Please select your home edition
Edition
Hyde Sails 2024 - One Design

Clipper Round the World Race – Competition hotting up

by The Clipper Race on 20 Nov 2015
Leaders enter Stealth Mode - Clipper 2015-16 Round the World Yacht Race Clipper Ventures
Clipper Round the World Race – Competition is hotting up as the teams make their way out of the Southern Ocean chill and get ever closer to the warmth of Western Australia. Front three teams, LMAX Exchange, Derry~Londonderry~Doire and Qingdao have all opted to go into Stealth Mode at 0600UTC as they try to work out how best to avoid the light winds without giving away any tactics, while further back Unicef and ClipperTelemed+ are the final boats to start the Ocean Sprint.

Clipper Meteorologist Simon Rowell explains the complicated weather system that is testing the fleet as it fights to reach the finish line: “The high pressure system is starting to slide round the bottom of Australia, and as it does so it will split. The western part should stall, which will keep the incoming front away from the western boats, but also give them a tactical dilemma as they negotiate the light winds of the high.

“The eastern part of the high, as it slides around Cape Leeuwin, will bring a strip of light, variable winds directly in the path of the eastern boats. This is probably why the leading teams have gone into Stealth Mode - how each one does will be very useful information for the others, as each yacht is effectively a wind instrument which can be read if you know where it is and how fast it's moving.”

Garmin seems to have chosen the right route over the last twelve hours because having been overtaken by Great Britain the previous day, it is now back up to fourth and stretched almost 40 nautical miles ahead of its nearest competitor.

Skipper Ashley Skett says: “Our progress last night was surprisingly good. We managed to pick up a bit of breeze and made a good average of around 10 knots before the wind dropped off slightly again this morning. We are still going well though and we are hoping to squeeze around the top of the blocking high pressure system and make some ground on the boats ahead. The next 48 hours could be very interesting as we could still run into the middle part of the cell and loose the breeze altogether. It all makes for a tense finish, so watch this space!”

IchorCoal and Da Nang – Viet Nam have completed the Ocean Sprint but neither managed to better the 17 hour 51 minute time set by Derry~Londonderry~Doire. PSP Logistics, Visit Seattle, ClipperTelemed+ and Unicef are all now making their attempt at it however.

Max Stunell, Skipper of PSP Logistics, explains his team’s Ocean Sprint efforts, as he says: “Last night we entered the Ocean Sprint stage of the race. We started power reaching in light airs under Icarus (our lightweight spinnaker), making fairly good progress and the GRIBs forecast similar wind all night. But this is 43 degrees South and after 20 minutes dribbling into my pillow I was jolted awake by a slight broach and a big bear away as the wind picked up to the mid-20s.

'Too much for Icarus and as there was a slight change in wind angle the course best suited a Yankee. Chances of us averaging 13 knots to worry the leaders currently look wafer thin as it would require us to increase our current speed by at least 50 per cent for the next ten hours.”

Adding, Max notes: “We've been at sea for 20 days and now only have the equivalent of two Fastnet Races to go until Albany, really putting into perspective the distances we are sailing.”

Ocean Sprint times for the fleet so far are as follows:

17 hours 51minutes: Derry~Londonderry~Doire
18 hours 18 minutes: LMAX Exchange
18 hours 19 minutes: Qingdao
20 hours 07minutes: Mission Performance
24 hours 02minutes: Da Nang – Viet Nam
24 hours 35 minutes: Great Britain
24 hours 41 minutes: Garmin
27 hours 45 minutes: IchorCoal



Hyde Sails 2024 - One DesignCyclops Marine 2023 November - FOOTERHenri-Lloyd Dynamic Range

Related Articles

29er Class open for championship bids
Inviting venues to submit proposals for the events The 29er Class Association is delighted to announce that bids are now open to host our upcoming major championships.
Posted today at 8:32 am
Switch UK Championship at the WPNSA Day 1
Finn Dickinson leads Sam Whaley by a single point Imagine stepping in to the Dolorian and arriving at the first ever National Championship of your class. Would those present be aware that they were in the throws of making history and how long in to the future will this journey take us?
Posted today at 5:51 am
2025 J/70 Corinthian Worlds at Massachusetts day 3
Light winds lead to leaderboard shake-up Mild breeze combined with a strong tide equaled a shake-up in the standings at the J/70 Corinthian World Championship in Marblehead, Massachusetts USA.
Posted on 26 Sep
2025 Formula Wing Worlds Sardinia day 3
Women's battle heats up in the big waves A change of wind and wave conditions on day three of the Formula Wing World Championships in Cagliari brought a change of fortune for some key players.
Posted on 26 Sep
52 Super Series 2025 Porto Cervo day 4
Sled look to close out regatta win, American Magic Quantum Racing on the cusp of swansong 7th title The penultimate day of racing proved to be a sharp contrast to the two previous days of strong Mistral winds presenting the 13 teams from ten different nations with a different challenge as the conclusion of the 2025 season approaches.
Posted on 26 Sep
Melges 24 Worlds 2025 at Trieste, Italy Day 4
No wind again today, everything will be decided tomorrow The high-pressure system over the Northern Adriatic, and particularly the Gulf of Trieste, left no chance for the 2025 Melges 24 World Championship today, as Day 4 ended without racing.
Posted on 26 Sep
Multihull Cup 2025 Day 1
Allegra takes win in calm but enthusiastic start On what proved a mellow if challenging introduction to the delights of the Multihull Cup for the trio of first timers taking part, it was the Mallorcan event veteran Allegra which showed the fleet the way to go.
Posted on 26 Sep
Offshore Double Handed Worlds Qualifying Race 2
Worlds Apart, Side by Side The second qualification race of the 2025 Offshore Double Handed Worlds started from Cowes, Isle of Wight in a crisp northeasterly, 10 knots under clear skies. But what began as a gentle gradient breeze soon turned into a punishing test of endurance.
Posted on 26 Sep
Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez starts tomorrow
245 competitors vying for 19 trophies Saturday 27 September heralds the start of the 27th edition of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. A great many of the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez's 245 guests have already made the famous port in France's Var department.
Posted on 26 Sep
Sailors shift focus to The Ocean Race Atlantic
The new transatlantic race connects two iconic cities - New York and Barcelona As The Ocean Race Europe came to a close in Montenegro, sailors and teams started to turn their attention to the next event in The Ocean Race calendar - The Ocean Race Atlantic: New York to Barcelona.
Posted on 26 Sep