Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race - Eventful 24 hours

by Clipper Ventures on 6 Jan 2010
Where to begin? The last 24 hours on board the ten 68-foot ocean racing yachts competing in Clipper 09-10 have been eventful, to say the least.

Edinburgh Inspiring Capital and Uniquely Singapore have broken away from the fleet, Qingdao, Team Finland and California have all had spinnaker issues, a Cape Breton Island snap shackle snapped sending their kite flying, Cork moved from ninth place to first in the space of 18 hours, at the 1800 position report last night no less than four teams were neck and neck at the front of the fleet, all ten crews have the scoring gate firmly in their sights and, keeping the heat on all of them, temperatures are beginning to soar as they approach the Equator.

This is edge of the seat stuff.

As the southerly airflow begins to become a little unstable Edinburgh Inspiring Capital and Uniquely Singapore have made a move to the east of the pack in a bid to gain some advantage in the race for the scoring gate and the valuable points to be picked up there.

'Memories of the first leg come back as the weather really heats up and the wind becomes lighter,' says Jim Dobie, explaining Uniquely Singapore's strategy for their move. 'The further north we go the wind slowly eases off and now we are under our lightweight spinnaker making an average of eight knots. We gybed off from the fleet this morning to
see whether we would get any advantage heading closer to Australia and, on a hunch, hoping the isobars would squeeze up a little giving us more wind. We won't know whether this has worked until the next sched.

'As I write this the wind is slowly shifting around to the west so it's time to gybe again and head back to the fleet, fingers crossed, in a better position than before. We should be able to sail a course directly for the gate now so, with that in mind we need some good helming, trimming and to keep a good eye on the weather, catching the wind shifts
early. There are tough days ahead for the crew as the heat builds and conditions become more and more uncomfortable down below and light winds test the skills of the crew.'

Qingdao's crew is already being sorely tested after a larger than normal wave knocked the helm off course and gybed the boat, resulting in a spinnaker wrap in the middle of the night.

'The ensuing six hours were a trial the whole crew played a part in as we began a session of Rubik's spinnaker with an ocean of angry white cloth whip-cracking around our heads,' reports skipper, Chris Stanmore-Major. 'It was a sad moment when I sent Chris Connell aloft to cut down the final section. Chris did an excellent job making a series
of intelligent incisions which brought down the kite with minimal damage.'

Qingdao's crew could only watch as Hull & Humber and Team Finland sailed by while they cleared the rig and set about hoisting the medium weight spinnaker to begin chasing down the pack again.

'We're back underway at full speed, chasing a tiny white dot on the horizon that is the tip of Hull & Humber's mast. Once more the Qingdao sail loft is open and scissors, sail cloth and needles are flying in a focussed effort to get the damage fixed before the heavy weight kite is needed again.

'On deck tired eyes look up as a team of three sets about replacing the halyards that were damaged during the wrap. I expect by sun down we will be straight again and the kite very nearly back together. Although a cruel blow to damage a sail we have so recently done so much work on already, I think fate will have to try a little harder than that to slow the Dragon Wagon as she wends her way home to Qingdao.'

Qingdao may have seen Team Finland fly by but the overall leaders have had drama of their own as the air flow becomes less steady. Having played it cautiously, sailing with a poled out Yankee 2 for most of the day because of the confused sea state and gusty winds, they hoisted their heavy weight spinnaker in the late afternoon.

Rob McInally, Team Finland's skipper, explains, 'The sea flattened and the wind consolidated its strength and direction so we decided to put up our heavy weight spinnaker for a three-hour period. Within this time and within just half an hour of our scheduled drop we passed Hull & Humber. Within 15 minutes of our scheduled spinnaker drop a wave and several gusts came from nowhere leaving Emil, our helm at the time, little option to stop the broach. Very unceremoniously down came the spinnaker. It would seem we have all the bits, actually three, and so the jigsaw
puzzle begins. The mood on board is good we are plodding along with the knowledge that there is time yet we can make up the miles over the next few days.'

California's crew have been working their spinnakers hard to keep up with the wind changes. Skipper Pete Rollason says, 'What a fantastic race to be a part of. We spent all last night with seven other boats in view and some very close racing and passes. The crew are totally fired up and are working really hard to push the boat as fast as possible. We had four spinnaker drops and hoists over recent hours following an ease in the wind strength and a tear to the medium weight.'

The sail repairs were completed within an hour, rehoisted, and California is flying along again.

