Please select your home edition
Edition
Henri-Lloyd Dynamic Range

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



Excess CatamaransSelden 2020 - FOOTERRolly Tasker Sails 2023 FOOTER

Related Articles

Meet the CYCA's Admiral's Cup Team
Meet the skippers and sailors, get to know their roles and discover what makes their programs unique Meet the skippers and sailors, get to know their roles and discover what makes their programs unique.
Posted today at 6:59 am
Who made the right call to get to the breeze?
And how technology is changing the Transpac Race to Hawaii Boats racing in the 2025 Transpac continue to reel in the offshore miles toward the finish line off Honolulu, Hawaii, in the 53rd edition of this historic 2,225-nautical-mile race.
Posted today at 12:54 am
OK Dinghy Europeans at Warnemünde day 3
Nick Craig fights back Canada's Ben Flower and Britain's Charlie Cumbley will go into Wednesday's final day at the 2025 OK Dinghy European Championship in Warnemünde, Germany, on equal points with two more races to sail.
Posted on 8 Jul
British Classic Week Day 2
An early start for Classes 1-3 as they prepared to race around the Isle of Wight It was an early start for the British Classic Week fleet on day two, as Classes 1-3 prepared to race around the Isle of Wight.
Posted on 8 Jul
iQFOiL Worlds a Aarhus day 3
The leaderboard tightens at the halfway mark after today's racing in a building breeze After a frustrating day of waiting ashore on Monday, Day 3 brought back the action in Aarhus Bay with spectacular foiling conditions and a full day of intense racing.
Posted on 8 Jul
Fleet advances to the last half of the AEGEAN 600
In contrast to yesterday's slow pace, the rate of progress has been much improved Most of the fleet of 59 Monohulls and Multihulls who are sailing in this year's AEGEAN 600 have either already entered the second half of the race at the island of Rhodes or are well on their way to reaching this important milestone.
Posted on 8 Jul
Mediterranean Regatta season in full swing
A+T instruments seen all over Europe delivering high-level performance for racing fleets As regatta season gathers speed, A+T instruments were seen all over Europe delivering high-level performance for the racing fleets.
Posted on 8 Jul
International Moth Worlds at Lake Garda Day 1
Storm cells circling Lake Garda lead to atypical and tricky conditions The 137 sailors representing 25 nations faced the first day of racing in conditions that were anything but typical for Malcesine, with unstable weather creating a complex, yet exciting, opening.
Posted on 8 Jul
NYYC International Women's Championship update
Teammates and Competitors Join Forces The strength of bonds forged in competition is a common theme among the second group of skippers and teams invited to compete in the 2026 New York Yacht Club International Women's Championship.
Posted on 8 Jul
The Ocean Race Europe Video Preview
We speak to Phil Lawrence, Peter Rusch & Pip Hare to find out more The Ocean Race Europe will take place between 10 August & 21 September, following a debut event in the summer of 2021. The racing is in IMOCA yachts, the same as the Vendée Globe, but this time with 4 crew and an OBR who will document the action on board.
Posted on 8 Jul