Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - Derry-Londonderry crosses Equator

by Heather Ewing on 27 Aug 2011 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 2011-2012 second race in leg one, which started in Madeira and will finish in Rio De Janeiro, is currently underway. All ten of the 68-foot yachts are now in the Southern Hemisphere.

Derry-Londonderry finally managed to shake free of the chains keeping her in the north and has joined the rest of the fleet on a southerly trajectory.

'Hooray!' writes skipper, Mark Light, in his morning report to the Race Office. 'At last we have crossed into the Southern Hemisphere! At 0035UTC we toasted King Neptune with a tot of Irish whiskey and asked him for safe passage down into the south and all the way back to the north until we have the pleasure of meeting him again. We gave him his very own small bottle of Kilbeggan Traditional Irish Whiskey, a packet of ginger nuts and the daily ration of chocolate from the crew. I know that he is due to come aboard with his loyal assistant Davy Jones at 1500UTC to decide whether 18 Pollywogs (people who have not crossed the Equator) will become his loyal subjects and Shellbacks (people who have crossed) after paying their dues.'

So, as we leave King Neptune stocktaking his haul of gifts from the 180 crew and skippers who have crossed the Equator in the last four days, attention turns to the Ocean Sprint time trial which has now been completed by three teams: Gold Coast Australia, Welcome to Yorkshire and Singapore. Four others – New York, Visit Finland, De Lage Landen and Geraldton Western Australia – are in the midst of it while two more – Edinburgh Inspiring Capital and Qingdao – should reach the latitude of 5 degrees south today to begin their timed sprint. Derry-Londonderry is a little way off yet but they have as much chance as the other teams of picking up the bonus point for the fastest passage.

New York crew member, Andrew Priest, who works in executive search in his everyday life, has lately been hunting down a different target with his team mates – the leading three boats. He reports, 'New York is currently scorching a path down the Brazilian coast as we take advantage of strong, consistent south-easterly trade winds. We are now halfway through the Ocean Sprint – a timed passage by each boat as it crosses between the latitude lines of 5 degrees and 10 degrees south. Each boat, no matter where it stands in the overall race from Madeira to Rio, has an equal chance to score the point for the fastest boat in this sprint and we on New York are keen to show that over a straight line we are as fast, if not faster, than any boat in the pack.

'Flying our largest Yankee headsail and staysail, despite winds sometimes gusting over 25 knots of apparent breeze, means the Clipper 68 is often heeled over strongly, leading to plenty of challenges both on and below deck, but we are particularly keen to show our boat speed having spent a few days last week stuck going nowhere in the Doldrums.

'Stamina is everything on this leg down to Rio which started two weeks ago when we left Madeira in similarly strong breeze. Those two weeks have seen us join the initial sprint down towards the Canary Islands with the rest of fleet, before we headed much further east than other boats, preferring to chance our hand on the onshore African wind rather than the sometimes fickle trade winds as they enter the Doldrums. As it was the lead three boats made it through the Doldrums unscathed while New York was held up on a number of occasions. That now feels like months back and the last four or five days has been spent in the consistent trade winds with speeds averaging ten knots or more.'

Visit Finland also took the unconventional easterly route that had us glued to the Race Viewer, wondering how the tactic would work out. Currently lying in fifth place, skipper, Olly Osborne, says his crew now have the Ocean Sprint set firmly in their sights.

'A bright and starlit morning sees us heading into the Ocean Sprint zone which has given the crew a new focus and they are trimming well. We will not know if we have been successful for a few days yet but it is good to be making the miles in the right direction.

'Until now the weather has been fairly unpredictable with some severe squalls which reduce visibility to zero and make the breeze very fluky. These are a good opportunity for the crew to have a wash, though, as they generally bear torrents of warm tropical rain, so everyone keeps their shampoo on deck now!'

Will Geraldton Western Australia’s new culinary concoction from crew member, Alvaro Nolasco, a banker from Spain, increase their speed through the Ocean Sprint which they started at 2215 last night?

It certainly seems to have given a boost to morale, according to skipper, Juan Coetzer, who says, 'We have a new drink on board and it is best served cold: chocolate milkshakes. This brilliant idea came from Alvaro. Basic ingredients are: powdered hot chocolate, powdered milk, H2O from our fine water maker, all mixed up in a five-litre container and left to chill in the fridge. It is a great substitute for the lack of chocolate.'

The most recent arrival in the Ocean Sprint zone is De Lage Landen whose skipper, Mat Booth, reported at 0600, 'I'm pleased with our progress right now. The last sched saw us take back that place we lost to Geraldton Western Australia. We've also narrowed our lead on Qingdao which is now down to just eight miles. We're keeping an eye behind too; Edinburgh Inspiring Capital is putting in some good speed but we're quietly confident we can hold them off. Neptune was a little late arriving last night as we found ourselves changing sails and reefing with conditions building. However, when he did arrive, a most amusing time was had.'

Below 10 degrees south the first three yachts to complete their time trial are now making best speed for Rio, where the first arrival is now anticipated sometime on Wednesday 31 August.

Gold Coast Australia is still leading the charge, having completed their Ocean Sprint in a time of 31 hours six minutes and 31 seconds with an average speed of 9.6 knots.

