12:55 PM Mon 19 Sep 2011 GMT
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'Gold Coast Australia at the start of Race 3 of the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race'
Daniel Zeppe/onEdition
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Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 2011-2012 third race, from Rio De Janeiro to Cape Town, is currently underway. The ten teams are enjoying a welcome respite from the punishing weather conditions experienced over the weekend after the strong winds moderated.
However, the wind direction is not doing the fleet any favours as it is blowing from the very place the crews are trying to reach, forcing the ten skippers to head off at a tangent.
Commenting on the race underway, Clipper Race Chairman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston said the skippers need to head south to pick up the westerlies that are forecasted to fill in a couple of hundred miles to the south over the next 12 hours or so.
'The race is now on to get south to find the westerlies and Welcome to Yorkshire is currently best placed to pick up the favourable winds first,' Sir Robin said.
'The skippers need to think tactically and focus on the long-term gain by positioning themselves to the south,' he added.
Gold Coast Australia, one of the teams that has been heading south, emerged from Stealth Mode this morning with an increased lead having spent 24 hours under the invisibility shield.
With a lead of 47 miles now separating them from their nearest rivals, Visit Finland, Richard Hewson and his team are maintaining the form that has placed them firmly at the top of the leader board having won the first two races in the 12-month series.
'Gold Coast Australia is in full flight and as we skirt the edge of the high pressure system, the wind does not have enough fetch to create any swell, so the water is reasonably flat with moderate winds creating some very pleasant sailing,' Richard reports.
As Gold Coast Australia heads south, Richard said the temperature had started to drop and his crew was feeling the cold prompting him to run the generator and water heater more than normal to heat up the inside of the boat.
'Once the crew warm up a bit their concentration levels and ability to maintain focus will rise and everybody will enjoy themselves even more,' Richard said.
On De Lage Landen, Stuart Jackson and his crew are concentrating on regaining some of the ground they lost after dealing with steering problems.
'We have been managing to slowly claw some miles back after our steering issues, but are still having to be cautious and continually monitor it,' Stuart reports.
On Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, Gordon Reid said his team has had to 'dig deeper' after spending a third day dealing with broken halyards on board resulting in another trip to the top of the mast for the skipper.
'It's been extreme sailing indeed with 'boom' followed by 'boom' and then 'bang' as another halyard snaps,' Gordon said.
'But this is what we are here to do and Mother Nature is helping us to find our strength of character once more today in the South Atlantic,' he said. 'I'm wet, cold, tired, bruised, bashed but still smiling and lovin' every minute of it!'
Rupert Dean, the skipper of Welcome to Yorkshire, said his team is prepared for the prospect of head winds for the next few days as they hunt for the westerlies.
'Headwinds are forecast pretty much all the way to Cape Town for at least the next four days and it will be an interesting game of chess that decides the winners and losers,' Rupert said.
'Generally the winds will lighten a little though, making for better conditions on board and enabling tired crews to recuperate,' he added.
On Singapore, Ben Bowley reported that he had a close encounter with Welcome to Yorkshire as the English team headed south overnight.
'We just had a port/starboard with Rupert on Welcome to Yorkshire - unbelievable! What are the odds of that?' Ben said.
Ben said that the lighter winds have transformed life on board his team's Clipper 68.
'What a difference a day makes! The wind and sea have died down considerably in the last 24 hours making life aboard much more liveable. No longer is the yacht constantly heeled to 25 degrees and her propensity for launching herself off the top of waves with a filling-rattling crash is greatly reduced,' he said.
'It has been excellent for morale to slowly climb up the leader board in this race. It has made the crew realise that our investment in going south earlier in the race did have a pay-off in the end,' he said.
'We are now heading south once more as I believe that is where we shall see the start of the westerly winds when they eventually do fill in again. The key here is not to go too far and end up stuck in the middle of the high pressure going nowhere,' Ben said.
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Qingdao in the Clipper 11-12 Race fleet parade of sail in Rio de Janeiro. - Daniel Zeppe/onEdition
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On Qingdao skipper Ian Conchie said his team put in some south yesterday to try to escape the headwinds.
