Valentine’s Day and there’s love in the air on the Clipper 11-12 yachts but it’s probably fair to say the leading teams are not feeling the love for the lack of wind they are experiencing at the moment. “Nuclear strength coffee has helped Singapore just about keep moving in the last 24 hours,” reports Ben Bowley. “With such varying wind strengths and directions we have had to remain constantly focused and on the ball to ensure that the big red bus keeps working her way slowly toward the Luzon Straits. It’s turning into a real game of cat and mouse at the front of the fleet and all four of us are keeping an eye to leeward in anticipation of the rest of the fleet concertinaing up on us as they carry a little more wind.” Already the back half of the fleet has begun closing in on the leaders as they hold the breeze for longer. Singapore’s skipper continues, “We are desperate to make it to the Luzon Strait and onto the north flowing tidal conveyor belt as one of the top three. I’m fairly sure that the first boats to get away toward Taiwan will start to open up an unassailable lead. “This has required a lot of tweaking and continual shifting between the Yankee 1 and windseeker. Knowing when to switch between the two can make the difference between languishing in a hole for an hour or two and ghosting through with just enough speed to get out the other side ahead of our nearest competitors. Races can be won or lost in light airs and the focus it requires can be just as tiring as smashing to windward in 30 knots of breeze. Although with the deck hatches open at least it is not as sweaty!” Richard Hewson, skipper of Gold Coast Australia, which has been usurped from its leading position in the last six hours by De Lage Landen, agrees with Singapore’s skipper, saying, “The boat that reaches the top of the Philippines and gets into the new wind first will be at a massive advantage over all the other boats in the fleet so we are all working incredibly hard to try to utilise whatever breeze we can find. “The wind has gradually reduced overnight and then begun to back through the morning. Now we are sailing along in under five knots of wind trying to make some sort of headway. Occasionally we will sail into a patch of wind of up to seven knots which makes a massive difference. We also have two knots of current pushing us towards the east which also helps build up our apparent wind slightly. “Over the last couple of hours we have been sailing away from Singapore at five knots SOG (Speed Over Ground), leaving them behind in a wind hole. Now we have stopped almost still and looking at the AIS they are doing 5.8 knots towards the next waypoint. It is really a game of chance and, depending on how the dice rolls, you get wind or you don’t. “At the moment we are sailing east, trying to get into the stronger currents up the western edge of the Philippines as the forecast is for no wind on the entire course for the next day so we may as well be drifting in the right direction at two knots rather than sitting still.” De Lage Landen’s skipper, Stuart Jackson, is also grateful for the effects of the current. He says, “Last night saw the wind die off to a frustratingly light degree. We have been struggling to find a tack that will keep us heading in the desired direction. The current however has been a saving grace and has been gently pushing us in the right direction. It looks like we will be in these conditions for a while longer so we’ll just have to stay patient and hope that the other yachts don’t make too much ground on us, or sail around us entirely!” For a short while Geraldton Western Australia did find a bit of breeze, although it was short lived, according to skipper, Juan Coetzer. But, says the South African yachtsman, they have found a useful wind instrument in the local wildlife. “Last night was rather exciting; the wind picked up to 20 knots. Suddenly, we needed to do sail changes from the Yankee 1 to the Yankee 2 and put a reef in the main sail. Half an hour later, we shook out the reef and changed back to the Yankee 1. The sun rose this morning and the wind died. Currently we are drifting in the current, avoiding whales bobbing around. The blows when they surface make good wind indicators.” Yesterday Derry-Londonderry’s skipper, Mark Light, explained how the crew were refocusing their efforts to avoid slipping further behind the front runners. Today the team representing the UK City of Culture 2013 is about to crash the leading boats’ party having made great gains. “We have had a fantastic run over the last 12 to 18 hours making some good gains on the leading boats,” Mark tells the Race Office this morning. “Last night the wind increased slightly and veered to the east as forecast, allowing us to head up to a superb course of about 035°, exactly where we want to go for once! The wind further increased, necessitating a change down from Yankee 1 to 2 and two reefs to be put in the mainsail. We had great speeds of between ten and eleven knots SOG helped along by a knot of favourable current. “As with all good things this has to come to an end and again, as forecast, the wind started to decrease during the early hours and backed to a more normal north easterly direction. By daylight today the wind had dropped off to only five knots true, making progress painfully slow. “Then we noticed Gold Coast Australia and Singapore appear on our AIS (Automatic Identification System) and we realised exactly how much we had gained overnight. Now, unfortunately, we all seem to be stalling in the same area of light winds so eagerly await new breeze to fill in and keep us on our way