Clipper 09-10 - San Francisco to Panama - Day five

by Clipper Ventures PLC on 25 Apr 2010 Clipper 09-10 - San Francisco to Panama - Spirit of Australia has won the race to the Scoring Gate, claiming three points as the first team to cross the gate just off the Mexican coast.

As they approached the gate, skipper Brendan Hall reported to the race office, 'The heat on board is rising. The sun is partly to blame but it's mostly down to the proximity of the Scoring Gate. Team Finland is on the horizon and we have been mile-for-mile with them for two days now. The gate is under 50nm away now and both boats could still get it. The beautiful warm night, clear sky and full moon make a pleasant backdrop, but all our focus is on the sail trim and boat speed.'

As Spirit of Australia took the three points, it was nip and tuck between Team Finland and Qingdao to see who would claim the others. Team Finland triumphed, second through the scoring gate at 0937 UTC, just 48 minutes behind the Aussies.

Team Finland's skipper Rob McInally says, 'The sailing yet again today has been pretty spectacular. The wind has been from as low as eight knots to as high as 22 knots. The sky and sea are so very blue and the sun a reddening hot.'

'As we approach the Scoring Gate Spirit of Australia is just staying ahead. After a morning of spinnaker changing after a small nick in the foot appeared we have been unable to regain the small loss in miles which was the end result. We are sure the fleet will be closer together after the gate and hope we can stay in fair winds until Panama.'

Qingdao is closing in on the gate from a slightly different angle. Cork skipper, Hannah Jenner, is temporarily in charge on board the Dragon Wagon for race eight after Chris Stanmore-Major's flight back from the UK last week was grounded by the volcanic ash cloud.

She says, 'So we find ourselves amidst the mad dash for one of the much coveted Scoring Gate placings. The crew are fired up and giving it everything they have, visibly excited by the prospect of gaining their first ever scoring gate points. Every sched brings a fresh round of calculations on distances to the line while Jamaica Lightning Bolt periodically pops up on our AIS providing us with info on their course and speed which we are monitoring with great interest.'

'The sun has been shining out here today and, just like our layers of clothing, the spinnakers have gone through a series of peels. With the wind behind us it has been one of those days when it felt as if we could just keep sailing forever. I am slightly concerned that my adopted crew are descending into biscuit-induced madness. Having experienced a lack of the sugary treats on the last leg, the American supermarkets did them proud and we are chomping through about four giant packs of cookies per day. So much for losing weight at sea! Phrase of the day goes to Kate who, in a moment of positive sched delirium, announced that we were most definitely 'camping on gas'.'

'It's all about that scoring gate on Qingdao today!'

While Qingdao appears to have bested Jamaica Lightning Bolt in the race for the gate, the fleet may well bunch up again in the next 12 to 24 hours as the leading yachts reach the lighter winds ahead. Meanwhile, the chasing pack, including Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, has the benefit of the stronger winds for a while longer.

Skipper of the yacht representing Scotland's capital city, Matt Pike, says, 'Dawn in the Pacific brought our first change of spinnaker. Flying the heavyweight overnight, we went up to the larger medium weight which flew for 20 minutes until a small tear was noted. So down it came and back up went the heavyweight, the sewing team jumped to work and the medium weight was fixed in record time ready to change back. Alcatraz watch now has the boat record for a spinnaker change at just a shade under six minutes. The San Quentin watch had to work just as hard, sending Oli up the mast to replace a frayed halyard. Now fully powered up we are chasing the front runners whilst the wind holds before the next lull.'

While the other yachts are enjoying flying their spinnakers, Cape Breton Island's eagle has had her wings clipped for the last 48 hours. The track that allows the height of spinnaker poles to be adjusted where they clip on to the mast has broken and they are restricted to flying white sails.

Skipper Jan Ridd says, 'It took all our ingenuity and bodge-it engineering skills to come up with a solution that would us allow us to use the spinnaker poles again, a vital piece of equipment on this mostly downwind leg.'

'I worked through the night re engineering the sliding cars that attach the poles to the mast via a track allowing them to be set at any height. It would have been a difficult job onshore but nearly impossible with very limited tools on a violently rolling boat!'

'The next job was to repair the broken track running up the mast which involved several hours swinging from a halyard cutting away the damaged, twisted sections and making sure the remaining track is secure and safe. Whilst we were working on these repairs we could not sail as effectively downwind as the other boats so were forced to sail further west to create an angle to sail, which meant we had to sail considerably more miles but hopefully at a better speed.'

'We were so satisfied once the repairs were completed and relieved that we could get our boat back up to race speed again! Imagine the frustration and annoyance when, after half an hour of use, the crew observed the track starting to twist off the mast. It meant we had to drop the spinnaker and go back to sailing with white sails, far less effective but the only choice we had. We are still currently working on the track and it looks like we will be able to affect a strong enough repair. But all this time we are not sailing at our maximum speed - it is so frustrating.'

'We have had some good news though; even though our boat is partially disabled we do seem to be holding our own and even gaining some miles on some of the boats. Luckily we had created a sufficient angle on the wind for our white sails to be effective. Hopefully it should not be too long before we finish our repair so look out, we will soon be pushing really hard to get back at the front!'

Coming up on the inside of the race track is California who, according to Pete Rollason, have had a great night's sailing.

The skipper says, 'We are currently flying along under heavyweight spinnaker making an average boat speed of over 10 knots. The chase is on for California as we have dropped back from the leaders over the first few days of this race. This is due in part to us taking it steady to protect and bed in our new mast but, whatever the reason, our strategy which we planned from the start should begin to come into play over the next few days and we are hoping that we will claw back some miles against the leaders. We are nicely positioned further inshore than most of the fleet and believe that this will give us some added benefit as the winds should be stronger closer inshore on the Mexican coast. It is a beautiful starry night and all that can be heard from the deck are the whoops and cries, either due to better boat speed or the wondrous shooting stars.'

For the crew of Uniquely Singapore, success is measured not just by the team's position in the race, but by the progress of the crew and skipper, Jim Dobie, notes his long term crew are now skilled yachtsmen and women with a wealth of knowledge and well-honed techniques to pass on to their team mates who joined the boat in San Francisco.

Jim says, 'It's been glorious sailing today under our lightweight kite and the crew are loving it. It's good to see as we rotate the new leggers on the helm and get everyone used to helming with a kite and even more rewarding is seeing the worlders coaching the guys through the process. It shows how far these guys have progressed from the start that they can now teach someone how to helm under a spinnaker. This has always been the way on Uniquely Singapore and, with the Keppel 'Can Do!' attitude, we make sure everyone 'can do' most, if not all, the jobs.'

'As we face the reality of missing out on gate points we now look to the rest of the race and work out the best route using all the information we have about winds, current and local land effects. The great sailing we have now looks set for a few more days and will gradually lead us to unsettled winds and the tropics. So all is happy on board and we look forward to making gains and sailing her well.'

Positions at 0900 UTC, Sunday 25 April

 

Boat	Distance to finish	Distance to leader
1 Spirit of Australia	2181nm
2 Team Finland	2188nm	7nm
3 Qingdao	2198nm	17nm
4 Jamaica Lightning Bolt	2220nm	40nm
5 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital	2253nm	72nm
6 Cape Breton Island	2262nm	81nm
7 Hull & Humber	2310nm	129nm
8 California	2310nm	130nm
9 Uniquely Singapore	2331nm	150nm
10 Cork	Did not start

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