'We tacked south yesterday to try and get to the favourable winds to the south of us. The boats that didn't go for the Scoring Gate are doing well overall at the moment but with the arrival of the high pressure things may change again,' he said.
Qingdao's progress was hampered yesterday by steering problems which forced the team to temporarily switch to emergency steering.
Problems started late afternoon when the helm reported that the steering felt odd. 'The crew reacted quickly get both watches up on deck to drop the Yankee, put another reef in the main and rig the emergency steering,' Ian reported.
Upon investigation, Ian discovered to his relief that it was not a major breakage and the problem was caused by a locking pin that had slipped. 'The only problem was that we had to strip nearly all of the steering to get to it but three hours later after some technical support over the phone with the Clipper Maintenance Team we had steering again,' he said.
Mark Light, Derry-Londonderry, said his team has experienced another day of headwinds, squalls and living at an angle.
'We got headed to the point where we couldn't make an easterly course so we tacked over only to find that the best course we could make was nearly south,' Mark said.
'We are going to take a hit on the leader board due to not making any ground east for the last 12 hours but this should put us in a better position overall,' he added.
Mark said he was impressed at the way his Clipper 68 was performing in the demanding conditions. 'I am amazed at the hammering these boats take and still keep going. They are fantastic considering the weather we have faced over the last 48 hours and the only thing broken is a Yankee sheet,' he said.
Olly Osborne, skipper of Visit Finland, is monitoring his opponents' tactics as they all try to hunt down the next weather system.
'The majority of the fleet appear to be striking south now to find the next weather system which should bear more favourable winds, so it will be interesting to see how the different tactics pay off,' he said.
The Visit Finland team is continuing to repair its heavyweight spinnaker after it sustained major damage earlier in the race, and Olly likens efforts to patch together the nine pieces to a large jigsaw puzzle. Reconstructing the damaged sail in a confined and constantly moving environment requires patience and hard work.
'The sewing machine is now permanently fixed in the saloon so that passers by can have a go as they feel inclined although it does have a habit of whirring into life unexpectedly,' Olly said.
On New York, Gareth Glover said the last 24 hours had been packed with head sail changes and reefing in winds of up to 40 knots and breaking seas.
'Today was all about keeping New York moving and trying to get back some miles on the fleet. Last night after breaking a Yankee sheet for the third time in 12 hours, the crew looked like they had sailed around the world and back,' Gareth reported.
He said he opted to sail under a reefed main and stay sail overnight to give his exhausted crew a rest but increased sail again this morning at first light.
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Geraldton Western Australia at the start of Race 3 of the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race - Daniel Zeppe/onEdition
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On Geraldton Western Australia, skipper Juan Coetzer, said that injured crew member Hilly Bouteloup is doing 'courageously well' after sustaining suspected broken ribs when she was launched from her bunk in heavy seas.
'She has been able to move around below, eat some food and socialise with the crew for a little while, before retiring back to her bunk,' he said.
The fleet is expected to arrive in Cape Town between 23 and 26 September where they will be berthed at Victoria and Alfred Waterfront until the start of Race four to Geraldton in Western Australia on 5 October.
Positions at 1200 UTC, Monday 19 September
Boat - DTF*
1 Gold Coast Australia - 1639nm
2 Visit Finland - 1686nm (+47nm DTL**)
3 De Lage Landen - 1706nm (+67nm)
4 Singapore - 1719nm (+80nm)
5 Derry-Londonderry - 1741nm (+103nm)
6 New York - 1751nm (+112nm)
7 Welcome to Yorkshire - 1758nm (+120nm)
8 Qingdao - 1760nm (+121nm)
9 Geraldton Western Australia - 1812nm (+174nm)
10 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital - 1911nm (+272nm)
DTF* = Distance to Finish. DTL** = Distance to Leader. Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found
here
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Clipper Round the World Yacht Race website
by Heather Ewing
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