Clipper Round the World Race fleet battle in tough sailing conditions

by Ruth Harrington on 23 Jun 2012 Clipper 2011-12 Round the World Yacht Race fleet are on day eight of race thirteen from Nova Scotia to Derry-Londonderry. It has been another 24 hours of tough upwind sailing for the ten strong fleet of racing yachts. As the teams continue to fight it out in the toughest of sailing conditions brought on by a tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean, nothing could dampen the team’s determination to win valuable extra points at the Race 13 Scoring Gate.

Visit Finland, which is currently in second place on the overall leader board, was the third entry to reach the optional Scoring Gate yesterday to win the final point up for grabs.

As the remnants of tropical storm ‘Chris’ continue to dictate challenging upwind sailing conditions for most of the fleet, tactical decisions are never far from the teams’ minds. At 11.55 UTC yesterday Singapore entered into Stealth Mode, desperately chasing De Lage Landen for third place on the overall leader board.

For sixth placed Northern Ireland entry Derry-Londonderry skipper Mark Light described the harsh conditions, 'Last night was more about survival and self-preservation but today our focus is firmly back with racing and this is definitely a team game. The North Atlantic Ocean is an unforgiving place and not for the faint hearted. Looking at the weather ahead of us and the sheer amount of upwind sailing expected, I have made it clear to my crew that there will be further tough times ahead.'

Qingdao reached St John’s Newfoundland this morning so that crew member Lynn Harmer can receive a full medical assessment for a potential back injury. Lynn fell in heavy weather earlier this week and hit her head. After consulting with Falmouth, US and Canadian coastguards the skipper was recommended to divert to St John’s for a full medical assessment as a precautionary measure in case of spinal injury.

We have just heard that Lynn has no broken bones or nerve damage and is fit to continue. The crew will take the opportunity to top up the yacht's fuel tanks and leave St John's to resume racing as soon as possible this morning.

Today the fleet will be celebrating the ‘Summer Sailstice' - not to be confused with the solstice earlier this week. Summer Sailstice is a global celebration of sailing and is held on the weekend closest to the summer solstice, the longest day to be on the water! Over 17,000 sailors’ participated last year from more than 40 countries, all connected in the global celebration of sailing which was established 12 years ago.

For more information please visit the Summer Sailstice website.

Latest boat positions (0900 UTC)

Position	Team	DTF	DTL
1	Welcome to Yorkshire	1045 NM	0 NM
2	Geraldton Western Australia	1105 NM	60 NM
3	Gold Coast Australia	1115 NM	70 NM
4	Visit Finland	1183 NM	138 NM
5	Singapore	1241 NM	196 NM (Stealth Mode: position at 11.55 UTC 22 June 2012)
6	Derry-Londonderry	1259 NM	214 NM
7	Edinburgh Inspiring Capital	1314 NM	269 NM
8	New York	1364 NM	319 NM
9	De Lage Landen	1488 NM	444 NM
10	Qingdao	1749 NM	703 NM

Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found online along with daily skipper Clipper Round the World Yacht Race website