Clipper Race- Qingdao to San Francisco - heavy weather ahead

6:27 PM Sat 20 Mar 2010 GMT

'Qingdao Clipper' Clipper Ventures PLC &copy

Strong winds are in store for the Clipper fleet over the next couple of days.

Clipper Race Director Joff Bailey explains, 'The fleet, in particular those that are further north, will shortly be experiencing much stronger winds - Force 8 to 10 (34-55 knots) - which will last for the next 24 to 36 hours. The weather picture for the Pacific shows some tight isobars as the next low pressure catches up with the fleet.'

The teams have known for some time that it has been developing and have been ensuring their yachts are in top condition to withstand the buffeting coming their way. Gear is stowed securely, storm sails are at the ready and the skippers and crews are attuned to the subtle changes in the environment that herald the arrival of the strengthening winds.

Race 7 leader, Cape Breton Island's skipper Jan Ridd says, 'Here we go again! As the North Pacific bares its teeth we prepare for three days of heavy winds. For the past few days we have enjoyed a great sailing wind which has seen us make good daily mileage but last night that came to an abrupt halt as the wind swung round to blow from exactly where we wanted to go, leaving us little choice but to sail a long way off our course.

'This morning saw the wind shift again allowing us to sail directly toward San Francisco again but the on watch had one of the busiest watches of the race so far. With the wind building quickly they changed from the Yankee 2 to the Yankee 3 and put three reefs in the mainsail one after another then from the Yankee 3 to the storm jib. With the wind still building and a big low pressure system building behind us, I decided to get rid of the mainsail and hoist the tri-sail, a difficult operation.

'No sooner had we set the boat up the wind almost died altogether, so the watch had to drop the tri sail and storm jib and re-hoist the mainsail and Yankee 3.

'The weather in the North Pacific has been horrendous with bitter cold and driving heavy rain for the past 24 hours and, however well dressed you are, you end up soaking wet. Even though we are supplied with the best waterproof clothing available nothing seems to be able to keep you dry in these conditions.

'The weather is due to get a lot worse over the next few days where we are due to see some extreme wind and we will soon be dropping sails again and making sure the Big Blue Canoe is set up nice and safe for the worst!'

Jamaica Lightning Bolt's crew have also had a busy 24 hours, reports skipper Pete Stirling. 'The crew have been kept very busy with multiple sail changes and shaking reefs in and out of the mainsail overnight,' he says. 'Though the crew are working as fast and hard as they can each evolution is taking two to three times longer to complete than it should do. Frustrating as this is for me I do understand the crew are working in freezing conditions and can't feel their hands, are wearing multiple layers of clothing and are generally very fatigued by this marathon race we are barely half way through.'

Pete also explains there is a plan behind their slip down the leader board - and they're hoping the tactic works in their favour.

'Last night we decided to head south to put some extra miles between us and the centre of the approaching low pressure system. We now have good following winds and are heading straight for the finish line at 10 knots+ boat speed. According to the forecast we should keep these conditions for the next four days or so allowing us to really eat up some mileage. At the last position update Cape Breton Island and Uniquely Singapore were both north and east of our position. Time will tell if they made the right decision by going north.'

As the low pressure system approaches Uniquely Singapore's crew, who have worked themselves into second place, are not letting the greyness of the current weather conditions get them down and are looking forward to some fast sailing.

Skipper, Jim Dobie, comments, 'It seems like it's been a while since we saw a patch of blue sky and the dampness on board is getting uncomfortable. Socks and gloves are stacked around the generator to use its heat to dry off. Watch changes are a hive of activity around the saloon as seven or eight people wrestle into their Gore-Tex smocks and trousers, trying to seal off any entrance that would allow the ingress of water. The low is starting to make its presence known as the barometer drops and the wind has slowly veered around from the south east to south south west. So far a pleasant Force 6 (21-26 knots) but the crew know the wind is coming in and from the west so there will be some great downwind surfing along the way.

'We are making a good course just south of east as we don't want to get too close to the low. We are expecting three to four days of great fast sailing; as we build up speed we also keep track with the low as we're both heading in the same direction. Now if only that sun would come out!'

It would appear there has been a ray of light shining through the greyness of the weather for California, who crossed the International Date Line yesterday.

Skipper, Pete Rollason, says, 'The second time around 19 March has treated us better with a steady 20 to 25 knots out of the south giving us some nice reaching conditions, albeit in a rather lumpy sea. More importantly it allowed us to make some great gains on the boats ahead and retake the third place we lost some days back. We now have Uniquely Singapore in our sights and will be chasing them down before focusing on Cape Breton Island and that win in our home port of San Francisco.

Our southerly position in the fleet has paid dividends as we had hoped and we can only hope that the next 48 hours is as kind to us with the approach and passage of the next depression. The rain that has persisted non-stop for the last 24 hours has had no effect of dampening the jubilant mood on board California and those that know us will realise that the morale will only get better and better the nearer we get to our destination.'

The Clipper crew members who take time out from their everyday lives as nurses, lawyers, management consultants, chief executives, florists and a host of other professions too numerous to mention here, often find they have or acquire skills they never considered possible during the course of the race.

Spirit of Australia skipper, Brendan Hall, currently in charge on board Hull & Humber, explains, 'Improvisation is a key skill for any ocean racer. Things on boats frequently break or go wrong and the ability to mend, fix and repair them is the only thing that allows us to keep racing. Such was the case last night on Hull & Humber. We were hove-to, changing headsails, when the helmsman discovered the wheel was locked and wouldn't budge. Upon inspection, we discovered that a solid metal part of our steering system had bent and distorted, allowing it to become wedged against another piece, locking the system. With careful preparation and a little brute force, we managed to free the wedged part, allowing the boat to carry on sailing, while we made repairs.

'Our bodge-it-and-scarper engineering team of Tom (Salt, management consultant) and Brett (Crawford, business manager) tried several different repair methods, using sections of wooden plank, G-clamps, cable ties and rubber padding, but in the end, we fashioned a repair using one of our spinnaker guy donuts (a thick plastic donut sized disc) which is working well and will certainly last the rest of the passage to San Francisco.'

Spirit of Australia's acting skipper, Bob Bell, also reports they have been carrying out some running maintenance to keep their race on track. He says, 'We're maintaining steady progress in relatively light conditions under overcast skies and are positioned to avoid the worst of the oncoming storm. Rig, chafe and steering checks have been completed in preparation and the Yankee 3 has been repaired after the leech line block broke. We're getting ready to play Blind Date over VHF with Hull & Humber to celebrate crossing the date line.'

The crew of Team Finland are dealing with a water maker problem at the moment which may mean they have to pit stop in Japan over the next few days to top up the tanks with fresh water and take on extra containers before heading out into the Pacific. The Clipper maintenance team, the manufacturer and the skipper have been working through various fixes to try to get the water maker, which was fitted new and tested in Qingdao, operational.

The first yachts are due to arrive in San Francisco Marina between 1 and 4 April.

POSITIONS AT 1500 UTC, SATURDAY 20 MARCH 2010

1 Cape Breton Island DTF 2187
2 Uniquely Singapore DTF 2314 DTL +127
3 California DTF 2368 DTL +181
4 Jamaica Lightning Bolt DTF 2402 DTL +215
5 Qingdao DTF 2571 DTL +384
6 Hull & Humber DTF 2568 DTL +399
7 Spirit of Australia DTF 2586 DTL +399
8 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital DTF 2730 DTL +543
9 Team Finland DTF 4832 DTL +2645
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 Zoe Williamson