Clipper Round the World Yacht Race – Visit Finland takes second

by Heather Ewing on 26 Nov 2011 Clipper 2011-12 Round the World Yacht Race fleet continue on day twenty of race five, from Western Australia to New Zealand.

Despite a nail-biting and frustrating finish for Gold Coast Australia, the team has secured their fifth consecutive victory into Tauranga and remains unbeaten to date in the biennial fifteen race series.

Beating into a strong north westerly breeze after sustaining mainsail damage in the Bay of Plenty, the team led by Tasmanian skipper, Richard Hewson, crossed the finish line at 0326 local time on Friday 25 November (1426 UTC Thursday, 24).

Gold Coast Australia led from the start of the 3,800-mile stage, which set out from Geraldton, Western Australia, on 6 November and has seen all ten teams face the full fury of Mother Nature as they raced across the Southern Ocean, riding out storms and surfing waves as tall as buildings.

But, as they closed in on the finish line, the brakes went on for the front runners as they dealt with headwinds and had to watch helplessly as the chasing pack closed down their lead.

As they rounded the East Cape, just 100 miles from the finish line, disaster struck as they damaged their mainsail, forcing the team to complete the race under a much reduced sail plan adding to the tension.

Arriving in Tauranga Bridge Marina, the fleet’s base for the next ten days, Richard said, 'The whole race was really hard. After we left Geraldton, we got around Cape Leeuwin and it was on. Basically it was blowing over 40 knots the whole time or we were becalmed. There was nothing in between. The gusts seemed to last hours at a time.

'As we came around the East Cape we had a fair bit on and the other boats were catching us. With that bunch of five boats so close together we could easily have gone from first to sixth place if we didn’t get everything in order so I’m really happy. The crew dug really deep and I’m very proud of them. It’s nice to have another pennant.'

Following their latest triumph, Gold Coast Australia’s winning streak equals that of Ras Turner and his crew on Ariel in the first edition of the event, Clipper 96. The team will now have the record of six consecutive wins held by Clipper 98 winning skipper, Alex Thomson, in their sights. Richard Hewson and his team would have to win into their home port Gold Coast to match Alex’s record and then into Singapore to beat it.

The Gosport-based skipper who led his team on Ariel to a commanding victory in the second edition of the race winning 13 of the 16 races, recently finished this year’s Transat Jacques Vabre transatlantic race from Le Havre to Costa Rica in second place with Spanish co-skipper, Guillermo Altadill.

Visit Finland, skippered by Chichester-based skipper, Olly Osborne, was the next boat to cross the finish line in race five of Clipper 11-12, claiming second place when they crossed the line at 0902 UTC (2202 local) today.

In sixth place just four days ago, the Finnish team has climbed their way through the ten-strong fleet to complete the 3,800-mile in second place.

Olly and his crew have put in another impressive performance to secure their third podium place in Clipper 11-12, and as they crossed the finish line in darkness they will have been relieved to know that their latest result will be enough to keep the team in second place overall.

Arriving in Tauranga Bridge Marina to join the Gold Coast Australia team, Olly said, 'It’s been a pretty full on few days, trying to find our way round East Cape. I think we found ourselves in a good place and the weather was so unpredictable that it was a little bit of luck of the draw and just a whole lot of perseverance.

'We had a pretty good run down the Australian coast and down into the Forties with the big following seas but I really had no idea it was going to be so tough getting up the coast of New Zealand. It was insane.

'We’re really, really happy. At one stage during this race I would have been happy to just get here but to be in second is a real result for us and it wasn’t something I’d anticipated really until a few days ago until we saw the little window of opportunity and went for it,' he said.

New York is battling to be the next team over the line to collect the final podium spot for the Clipper Race’s historic first visit to New Zealand.

Skipper, Gareth Glover, said that the Bay of Plenty lived up to its name with the wind increasing to 30 knots gusting 40 as they rounded the East Cape.

'Just as we came around the [East] Cape we were very close to Visit Finland and Derry-Londonderry and we had to tack twice to miss them as we were on port,' he said, noting that after 20 days of racing everything is set to be decided in the last 50 miles.

New York has been handicapped by damage to their mainsail, steering issues and, most recently, power issues. 'I think New York is saying she needs a rest just like the crew,' Gareth said.