Skipper, Richard Hewson, says, 'Considering the arduous conditions, we are very proud of our efforts and challenge any other yacht in the fleet to beat our time. With the Ocean Sprint out of the way there is only one goal remaining: the big one – Rio. Gold Coast Australia crew sat down for our usual happy hour where we discussed teamwork – a group of individuals working together to achieve a common goal. I think Gold Coast Australia has a fantastic team, we are working well and everybody is happy, however as we get closer to Rio I am expecting the wind to become light and fickle allowing the following yachts to catch up.

'The next few days are going to be challenging but excitement is already building about getting to Rio and we will sail very hard to defend our lead against Welcome to Yorkshire and Singapore.'

Welcome to Yorkshire’s skipper is also aware that, as they get closer to their goal, routing becomes a delicate balance. 'The wind has dropped a little but we are holding our own on leaders Gold Coast Australia and the rest of the fleet, whilst pulling out a handy lead of 39 miles over Singapore,' comments Rupert Dean.

'The challenge now is to maintain our performance and improve our position by not going too close inshore and losing wind and advantageous current and, equally, not going too far offshore and adding unnecessary distance.'

It’s a lesson learned all too painfully by the Singapore team in the last 24 hours and described – through gritted teeth – by skipper, Ben Bowley.

'And it was all going so well until the wind shifted... Yesterday was a fine day of general activity aboard the Singapore Sling Shot. Sails were changed efficiently to suit varying conditions, helms kept the boat in the sweet spot, trimmers ensured all the sails were pulling as hard as they could, navigators plotted our and our rivals' progress, mothers prepared tasty nutritious meals; all was good. Then in the late afternoon a wind shift came through heading us quite badly; nothing unusual there, 30 degree shifts being common place in these parts. However it became apparent that after an hour the breeze was not going to lift us back on course. This was combined with a decrease in wind speed the result of which was us giving away 70nm to Welcome to Yorkshire by the time we had clawed our way back off shore into steadier wind.'
If you look at Singapore’s trail on the Race Viewer you can see quite clearly exactly where it happened.

'I was (and to be honest still am) livid at the stark unfairness of the situation but that is always the chance with yacht racing that sometimes the weather gods deal you a rather poor hand. It appears that, by remaining about 30nm further offshore, Welcome to Yorkshire missed this nasty, shifty little hole and sailed clean past us into a comfortable second place. Gutted.
'The mood on the boat is now one of subdued determination to keep on plugging, keep the boat moving as best we can and hope that by the law of averages some minor issue affects one of the two boats in front in the next 1,000nm causing them to drop off the pace long enough for us to retake our position. Other than that it is a case of having to sail half a knot faster than them consistently for the next 80 hours; not impossible, but quite a tall ask!

'Generally though everyone aboard is loving life and fully settled into life on the ocean wave (apart from the skipper fuming at the flakiness of the weather gods). We are also delighted to still be very much in the running for a podium position after all the troubles we have had on this race. Fingers crossed the steering repair holds for the next 1,000nm and we don't need the heavy spinnaker!'

Approaching the start of the Ocean Sprint Qingdao’s skipper, Ian Conchie, is in upbeat mood this morning, reporting, 'All the different strategies are starting to play out now and with every position report we are conscious of the time we lost waiting for the wind to back. We have lost places to New York and Visit Finland but now we are pushing hard to maintain sixth place. But with Geraldton Western Australia and Edinburgh Inspiring Capital coming in from the east it’s going to be hard work. But who said this had to be easy?'

As they close in on Qingdao and the rest of the mid-fleet pack, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital’s skipper reports a tough night, with 'multiple visits from the chafe monster.' But, says Gordon Reid, his team has been buoyed by a message from the ‘other’ Edinburgh.

'A big thanks goes out to HMS Edinburgh and her crew as this morning I received an email from the ship’s Commanding Officer offering his support and best wishes. It's good to know we have their support, even from the remotest places on the planet, and perhaps our paths may cross as we race south after Rio.

'We are thriving in the strong south easterly trades, still showing the wind the maximum amount of upwind sail we have: full main sail, Yankee No1 and the good old stay-sail all on display and trimmed to perfection by our ever diligent ocean racers. Trucking at around eleven knots, and sometimes more as we ride the wind shifts, some might call this champagne sailing and it's hard to imagine any better place on the planet right now. We are having a ball!

'Our recent 12 hour runs have been outstanding and we are fast approaching the latitude of 05.00.00S for the start of the Ocean Sprint. Even without altering our rumb line course to Rio we are still doing eleven knots. If we free off a little we will easily go faster so we’re looking forward to even more speed from the purple beastie.

'As I sit here reviewing weather information and navigational considerations nearer the coastline (doing skipperly stuff!), the smell of freshly brewed coffee is drifting into the navigation station, another coffee is on its way in my mug with a message on it: ‘Your attitude determines our longitude.’'

Positions at 0900 UTC, Saturday 27 August
Boat / DTF*
1 Gold Coast Australia / 798nm
2 Welcome to Yorkshire / 861nm (+63nm DTL**)
3 Singapore / 902nm (+104nm)
4 New York / 1,143nm (+345nm)
5 Visit Finland / 1,206nm (+408nm)
6 Qingdao / 1,295nm (+497nm)
7 De Lage Landen / 1,296nm (+498nm)
8 Geraldton Western Australia / 1,308nm (+510nm)
9 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital / 1,357nm (+559nm)
10 Derry-Londonderry / 1,486nm (+688nm)

DTF* = Distance to Finish, DTL** = Distance to Leader. Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found here.

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