Clipper 09-10 Canada's Cape Breton Island leading into San Francisco

4:58 PM Mon 29 Mar 2010 GMT

'Carole Read at helm of Cape Breton Island' Clipper Ventures PLC &copy

Clipper 09-10 They have been racing for four weeks now and with three of the yachts competing in Clipper 09-10 now fewer than 1,000 miles away from their goal and Cape Breton Island closing in fast on the Golden Gate Bridge, the end of this gruelling marathon across the vast expanse of the Pacific is tantalisingly close for some of the crews.

Even this close to the finish line, it's not entirely plain sailing for the Canadian team, 'We've had another good 24 hours' sailing, even though we managed to rip our mainsail,' says skipper Jan Ridd. 'It's funny that we managed to race through the last heavy weather with no damage to the sails at all only to put a tear in our mainsail 12 hours later in 15 knots of wind!

'The tear needed immediate attention so at first light we dropped our mainsail onto the deck and set about repairing it. It took about eight hours sewing by hand whilst we sailed under headsails alone. With the wind building this evening I decided not to re-hoist it as it can be a difficult task and with a rough sea and about 25 to 30 knots of wind and we would probably do more damage attempting to re-thread the sliders into the track and reattaching the sail. So we are sailing overnight under headsails alone, hoping that the wind eases tomorrow so we can re-hoist our mainsail.'

Even without their principal source of power Cape Breton Island is maintaining speeds of eight to ten knots towards San Francisco.

Cape Breton Island - Clipper Ventures PLC &copy _. Click Here to view large photo

Qingdao and Jamaica Lightning Bolt are sailing slightly faster and skipper of the Jamaica entry, Pete Stirling, says, 'We have had a couple of days of strong winds and big following seas which have pushed us along at good speed. With under 1,000 miles to go the crew are starting to get excited about the prospect of arriving in San Francisco.

'After over a month at sea the simple pleasures are what they are looking forward to most. Things like a comfortable bed with clean sheets, a shower or, better still, a bath and, most importantly, really good food. It has already been decided that our traditional crew meal out is going to be at a restaurant where they serve big steaks, big racks of ribs, ice cream and cold beer. I don't imagine we are going to have any trouble finding such a place.

'It was with some reluctance and sadness that we handed over the responsibility of escorting California to Hull & Humber and Spirit of Australia. We had been first on scene after California was dismasted and spent three days doing everything we could to help them get them back on their feet. We would have been happy to escort them all the way into San Francisco and felt a certain responsibility to do just that.

'However the Race Office wanted us and Uniquely Singapore to recommence racing at the earliest opportunity so as soon as we were able to leave the scene we did just that.

'Having recommenced racing we thought long and hard about the thorny issue of applying to the Race Committee for redress. We were very conscious of the fact that it may be perceived by some to be inappropriate given the situation California were in; also that we were trying to claim a position or points that we are not due. The point is, however, that at the time we diverted to assist California we were some 120 miles ahead of Qingdao and by the time we recommenced racing we were some 170 miles behind them.

'Now that we are racing again all that we are asking for is that we are put back into the same relative position with Qingdao as we were before we diverted to assist California. We have asked for this to be calculated as a time-based redress. We will wait and see what the Race Committee decides.'

Given the dramas that have unfolded on this 5,600-mile leg and the assistance given by various teams to their competitors the final results for Race 7 won't be announced until all nine yachts have crossed the finish line.

Qingdao and Jamaica Lightning Bolt both have fewer than 1,000 miles to run and it won't be long until Uniquely Singapore reaches that milestone, too. On a long ocean race ticking off the landmark moments is important for crew morale, and today life has been pretty good on Uniquely Singapore, according to skipper Jim Dobie.

He says, 'As I write this I have just been up on deck and there was Bart with a big smile on his face as he surfs down waves. The night is just fantastic with a full moon out and bright stars and, earlier on, some dolphins to keep us company. We have had some good speeds and mileage today as we head to San Fran and with a break in the conditions we're now looking to getting there as quickly as possible. It is at these small moments when you take a snap shot and these are the moments that stay with you. This is the awesome beauty and power of the ocean, one minute so unkind and harsh the next so peaceful and relaxing.'

On board Hull & Humber, where they are continuing to shadow the dismasted California, it's not quite as relaxing, with plenty to keep them busy - some of it surprising...

'For the first time on the Clipper Race, I have been teaching people how trim sails to make the boat go slower!' says Brendan Hall. The Spirit of Australia skipper, who is currently in charge of Hull & Humber, explains, 'Our trouble at the moment is that we are going too fast for California to keep up under engine. We have gone down to one of our smallest sail plans but still we charge ahead, so our only alternative is to de-trim the sails. Still, it's good practice on what NOT to do when racing.

'Things on California are good. Today they transferred the stores canister to us with their replies to friends and family messages of support which will be emailed out soon. We had hoped to transfer some more diesel today but the conditions were too rough still.'

High pressure is forecast to reach the trio of yachts in the next 36-48 hours which, they hope, will reduce the sea state a little and finally allow California to set their jury rig to help them towards their home port.

Edinburgh Inspiring Capital is on the way to rendezvous with California and take over escort duties, which will allow Spirit of Australia and Hull & Humber to resume racing towards San Francisco.

Team Finland, choosing to sail south of the Great Circle route to avoid the worst of the low pressure systems, is now more than 2,000 miles into the crossing and making excellent progress towards a reunion with the rest of the fleet.

POSITIONS AT 1200 UTC, MONDAY 29 MARCH 2010

1 Cape Breton Island DTF 248
2 Qingdao DTF 779 DTL +531
3 Jamaica Lightning Bolt DTF 890 DTL +642
4 Uniquely Singapore DTF 1078 DTL +830
5 Hull & Humber DTF 1186 DTL +937
6 California DTF 1186 DTL +938
7 Spirit of Australia DTF 1189 DTL +940
8 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital DTF 1272 DTL +1024
9 Team Finland DTF 3599 DTL +3350
10 Cork Did not start

(DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader)
Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com .

by Heather Ewing