However, despite the challenges, the New York crew will be reflecting on all they have to be grateful for on this Thanksgiving weekend as they race around the world crossing oceans and experiencing different cultures.

Joe Daniels, President and CEO of the 9/11 Memorial, the New York crew’s chosen charity, sent a Thanksgiving message in which he said it was a tremendous honour to open the place of remembrance at the World Trade Center site in September.

'We are also thankful for the incredible support of people like you, who share our dedication to honouring the nearly 3,000 lives taken too soon in the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and 26 February 1993. The opening of the Memorial could not have happened without your generosity. We simply can't thank you enough for your commitment to this national tribute,' he said.

Each of the ten Clipper teams supports a charity of their choice and many of the skippers and crew are currently raising awareness and funds for prostate and testicular cancer charities by growing their facial hair for Movember, the international moustache growing season.

Meanwhile, on De Lage Landen, Stuart Jackson is reflecting on what has been a 'far more demanding leg than expected' for many of the crew.

'We are still bashing away in 30-plus knots of wind, which of course is blowing from exactly the direction we need to go and pretty much sums up the whole leg,' Stuart said, as he closed in on Tauranga this morning.

'After working tirelessly and the crew are now due a good rest, some good food and some cold beers,' he added.

De Lage Landen, a global provider of asset-based financing programmes, was shortlisted as a finalist for European Sponsor Award this week for their sponsorship of the Dutch entry in Clipper 11-12.

The company was shortlisted for the European Sponsorship Association’s Business to Employee Award 2011 for their involvement as a Team Sponsor to connect their employees in 35 countries through its ‘De Lage Landen embraces the world’ project. The ESA said it was significant that eight De Lage Landen employees were participating in the race and acting as true internal ambassadors for global connectivity.

Peter Klomp, De Lage Landen’s project manager for their Clipper 11-12 sponsorship, said, 'The nomination confirmed that our company’s decision to invest in our people, despite challenging macro-economical times, has been a right one. Because we sincerely believe that a connected and happy workforce is more effective in creating long lasting global partnerships with our customers.'

Back on the race course, the team on Derry-Londonderry had a 'very tough night' with strong headwinds as they continued to beat to the finish, according to skipper, Mark Light.

The Northern Irish entry slipped down from second place into fifth as they hoved to in order to change down from their damaged mainsail to the smaller storm tri-sail as conditions worsened through the night with a building sea state and 45-knot gusts.

'While we were hove to we saw New York's masthead light as they passed by us in the darkness. With our storm sail up we made drastically reduced progress until daylight this morning when we once again fixed the third reef and hauled up our main,' Mark said.

Mark accepts that his team now faces a 'huge challenge' to try to claim the final podium spot, which would be a first for Derry-Londonderry. But having worked 'tirelessly throughout the race', his crew remains motivated and continues to do all they can to secure their first top-three finish.

On board Qingdao, following their acceptance of the offer of ninth place for Race 5 from the Race Committee to ensure they arrive in Tauranga with enough time to prepare for the next race, skipper Ian Conchie reports the team has been greeted with 'beautiful scenery and some lovely sailing' before head winds arrived that necessitated them to motor.

The team is enjoying the view and using the time to work on the boat as they approach the East Cape. 'We should round East Cape tonight and then arrive hopefully ready for a welcome beer tomorrow night,' Ian said.

Day 11 of race five saw Singapore divert to Queenscliff at the mouth of Port Phillip Bay near Melbourne to fix their broken primary steering system. Skipper Ben Bowley and the team retired in order to ensure they could get to New Zealand in plenty of time to prepare for race six and resume racing from Tauranga to Gold Coast.

Ben reports that the team has been admiring the sights and smells of the 'spectacular scenery along this stretch of coast' as they round Cape North.

'Jagged harsh cliffs disturb the prevailing winds and this calls for timely and astute sail evolutions to ensure we don’t get caught with the wrong sails up. It’s an excellent opportunity to get the feel of this piece of coastline before our race to Gold Coast,' Ben said.

'Having been beset by so much misfortune in the last month team Singapore fully intends to race hard and fast in the coming sprint back to Australia. The last week from Queenscliff has given us all the chance to reflect on improvements we can make and reason that, surely by virtue of amount of wood touched, backstays scratched and lucky charms rubbed, we cannot fail to have a better race on the next one!' he added.

Singapore and Qingdao are expected to arrive in Tauranga on Saturday evening and Sunday morning (local times) respectively.

