Clipper 09-10 Round the World fleet encounter towering seas and gales

8:53 PM Thu 11 Mar 2010 GMT

Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race. Race 7 Qindgao to Singapore Day 10.

The last 24 hours have brought another reminder that the ocean gives no quarter to the crews taking part in the Clipper Race - this is serious racing, through towering seas and gales, extremes of heat and cold and, as is forecast in the next 24 to 36 hours, periods of little or no wind at all.

Describing the conditions he and his crew have just come through, Spirit of Australia's skipper, Brendan Hall, says, 'Last night was black as the ace of spades and windy enough to blow the hair off a wet dog. The waves were large and very powerful and their white, foaming crests loomed up ominously over our stern. Several of them broke over the transom, filling the cockpit up with white water. Our bowman, Andy (Rose, a journalist) found smug pleasure in observing that the back of the boat was, for once, wetter than the front.

'We've had very testing sailing conditions and the critical decision for me was saying when to back off and slow down, so as not to over-stress the sails, rig and deck gear. After one particularly vicious 45-knot gust, we dropped all sails except one and slipped along cautiously until the wind had eased.

'As always, we are thinking long term victory, not short term glory and, after sustaining bad sail damage in similar conditions on Leg 2, we have learned this lesson the hard way. I am proud to say that Spirit of Australia and her crew survived the first of many testing gales the North Pacific undamaged, undaunted and now back to racing 100 percent.'

'Last night we experienced the strongest winds and biggest seas we have seen since leaving Hull on September 13 last year,' confirms Jamaica Lightning Bolt's skipper, Pete Stirling. 'After dropping the mainsail to make some essential repairs we ran with just the staysail through the night until first light this morning. Before hoisting the staysail we were making 7 knots with no sails at all then after it was hoisted were averaging over 10 knots. In the middle of the night the on watch recorded a speed of 19.6 knots whilst surfing down the face of a big wave. Given how far offshore we are it is surprising how confused the sea state is as by now we should be seeing more regular ocean rollers. Because of this confused sea state we had a few big waves side sweep us in the middle of the night knocking the boat on her side and filling the cockpit with water. Undeterred the boat picked herself up every time, as did the crew, and carried on with the chase to catch the leading boats. Despite a sizeable gap between us and the leading three boats there is still every chance of getting a point or two at the scoring gate.'

With every intention of denying Jamaica Lightning Bolt those points, Hull & Humber has been bearing down on Spirit of Australia and is currently lying in second place.

'Our best session of sailing to date, we've been making strong progress towards the front,' says skipper, Piers Dudin.

'Last night we settled into three reefs and a poled out Yankee 3 which we held nicely in the continuous 30 to 40-knot breeze. To their credit, everyone on board took a trick on the helm during the night with the watch leaders, Brett and Charlie, calling the course changes to compensate for the wind shifts and assiduously guarding the course boundaries lest the helmsman wandered too far off-course. This morning the wind eased to Force 6 but has since picked up again. We're hoping to hold on to as much breeze as we can to help set ourselves up for the next low pressure system booked for the weekend.

'We've had our fair share of chafe issues and so far we've been lucky to avoid anything too dramatic although I'm sure our time will come!

'Constant vigilance is required on deck as huge waves can dump on us at any time from any direction it seems, with no warning, knocking down anyone in their way, filling the cockpit with water, and requiring the watch leader to do a quick head count! Time it right and Hull & Humber easily picks up to surf at 20 knots, time it wrong and the dinner is literally up the wall! Both of which we have achieved!'

California, aiming to be the first team on this edition of the Clipper Race to win a stage to their home port, is on the offensive once again, according to skipper, Pete Rollason.

He says, 'The marathon continues and in this case I am not referring to the expanse of Pacific Ocean ahead of us - although that is pretty large too. This time I am talking about the amazing work my crew have put in to get California back up to racing speed. The mainsail has now been down for nearly 36 hours, which is why we have lost miles against the fleet, but the crew have been working hard in extreme conditions to make the necessary repairs, stitching sails, replacing lines and generally just controlling the big expanse of cloth that is our mainsail. The task is very nearly complete and we expect to be hoisting again within the next hour or so and then it will be pushing hard to regain the ground we have lost. All I can say is, I am extremely proud of each and every one of the crew and watch out the guys in front - we will be on the chase very shortly!'

Uniquely Singapore is making good progress up the leader board after a difficult first week in which most of the crew succumbed to a bug on board. By this morning they had climbed to sixth place, closing the gap on the leaders and their closest rival, Jamaica Lightning Bolt.

'The past two days have been filled with excitement, frustration and some great boat speeds. We have come out of this low unscathed with our only damage being our third reefing line losing its outer layer through chafe. This isn't to say we haven't had our dramas with particularly vicious squalls coming through and choosing the right sail plan for the conditions made for interesting times. The one that stands out in the memory (there were a few) is after experiencing a lull in the wind we poled out our Yankee 3 and went up to a two reef main, then about 20 minutes later we had a 50-not squall. I have a distinct memory of standing behind the helm and looking down as the bow dipped further and further towards the bottom of a trough before we hurtled down this wave at incredible speeds. Only then could I send the crew up on the foredeck to battle to get the Yankee down and once lashed put the third reef back in the main.

'I am glad we have protected Uniquely Singapore and, with the crew catching up on peaceful sleep, we now look to the next few days where we face the other extreme of a big high and potentially little winds. As we know from the past this is where big gains can be made and leads slashed down again. It will also give us a chance to give Singas a good check up and look at the running and standing rigging and make sure she's 100 percent.

'What's more on this sunny day we wished Laura a happy 20th birthday with, of course, a cake and a slightly less than pretty chorus of 'Happy Birthday'.'

Qingdao's crew are having their fair share of ups and downs on this race but they are resilient bunch, says their skipper, Chris Stanmore-Major.

'Yesterday afternoon, for no perceptible reason, a two-foot rip suddenly opened in the foot of our main sail necessitating quick action by the crew to drop the main in 35 knots whilst surfing in large seas. We carefully manoeuvred it off the boom, taking care to keep it under control at all times lest the wind filled it and carried it over the side. With it safely below repairs have begun and we hope to hit the main rip and a number of other niggling issues today and re-hoist tomorrow. Obviously this comes as major blow but this latest issue has only spurred the crew to new levels of effort and last night we recorded our fastest ever boat speed: 26.7 knots SOG (speed over ground) - a second or two of pure exhilarating pleasure after a long hard day. If we can hit speeds like that perhaps mainsails are more optional than I had realised...'

POSITIONS AT 0900 UTC, THURSDAY 11 MARCH 2010

1 Spirit of Australia DTF 4091
2 Hull & Humber DTF 4112 DTL +21
3 Cape Breton Island DTF 4138 DTL +47
4 California DTF 4176 DTL +85
5 Jamaica Lightning Bolt DTF 4185 DTL +94
6 Uniquely Singapore DTF 4213 DTL +122
7 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital DTF 4219 DTL +128
8 Qingdao DTF 4242 DTL +151
9 Team Finland DTF 5612 DTL +1521
10 Cork Did not start

(DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader)

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by Clipper Ventures