Clipper 09-10- Jamaica Lightning Bolt hits the front and being chased

by Clipper Ventures on 12 Jan 2010 In the words of Hull & Humber skipper, Piers Dudin: 'What a day! It seems like the wind gods have found a new game - rearranging the order of the Clipper fleet!'

Overnight the leader board seems to have turned on its head with Team Finland making a dash for the front of the pack. The fleet is incredibly close and this morning just 12 miles separated the top eight boats.

Piers continues, 'Having five other boats all within sight, all pretty much in a line is quite an event! We've been trimming well, full time, throwing in gybes and peels hourly now it seems. We were unlucky to get pulled under a big cloud where the wind varied so much we had to take down the kite and try to shake out of its grasp, which took a few hours. All we seem to talk about nowadays is boat speed, wind speed, compass heading, wind direction...'

California is one of the five boats in a row and Pete Rollason, skipper of the US entry, says, 'During the night we had visual on five other boats and that continued into this morning. At present I can see Cork, Uniquely Singapore and Cape Breton Island. We are pleased with the gains we have made and expect to see a change in positions at the next sched. It is great that after eight days racing the boats are so close and it just shows that it is all to play for. The wind is quite fickle and even boats fairly close together can have very different conditions which means being on the ball the whole time and squeezing every bit of speed from the boat.'

Team Finland's run for the front has been in the planning for some time - the Race Viewer has been showing them out west with Jamaica Lightning Bolt, for whom the tactic proved so valuable.

The clouds in the Equatorial zones continue to herald unpredictably strong wind - or none whatsoever - which makes maintaining boat speed a frustrating and tough job as the crews make change after change to the sail plan.

Team Finland's skipper, Rob McInally, says, 'The clouds gave us a merry dance. Our march to the north was halted a number of times when the clouds turned the elements on us and sent little or lots of wind from the north. This only allowed us to sail east or west. We made our choices in an effort to find an exit from the mass above. It was not until daylight that we got back into the groove we so badly needed. West was always our choice and the gate of little interest. We hoped for a free run as Jamaica Lightning Bolt has so well demonstrated but, alas, the elements denied us.

'The morning has seen a number of large clouds come and go. Sailing is up and down and this morning the stay sail went up four times and down three. The windseeker made two up and downs. The Yankee 2 has had an up and down and our spinnaker that is currently up is on its third visit to the top for the morning.'

Whatever they are doing is clearly working as Team Finland and Jamaica Lightning Bolt race neck and neck, just five miles ahead of their closest rivals. Jamaica Lightning Bolt led for a while yesterday. Skipper Peter Stirling takes up the story, explaining, 'The 'Lightning Bolt' charge ground to a standstill last night as we ran into the huge wind hole sitting between us and the Sunda Straits. The good news is that all the other yachts have also run into the same unavoidable wind hole. We are still managing to just keep the boat moving at one to two knots but it requires enormous concentration and focus from the crew - not so easy when it is so damned hot!'

Qingdao is the third member of the westerly group and they are hoping today will be the day they move up the standings as well.

'Today really is the crunch for us here on Qingdao,' says skipper, Chris Stanmore-Major. 'Today in four slow steps we find out if the westing we put in our course earlier this week has paid off. The scheduled positions of the rest of the fleet show they are struggling with light airs to the east which should very much assist our move up the leader board. Unfortunately the winds we were forecast have not shown up to any real degree so our progress to the front of the fleet is somewhat more halting and uncertain than expected.'

Jamaica Lightning Bolt, Team Finland and Qingdao opted not to go for the Scoring Gate, preferring instead to target a podium finish in Singapore. Spirit of Australia may have scored three points for winning the race to the gate but their decision to go for the points there has left them floundering in light winds.

Skipper Brendan Hall says, 'It seems like the dream run we've been having over the last week is over. We got the gate, which was our number one priority, but in doing so positioned ourselves closer to the centre of a very light wind area. The last 24 hours have been very frustrating for us, with the dreaded lemons (0.0 knots on the speedo) making a comeback for several hours. When you are becalmed, your tactical options are zero, so it's best not to get wound up about it. All you can do is be patient, try and get the boat moving any way you can and wait for more wind.'

Cape Breton Island has done just that and the crew have seen their efforts rewarded, climbing back into second place. Skipper Jan Ridd says, 'All is very well after a very good nights sailing, both watches working very hard on sail trim and changing sails to keep the best boat speed at all times. We're seeing the fruits of a night's hard work as we are in amongst the fleet again. This morning we had four other boats in view and we seem to have passed a few.'

With just two miles separating third to seventh place it's likely that those positions will change numerous times to keep the crews - and those of us following the action from dry land - on tenterhooks!

Uniquely Singapore's skipper, Jim Dobie, says as much in his morning email to the Race Office. 'The big fat zero is what we were recording for some hours of the night, which as you can imagine is fairly frustrating and, added to the heat, makes it uncomfortable,' he writes. 'However we are not the only ones in the situation, apart from Jamaica Lightning Bolt who made a brilliant decision and clearly put themselves in a comfortable position. But even they lost the wind and, now the fleet has closed up again, it makes for an exciting race to Singapore. So we look hard for the wind, watch out for any threatening cells but also look at the clouds for wind, too. The next two days will be very interesting and we look forward to a bit of luck and some more breeze.'

The crew of Edinburgh Inspiring Capital are working hard to chase down the pack and close the gap on the leaders, despite the unbearable humidity. Matt Pike, skipper of the Scottish team, says, 'Fickle winds need constant attention on deck and changing from light to middle weight kite hardly allows time to pack one before it's back on deck for another change. But planning still pays its part and we eventually wiggled out of our wind hole and started to chase the fleet. Our gamble of staying west of Christmas Island paid off. The next challenge is to get ahead in the remaining 150nm to the Sunda Straits. The long wet night was only broken by a quick VHF chat with the Australian war ship guarding Christmas Island.'

The fleet will arrive at Marina at Keppel Bay, Singapore, on Saturday 23 January.

Positions At 1200 UTC, Monday 11 January 2010
(DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader)
1 Jamaica Lightning Bolt DTF 807
2 Cape Breton Island DTF 809 DTL +1
3 Spirit of Australia DTF 809 DTL +2
4 California DTF 811 DTL +4
5 Team Finland DTF 812 DTL +4
6 Hull & Humber DTF 816 DTL +8
7 Cork DTF 818 DTL +11
8 Uniquely Singapore DTF 822 DTL +15
9 Qingdao DTF 842 DTL +35
10 Edinburgh Inspiring CapitalDTF 847 DTL +40

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