Clipper 09-10 Race 10- Tactics and the Bermuda Triangle

by Clipper Ventures PLC on 27 May 2010 Clipper 09-10 Race 10 – Jamaica to New York Update: The race viewer today has revealed the tactical decision made by each of the ten teams as they make their way past the Bahamas and out into open ocean. Only three teams, including yesterday's race leaders Spirit of Australia, along with Team Finland and California, opted for the westerly course around Crooked Island, a decision that appears to have been their undoing with the leader-board being turned on its head once more.

Having dropped from first to sixth place Spirit of Australia's skipper, Brendan Hall, remains philosophical, saying, 'A great night last night, where we crept up and overtook our friends on Team Finland. It was all looking good until this afternoon, when we found ourselves in a nice wind hole and watched the Finns sail back past us. It's very frustrating to see, but one must be philosophical about these things. We've sailed past plenty of boats parked in holes over the last eight months, so it's just our turn today.'

For the Finnish entry it's also been an eventful 24 hours as they chase rain clouds in order to benefit from their associated winds.

'We had chosen our gap in the islands to leave Acklins Island and Crooked Island to starboard with Spirit of Australia making the same decision in front and California following suite,' explains Team Finland's skipper Rob McInally. 'We wriggled up the coast of the picturesque Acklins Island and made steady gains on Spirit of Australia and managed to sail past them, but only just. After a fairly long wait, seeing California catching us all the time doing six knots while we did zero, we managed to adopt a rain cloud that we could hear pounding the sea before we could feel its wind. '

'The crew worked with great determination to make the most of the winds provided. Unfortunately the cloud outran us so the sprint along Crooked Island was short lived but has opened a gap between both ourselves and Spirit of Australia. We are now back in a wind hole wondering what the latest chapter in the race has provided for the rest of the fleet on the other side of the island.'

This latest chapter in Race 10 has ended with the seven boats which chose the easterly route coming up trumps. In his report to the race office the skipper of Hull & Humber, Justin Taylor, describes his reason for leaving the Acklins Island to port.

'The decision to take this route and not the more traditional Crooked Island Passage was due to the dying and veering breeze,' explains Taylor. 'We have been able to tight reach with our kite all day.'

'The immediate mission now is to keep Qingdao and Cape Breton Island behind us whilst we reel in Edinburgh Inspiring Capital. I have just been woken up because there is a huge squall behind us with a tremendous amount of lightning. A spectacular light show but I hope it misses us - it's just occurred to me that we are in the Bermuda Triangle now.'

Things are exceedingly close on the east side of the Bahamas and Chris Stanmore-Major's team on board Qingdao is just as focussed and determined to keep ahead of their nearest competitors.

'An incredible race is unfolding out here in the Caribbean as we press north towards New York,' says Stanmore-Major. 'Conditions are light with each turn of the wheel and tweak of the sail having huge effect on our speed. Cape Breton Island have been a constant source of concern all day as they marched up on us with a speed and course we just seemed unable to match until this evening. With them alongside and threatening to leave us for dead we suddenly found the right gear and were able to hold position and not lose further hard-won miles.'

'To our left, line abreast, is the green starboard light of Cape Breton Island, to our right and no more than a mile away is Edinburgh Inspiring Capital's red light, and on the horizon ahead is the white top light of Uniquely Singapore. It's the early hours here but there'll be no sleep tonight for this skipper - its New York or bust for the Dragon Wagon.'

Just managing to keep their nose ahead of Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, Qingdao and Hull & Humber is the Canadian team led by Jan Ridd. For the Weymouth-based skipper the last 24-hours have delivered very mixed conditions, describing it as a day of swings and roundabouts in his report to the race office.

'24 hours ago the mood was pretty low on board,' says Ridd. 'We had sailed into a light wind area south of Cuba and struggled to lay the mark in the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti and saw most of the fleet sail past us and gain significant mileage. It was a bitter pill to swallow as in one day we slipped from the front of the fleet all the way to the back and found ourselves more than 40 miles behind the race leaders.'

'We were determined not to give up and set ourselves the first target of keeping Jamaica Lighting Bolt behind us - they are one of closest competitors and always very hard to beat. We then started hunting for the boats ahead of us and soon we had our sights set on Qingdao, who we have enjoyed a close battle with all day. We are now almost clear of the
Bahamas and have Uniquely Singapore who was the lead boat in the last schedule firmly in our sights.'

Meanwhile, the stop start conditions are also being felt on the other side of the Bahamas as the American entry's skipper, Pete Rollason explains.

'A fantastic days sailing on board California, having made great gains on Spirit of Australia and Team Finland,' reports Pete. 'However, it all came to an abrupt end about an hour ago when the wind died and we parked up within sight of our two rivals. We are all battling to find a way out of this wind hole.'

Jamaica Lightning Bolt has also seen their fortunes change for the worse despite choosing the more favourable route to the east of the Bahamas.

Skipper Pete Stirling says, 'After a good start to the race from Jamaica to New York we find ourselves languishing back in ninth place. This morning we had both Cape Breton Island and Qingdao in sight just ahead of us. However such are the very fickle winds in this part of the world that both yachts managed to pull away from us as they found stronger breeze. Ever since, we have been struggling to keep a decent speed and course. Just as we thought the wind was beginning to settle in from a consistent direction it changed again leaving us struggling to keep the boat moving.'

For the team on board Uniquely Singapore, who now find themselves at the opposite end of the leaderboard to Jamaica Lighting Bolt, there is no time to relax as the hot breath of Qingdao's dragon can be felt breathing down their necks.

'It has been an exciting last 24 hours on Singas as we have seen our position climb up the ranks till we were first at the last sched,' reports the team's skipper Jim Dobie. 'Our route through the Bahamas seems to have paid off and with fickle winds the crew have been kept busy with numerous sail changes. Although frustratingly, as I write this Qingdao is approaching fast behind us doing eight knots in a seemingly different wind pattern to us as we can only struggle forwards at about four knots. So every gain is short lived and with the wind set for light conditions over the next few days the fleet could bunch up again.'

One team which won't benefit from the light conditions is Cork. Their Challenge 67 is considerably heavier than the Clipper 68s and is clearly suffering despite having more than five hours in lieu. Their current position based on their corrected IRC rating puts them in approximately eighth or ninth place. This has been exacerbated by a late decision to tack yesterday and has seen the Irish entry lose more miles on the rest of the fleet.

Cork's skipper, Hannah Jenner, remains upbeat in this morning's report, saying, 'We have just entered the Bermuda Triangle in style escorted by a giant squall cloud carrying way too much rain, the kind that starts refreshing and ends up freezing. Still spirits are high and we are hoping for some more favourable conditions that will suit our heavier boat. Quite a few headsail changes have gone on as we change gears to suit the conditions and we have had the light weight kite up meaning that all of our spinnakers have now seen the light of day and all look great!'

Positions at 0900 UTC, Thursday 27 May

 

Boat	Distance to finish	Distance to leader
1 Uniquely Singapore	1001nm
2 Cape Breton Island	1004nm	3nm
3 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital	1007nm	6nm
4 Qingdao	1007nm	6nm
5 Hull & Humber	1012nm	11nm
6 Spirit of Australia	1021nm	20nm
7 Team Finland	1022nm	21nm
8 California	1024nm	23nm
9 Jamaica Lightning Bolt	1030nm	29nm
10 Cork	1060nm	59nm

www.clipperroundtheworld.com