7:15 PM Fri 26 Mar 2010 GMT
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - Leg 7 Qingdao to San Francisco Day 25.
With less than 1,000 nautical miles to go and more than 450 ahead of their nearest rivals, the team on board Cape Breton Island has no need to risk take as far as the next storm is concerned.
The anticlockwise swirl of arrows depicting the latest severe depression can be clearly seen tracking just north of the fleet on the Race Viewer. With the knowledge that the previous storm tracked further south than anticipated, the teams have taken the eminently sensible decision to position themselves where they will benefit from some strong wind but avoid the full force of the storm's wrath.
Skipper Jan Ridd, says, 'With the wind still building and the knowledge that there is an enormous low pressure system behind us, I have got the crew and boat ready for the worst. We have the storm sails ready to go, but hopefully we can ride the next 24 hours out without having to change down to smaller sails. I think that we are far enough east to just stay ahead of the worst of the storm as it tracks north east over the top of us. But if things get too lively we are all set to go into safe mode.
'This afternoon we all celebrated passing the 1,000 nautical miles to go mark. It was such a psychological lift to see the mileage left to sail in three figures and see the predicted hours to finish calculated by our GPS. This afternoon, on some of the faster surfs we saw that time drop below 60 hours! But with the wind building and the Big Blue Canoe
holding a steady speed of over 10 knots, we estimate arriving either late on Tuesday 30 March or early on Wednesday 31 March.'
Just over 24 hours since handing over California escort duties to Hull & Humber and Spirit of Australia, Jamaica Lightning Bolt is stretching her legs once more and has made some good progress towards San Francisco.
'We have been heading well to the south of the course line to avoid being caught in the next severe weather system moving in behind us,' explains the team's skipper, Pete Stirling. 'We have had a steady 25 - 30 knot winds from behind all day, which is great, but we know it is going to get a lot stronger yet. The boat and crew are all ready for it,
though we feel we are well overdue some nice pleasant sailing conditions with some sunshine. It seems a very long time since we felt the warmth of the sun to soothe our aching bodies.'
Uniquely Singapore also left California yesterday and the team has also made the decision to keep south of the Rhumb line.
'This should get us into what appears to be steady and consistent westerly breeze which should take us straight to San Francisco,' explains skipper Jim Dobie. 'As the crew all recover from bumps, bruises and strains we are nearly back up to full crew strength and can then start pushing Singas hard to recover lost mileage.
Uniquely Singapore's move to assist California and the subsequent loss of miles makes the team eligible to apply for redress. A decision which the team has discussed but decided against says Jim.
'Our reason for not applying is that at the time of the incident with California we were still getting ourselves back together and initially using the time to finish off repairs. As a crew we also feel that having gone through a bit of an experience ourselves, anything we could do to help California was the least we could do. Yes, we are racing, but we
are also close friends with the other crews and it's always been important to us to make sure we look after our Clipper family. We fully expect Jamaica Lightning Bolt to ask for redress and support their decision as Pete and his crew's effort was far greater than ours and they certainly lost a lot of ground in locating California and then
escorting them for two days whilst waiting for back up.
'This is ocean racing and we prepare to take our sponsors Keppel message of 'can do' to San Francisco we feel we have certainly more than ever applied this philosophy to ourselves.'
Race Committee member and Chairman of the Clipper Race, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, says, 'Uniquely Singapore's decision not to apply for redress is admirable and reflects the overall team spirit of the Clipper Race. Whilst the teams are adversaries on the water, when the need is there the Clipper spirit takes over and they will come to each others aid without a second thought.'
As the teams brace themselves for the approaching weather system, skipper Matt Pike and his crew on board Edinburgh Inspiring Capital have been kept guessing by differing forecasts.
'With slightly mixed messages between the GRIB files, showing nothing stronger then 28 knots, and the US text weather, showing up to 40 knots, we decided to prepare for the strongest,' explains Matt. 'So, well reefed down we settled in and waited.
'Eventually we changed the storm jib back up to the Yankee 3 and shook out two of the reefs - the most canvas we have flown since damaging the spreader two thousand nautical miles ago. The wind reached 30 knots for a few hours before dipping as low as 18. But as much as we are counting down the miles until we meet up with California we are keeping an eye on the barometer and the horizon as the big blow is yet to come!'
The Scottish entry is currently making their way towards California to take over caretaker duties for the remainder of Race 7 - a task that isn't as easy as it sounds according to Hull & Humber's stand in skipper, Brendan Hall.
'Escorting a mastless, comms-impaired vessel through the North Pacific is proving to be more challenging than it might seem,' explains Brendan. 'Hull & Humber and Spirit of Australia have been shepherding California along but keeping them in sight is very difficult. Without a mast and sails, there is only the cream coloured hull and the white stump of the mast to spot against the grey skyline and darker grey waves. The waves are big enough to hide California from sight completely when they are in a trough. We only catch a glimpse of them as they crest a wave at the same time as we do. We have lost sight of them completely several times, as rain squalls pass over us, bringing the visibility down to under a mile.'
Similarly the crew on board Spirit of Australia have also been keeping an eye California as Bob Bell and his team continue to demonstrate exemplary seamanship since losing their skipper to Hull & Humber.
The Californian team has also put an amazingly brave face on what has happened to them and nothing appears to break their upbeat spirit. Brendan's thoughts are with the team as he watches them make their way over the giant ocean swell.
'The motion of California makes me queasy just looking at it,' says the Australian skipper. 'Without any sails up to stabilise the boat, it pitches, rolls and yaws in a very exaggerated way as the waves push it about. It must be very uncomfortable below decks and I tip my bush hat in the direction of anybody brave enough to do mother watch in a galley moving like that.'
The crew on board Team Finland will know exactly what the motion feels like having lost their mast in the race from Singapore to Qingdao after going in to freefall off the back of a steep wave. Having initially experienced headwinds following their pit stop in Yokohama, the team is now regularly polling 12 hour runs in excess of 100 nautical miles as
the winds become more favourable and the distance to finish ticks down at a more positive rate.
Positions at 1200 UTC, Friday 26 March
Boat DTF* DTL*
1 Cape Breton Island 909nm
2 Qingdao 1387nm 478nm
3 Jamaica Lightning Bolt 1548nm 640nm
4 Uniquely Singapore 1580nm 672nm
5 Hull & Humber 1633nm 725nm
6 California 1634nm 725nm
7 Spirit of Australia 1634nm 725nm
8 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 1796nm 888nm
9 Team Finland 3964nm 3055nm
10 Cork Did not start
*DTF = Distance to Finish, *DTL = Distance to Leader)
www.clipperroundtheworld.com
.
by Clipper Ventures
|
Macquarie Island, TAS
Windsurfing - Boards
Kitesurfing - Surfboards
Stand Up Paddle - Wave & Cruising Boards
