Cape Breton Island begins Race 6 to Qingdao, China, after festive fare

by Clipper Ventures on 5 Feb 2010 Cape Breton Island, winner of Race 5 and one of the fleet of 68-foot ocean racing yachts competing in the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race set sail from Marina at Keppel Bay, Singapore, on Tuesday morning to a rousing send off featuring live music, a mass of flags and huge confetti cannons. The crew waved and clapped their appreciation from the boat as they made their final farewells and headed out to the Race 6 start line in the Singapore Straits.

After ten activity-filled days in Singapore the crews were eager, if a little nervous, to get back to sea for what is widely regarded as one of the most gruelling legs of Clipper 09-10.

Skipper of the Canadian entry, Dorset based Jan Ridd, said, “We are looking forward to getting down to business again. I intend to impress on my crew that this is less of a race and more safe passage making in testing conditions. They need to fully appreciate the conditions they are likely to face and be properly prepared for what is likely to be their toughest challenge so far.

“I have been concentrating on boat preparation and ensuring that we are ready to meet whatever the conditions chose to throw at us. Last night I was up late talking to skippers from previous races getting their advice and they called it three weeks of sailing; week one is not nice, the second week is worse and the third week is worse still. They all said to save yourself for the last week when it’s really cold, awful weather, terrible sea conditions.”

The 2,600-mile race will take them through extremes of weather with light winds and searing heat to begin, followed by strong headwinds and counter currents producing an extremely choppy sea state and bone-numbingly freezing weather as they beat their way north towards the Olympic sailing city of Qingdao.

Jan continues, “There will be a lot of different tactics leaving Singapore and I’d expect to the fleet to spread out quite a lot. Whoever calls the wind shifts right has the potential to gain a strong early lead but it won’t get properly sorted until we are near the north of Taiwan.”

Race 6 got underway at 1400 Singapore time (0600 GMT) with Hull & Humber leading the way across the start line in 5 knots of easterly breeze, closely followed by California, then the home favourite, Uniquely Singapore. Team Finland, Cape Breton Island and Jamaica Lightning Bolt were next, with Qingdao, Spirit of Australia and Edinburgh Inspiring Capital completing the order. But, with 2,600 miles to go to Qingdao, there is still plenty of time for the Cape Breton team to make their mark.

Crew member, Jane Filbee from Nova Scotia, said, “The last race was amazing; it was warm – and of course we won. Now I think everyone has a fair amount of apprehension wondering if it is going to be as cold and as rough as everyone says. We are all hoping we have enough gear and my first purchase in Singapore was a fleece blanket, my second purchase was something else warm which in 32 degrees seemed kind of crazy.

“As a Canadian, I’m hoping that everyone else is just soft and it’s not going to be that cold but we’ll see. I guess we will be beating a lot and, with a relatively shallow sea bed, it’s going to deliver short, choppy seas. I have a forward bunk so I’m steeling myself for a bouncy ride but again, we’ll wait and see. Moving around the boat is tough in those conditions as is sleeping. Getting airborne from your bunk every time you hit a big wave is not conducive to deep sleep, so sleep deprivation could be a challenge towards the end. But we are here to do it and will feel like we have accomplished something when it’s done.”

Cape Breton Island has also welcomed on board Orla Mellett, one of the Cork crew members whose yacht ran aground during the race to Singapore. Orla, from Galway, will race with Cape Breton Island until her replacement yacht arrives in Panama for the start of Race 9. With the other nine ocean racing yachts in the Clipper fleet, Cork will race into Kinsale, Co Cork, for the eight day stopover in Ireland in July.

A number of high ranking diplomats were at the departure ceremony, including Canada’s High Commissioner to Singapore, Ambassadors from Finland, Vietnam and France and the acting British High Commissioner to Singapore.

Serenading the teams ahead of their departure was local quintet, the Teng Ensemble, a group of musicians playing traditional Chinese instruments. ‘Teng’ in Chinese means ‘indescribable sound’.

Lunar New Year, perhaps the most celebrated of Chinese festivals, will take place while the yachts are at sea. As a symbol of good luck and happiness each of the crews was handed a box of oranges before they left the quayside.

Signalling the start of the boats’ departure, chairman of Keppel Corporation, Uniquely Singapore’s Team Sponsor and owner of Marina at Keppel Bay, Dr Lee Boon Yang, struck a huge gong and confetti cannons exploded with millions of pieces of orange and red confetti, the festive colours of Chinese New Year.

Mr Choo Chiau Beng, CEO of Keppel Corporation, said, “With the slew of activities and events over this 10-day Singapore stopover, it has been a time of building networks and fostering camaraderie as well as meaningful exchanges of experiences and culture.

“It is this goodwill and friendship as well as the global outlook and team spirit provided by the Clipper Race platform that Keppel continues to leverage, to share our values and build in our people.”

As each of the boat songs was played in turn, the yachts slipped their moorings and turned towards the crowds cheering and waving flags to wave farewell before reversing out and heading towards the Singapore Straits and the Race 6 start line.

William Ward, Chief Executive of Clipper Ventures, said, “The crew will be departing from here today with a host of happy memories. We have all been warmly welcomed and I add my thanks to those of the crews.

“I am pleased to say that we have also had a number of our international yacht sponsors in town who have used the Clipper Race stopover as a backdrop to generate business opportunities. These include our Canadian sponsors, Cape Breton Island, English sponsors, Welcome to Yorkshire, a Scottish delegation from Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, Ireland’s Cork and Finnish sponsors, Team Finland.

“All in all, it has been an exciting week. In fact, we have also received a good number of enquiries from Singaporeans interested in getting on board Uniquely Singapore for the next race and to train at Keppel’s Sailing Academy, KBSA – the only sailing centre outside of the UK which offers Clipper Training. In fact, the Academy will be training a number of these individuals taking part in Clipper 11-12 as of tomorrow.”

The Clipper Race is the only global ocean race open to people from all over the world, whatever their experience of sailing. Among those competing in Clipper 09-10 are taxi drivers, engineers, nurses, bankers, CEOs, florists and housewives. Berths are now available for Clipper 11-12. For more information on how to sign up, email oceanracer@clipperroundtheworld.com or visit the website, www.clipperroundtheworld.com.

The fleet is due to arrive in Qingdao between 19 and 22 February.