A fired-up Pete says, 'So far California's 72-hour start strategy is paying dividends and we are looking to build on this platform as the scoring gate approaches in three or four days' time.'

The Californian team have their eyes on Cape Breton Island, who are still leading the fleet in the chase to the gate and, ultimately, Marina at Keppel Bay in Singapore.

Skipper Jan Ridd and his crew had an eventful night when the snap shackle on the guy snapped, letting the spinnaker fly loose.

'We dropped the spinnaker, hoisted the headsail, replaced the broken guy and poled out the headsail,' says Jan. 'Now that the boat was under control and doing a reasonable speed we set about re-packing the heavyweight spinnaker so we could quickly hoist and get back on the pace for the race. After a super-fast pack we hoisted the spinnaker and were back in the race. From start to finish Phil (Robertson) and his watch took just one hour which was very impressive. We calculated this cost us about a mile and a half to our competitors, so we were now under more pressure to sail faster as we could see the lights of the other yachts closing in on us. It was almost as if they could sense we were having problems.

'On the next watch, with three yachts within two miles of us, we decided to change up a gear by peeling to a larger more powerful spinnaker. Peeling is an involved process with a lot of opportunities for things to go badly wrong but Dan's watch, made up mostly of Cape Bretoners, did a great job and, as we seamlessly changed spinnakers, we were soon pulling away again. Shortly afterwards one of the boats near us decided to change spinnakers but did not peel; instead they dropped the spinnaker they were flying and then hoisted the new one, meaning there was a
period when they did not have the advantage of the powerful sail. It showed quickly as the distance they fell behind increased.'

Cork's crew have settled into their routine after two nights' racing, according to skipper, Richie Fearon. He says. 'We had a good run yesterday going from ninth to first in an 18-hour period. We can see Cape Breton Island directly ahead of us and Spirit of Australia who are abeam of us on our starboard side. The wind has been up and down all day which the spinnaker doesn't like when the pressure is off and the waves are rolling the boat.

'With 700nm to go to the scoring gate it is going to be an interesting drag race as the weather ahead looks to be getting light. It is already very hot on board and there's nowhere to hide from the sun as it is directly overhead. Today we have some cloud cover, which helps, but it is only going to get warmer as we make our way north to the Equator.'

Hull & Humber's skipper, Piers Dudin, disagrees that it will be a drag race to the scoring gate which, thus far in Clipper 09-10, they have found to be a rich fishing ground.

He and his team have chosen to take a cautious approach and he admits this has cost them a few miles. But, he says, 'Fortunately the route isn't just a straight line drag and there is plenty of opening for some serious mileage to be re-won. The mood on board is upbeat, despite our position. We're still making (and learning from!) simple mistakes which occasionally set us back, but that's the way it goes, especially with so much going on. With less than three days until the scoring gate our ten-mile deficit on the leading pack already seems a tall order but with the wind direction as it is, playing the shifts will be crucial.'

While the other teams have had a busy 24 hours, the report from Spirit of Australia's skipper this morning paints, by contrast, a picture of serenity on board.

Brendan Hall says, 'The sailing has thus far been straightforward and fast, reaching with our spinnakers. We were lucky to get an easy start out of Geraldton so the usual sea-sickness issues have not happened, to the relief of all. The temperature is steadily rising and it's marginal if it is more comfortable to be down below in the shade and heat or up on deck in the sun and wind. This is only going to get worse as we go further north towards the Equator.'

Fortunately those playing the Clipper Virtual Race online at www.clipperroundtheworld.com have no need to worry about sunscreen, seasickness or spinnaker wraps as sail changes are made at the click of a mouse! Almost 75,000 people worldwide are playing the game - and it's not too late to sign up and pit your virtual sailing skills against
those taking part in the real thing.

POSITIONS AT 1200 UTC, TUESDAY 5 JANUARY

1 Cape Breton Island DTF 1646
2 Spirit of Australia DTF 1650 DTL +3
3 Cork DTF 1651 DTL +5
4 California DTF 1654 DTL +8
5 Hull & Humber DTF 1661 DTL +15
6 Jamaica Lightning Bolt DTF 1664 DTL +17
7 Team Finland DTF 1665 DTL +18
8 Qingdao DTF 1668 DTL +21
9 Uniquely Singapore DTF 1676 DTL +29
10 Edinburgh Inspiring CapitalDTF 1692 DTL +46

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