweight spinnaker in the final stages of Race 3 and the huge sail required extensive repair. Overseen by Martin Newman from Hyde Sails, the official sail supplier to the Clipper Race, the crew did much of the work themselves to keep the penalty to a minimum, however they did require the services of a local sail loft to handle the more intricate work on their kite. The points have been deducted from their overall total, dropping them to seventh place overall, one point behind Cape Breton Island and four points ahead of Qingdao.

Having moved ahead of California yesterday, the Chinese team now has Edinburgh Inspiring Capital in their sights. Skipper Chris Stanmore Major writes, 'More miles made up and more to make but how long can this last? This is the thought uppermost in my mind right now. The handbrake is off on the Dragon Wagon and we are roaring up through this pack but I often find myself considering whether we are we pushing too hard in an ocean which will brook no error.

'Sail changes are faster, trimming more precise, helming more focussed and navigation more considered but what will save us from disaster? One thing: caution. Safety reigns over all on Qingdao. With 40 to 50 knot winds blowing for more than 24 hours the temptation to put off jobs, skimp on deck checks and wait 'until it moderates a bit' has been avoided and we are keeping ourselves busy conserving our gear, keeping chafe at bay and improving systems that seem troublesome or tedious.

'Personal safety is my main concern with large waves mounting the deck carrying thousands of kilos of water into the cockpit regularly knocking those there to their knees - but everyone is clipped on, the guys doing foredeck maintenance work are clipped in with two lines so in reality the worst that can happen is a soaking and sore knees - and once that is done, some slowly, some fast, all get up, wipe the salt from their eyes and laughing, call out for more speed, 'Here comes a big one! Go! Go! Go!'

The next target for Qingdao, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, has sailed a course even further to the north than Team Finland and they are also waiting for the next system to pick them up. Knowing where to put the boat to take advantage of that is something they are several sources of information to figure out.

Matt Pike, skipper of the Scottish team, says, 'Finally the wind came round to the south. No more poled out Yankee 3 (or 2) but a great beam reach through the night. We've had a busy morning of running repairs and a glorious sail in the sunshine with an albatross as our escort. What could be better? We're hoping our northerly course will pay off but it still a long way to go. The GRIB files are good for wind direction but have yet to get close with the speed so we are working to the bigger picture on the surface pressure charts and are using what we have actually got outside to help guide us.'

'It's another beautiful day in the Southern Ocean,' according to California's skipper, Pete Rollason. 'We are now hard on the wind under reefed main, Yankee 2 and staysail. The sun is shining, the birds are soaring around the boat, the last two scheds showed that we were one of the fastest boats in the fleet and life is wonderful. What more could one ask for? We are hoping to make some gains before we reach the scoring gate, but we cannot lose sight of the need to get a good run over the next few days during the lighter winds and set ourselves up in the right place for the next low pressure to come through.'

Cork, who left Cape Town on Thursday evening, may well be able to close the gap on the fleet in the next couple of days as the strong winds of the next low pressure system reach them first, 800 miles behind the tail end of the pack.

The round the clock operation on Hull & Humber means the yacht is still on course for a Tuesday departure. Today most of the main work on building up the layers of the hull in the area the yacht was struck should be completed. Carpenters are getting to work on the inside, rebuilding the interior port aft cabin which houses two bunks as well as
storage compartments.

Hull & Humber's crew had an early meeting this morning to outline plans for the next few days and they will return to the boat to begin cleaning and restowing everything on Sunday evening once the heat of the day begins to cool. Victuallers will also need to head to the supermarket to replenish the supplies of fresh food they will need to take with them when they resume racing.

The first of the yachts are due to arrive in Geraldton, Western Australia between 14 and 18 December.

POSITIONS AT 1200 UTC, SATURDAY 28 NOVEMBER

1 Spirit of Australia DTF 3649
2 Cape Breton Island DTF 3653 DTL +4
3 Uniquely Singapore DTF 3669 DTL +20
4 Team Finland DTF 3687 DTL +38
5 Jamaica Lightning Bolt DTF 3688 DTL +39
6 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital DTF 3728 DTL +79
7 Qingdao DTF 3749 DTL +100
8 California DTF 3753 DTL +104
9 Cork DTF 4563 DTL +914
10 Hull & Humber DTF 4773 DTL +1124

(DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader)
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