After a great day of sailing yesterday on the final approach to Tauranga, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital’s skipper, Gordon Reid, reported 'testing times' as the team struggled with relentless winds and a snapped third reefing pennant.

'The wind and sea have been relentless all night and all day, the wind is seldom below 30 knots and gusting up to 50 regularly. In the upwind scenario, it's a bit splishy and splashy. We have the storm jib and staysail up as well as a generous amount of mainsail. The boat is nicely balanced but we just can't point very high, so we’re doing lots of tacking and sometimes making painfully slow progress particularly when we’re heading straight into some fairly tasty waves,' Gordon said.

Juan Coetzer and his team raced under the cloak of invisibility on board Geraldton Western Australia yesterday as they entered Stealth Mode. The tactic paid off as the team has made up good ground with 25 miles between them and current third place contenders, New York, jostling in a close race that sees the team hot on the heels of Derry-Londonderry and De Lage Landen.

'The wind gods must have been kind to us, as we made up loads of ground. In the early hours of the morning we picked up De Lage Landen. At this stage we had just changed to the Yankee 2 as the wind was on the increase. All of a sudden we had 35 knots. At the same time the Yankee 1 decided to go for a swim overboard so we dropped the Yankee 2, hoved to, gathered the Yankee 1 back on board and carried on racing with only five miles separating us from them all day,' Juan reports.

'As we approached White Island, the stopper for our staysail exploded. So currently we are watching De Lage Landen sail away into the distance. I now know why they call this the Bay of Plenty - we currently have 45 knots of wind - which is plenty, so hold on Tauranga here we come!' Juan added.

After emerging from Stealth Mode, there is frustration on board Welcome to Yorkshire for skipper Rupert Dean and team as their bid to veil their tactics has been thwarted by all the Bay of Plenty has to offer with its unforgiving winds, seeing the team slip from fourth position in the fleet down to seventh.

For one of the victorious crew on Gold Coast Australia, the experience of winning was particularly emotional as he sailed into his homeland having fulfilled an ambition held for more than three decades.

Fred Tooley, a retail assistant from Auckland, said, 'My wife said, ‘You’ve wanted to do this for the last 35 years – go and do it.’ One of our friends said this is costing a lot of money but money is absolutely nothing to the way I feel right now.

'My wife will never ever know – not because I won’t tell her – she’ll just never know what she’s done for me. I’m having a little cry even now! I try to put it into words and all I can say is, this is something else. If there’s anybody thinking about it, don’t think about it, just go and do it! It’s the only way you’re going to know how I feel right now,' Fred said.

Back at Clipper’s headquarters in Gosport, a record number of prospective crew are attending interviews to take part in Clipper 13-14 today. A total of 17 people from the UK, the Netherlands and Australia are finding out more about participating in the world’s longest yacht race, and taking the first steps towards taking on their own challenge of a lifetime.

'We hold crew presentations and interviews all year round at various locations around the world as well as back at our base here on the south coast in the UK. As today’s record numbers prove, interest is at an all time high with the new fleet of twelve Clipper 70s set to line up for the start of Clipper 13-14,' Crew Recruitment Manager, David Cusworth, said.

Throughout December, David will be holding a series of crew recruitment sessions in Australia and New Zealand.

New York is expected to finish race five off Tauranga not before 0400 on Saturday 26 November, De Lage Landen not before 0700, Derry-Londonderry not before 0800 and Geraldton Western Australia is expected to finish around an hour later. All times local (UTC + 13) and further estimated arrival times to be published in due course.

Positions at 0900 UTC, Friday 25 November
Boat - DTF*
1 Gold Coast Australia - Finished 1426 UTC 24 November
2 Visit Finland - Finished 0902 UTC 25 November
3 New York - 37nm(+37nm)
4 De Lage Landen - 51nm (+51nm)
5 Derry-Londonderry - 55nm (+55nm) position 0800 UTC
6 Geraldton Western Australia - 62nm (+62nm)
7 Welcome to Yorkshire - 77nm (+77nm)
8 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital - 104nm (+104nm)
9 Singapore - 138nm position 0600 UTC (retired)
10 Qingdao - 208nm (finished ninth place)

DTF* = Distance to Finish. Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found online.

www.clipperroundtheworld.com" target="_blank">Clipper Round the World Yacht Race website