north and east.” They will not have too long to wait, according to meteorologist, Simon Rowell. “The next 36 hours will see the winds in the Luzon Straits back from easterly through to north north easterly and the north east again as the monsoon returns. It will be different in the lee of Luzon itself with probably north easterly on average.” Rather ominously Simon warns the skippers that the wind over current effect along the east coast of Taiwan will be ‘quite large’. Just 20 miles behind the front half of the fleet, the tightly packed trio of New York, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital and Visit Finland is encountering more squally and changeable weather. Gordon Reid, skipper of the yacht representing Scotland’s capital city, explains, “As we make north in the race to Qingdao, the weather conditions are becoming even more variable, with lots of intense squalls, massive wind shifts and now large patches of light winds. “The weather forecast does not predict where there will be wind, so to make the most of whatever wind we find, we have taken to doing some cloud spotting, if we can get on the right side of a bank of clouds we find the wind, get it wrong and you drift. “Now west of the rhumb line, where we are experiencing more wind then those to our east, we are still racing in close proximity to New York. If we can stay in this wind and continue moving north it may well lead to a shake-up in the leader board.” He continues, “In the lighter and variable wind conditions the focus more than ever has to be on the sail trim, to squeeze out every last knot or tenth of a knot as it all counts.” New York, whose crew desperately want to be in the top three when they arrive in Qingdao, have been ringing the changes in their sail plan as the winds shift about. “In the night we had to change down from our Yankee 1 to our Yankee 2 and reefed main as the apparent wind picked up to over 25 knots and now this morning sees us looking for wind as we now have only five knots to play with, with full main and Yankee 1,” reports Gareth Glover. “The crew today are preparing New York for the heavy weather we are going to have closer to Taiwan, from re storing all the yacht’s food and moving any lose items around, sorting out their personal kit and re checking the safety equipment and their life jackets.” Qingdao has finally found the breeze and is pulling away from Welcome to Yorkshire but both teams have gained ground on the rest of the fleet in the last 24 hours. Skipper of the Chinese entry, Ian Conchie, says, “The wind has finally moved around more to the east allowing us to head north. We even managed to point directly to the next waypoint for a few hours last night which raised a cheer as it’s the first time we have managed that since the start of this leg! “This morning the wind dropped allowing us to carry out some maintenance tasks ahead of the next batch of strong wind. We have inspected and the No 2 Yankee and replaced four hanks, we dropped the main for an hour to allow us to change a broken batten and we have carried out all our routine safety checks on our emergency equipment. At the moment the crew are busy checking through the boat to ensure everything is stowed correctly.” Rupert Dean, Welcome to Yorkshire’s skipper, reports, “Feisty conditions all round last night. Intense rain and squalls dominated events, demanding numerous reefs and sail changes to balance the boat. The wind varied hugely in direction too, demanding intense concentration by the helm, trimmers and navigators alike. “With all the rain, confused seas and cloud cover, the moon was unable to make an appearance last night, restricting our visibility severely. This made it even more difficult to pick out approaching squalls, ships and fishing vessels, requiring constant vigilance on radar and AIS. “Hopefully as the winds reduce to the north of Welcome to Yorkshire and enable us to steer directly where we want to go (for the first time in nine days), the fleet will compress and we will take some reward for the efforts put in.” On a more light-hearted note, the crew of Welcome to Yorkshire have been leading the way with their Valentine’s Day celebrations on board. A game of Blind Date has paired up the crew members and they are all going out of their way to make their ‘other half’ feel special on the big day. Qingdao’s crew all received Love Heart sweets, Gold Coast Australia’s mothers for the day have made heart-shaped scones and muffins, De Lage Landen’s chart table is adorned with love hearts and everyone on board had a secret Valentine’s present to open at lunchtime. Although, says Stuart, “The love songs are starting to wear a little thin already!” Geraldton Western Australia’s crew have gone the whole hog. “Today is a special day for all on board – filled with treats,” says Juan. “The crew have all showered and during happy hour we had a toast to ourselves – drinking a wee dram of Kinloch Anderson 12-year-old Scottish single malt whisky.” The whisky was the team’s prize for winning the competition set by Edinburgh Inspiring Capital to celebrate Burns Night. ENDS Positions at 1200 UTC, Tuesday 14 February Boat DTF* 1 De Lage Landen 1,124nm 2 Gold Coast Australia 1,129nm (+5nm DTL**) 3 Singapore 1,133nm (+9nm) 4 Geraldton Western Australia 1,139nm (+15nm) 5 Derry-Londonderry 1,148nm (+24nm) 6 New York 1,164nm (+40nm) 7 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 1,171nm (+47nm) 8 Visit Finland 1,171nm (+47nm) 9 Qingdao 1,234nm (+110nm) 10 Welcome to Yorkshire 1,260nm (+136nm)

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As the ten teams taking part in the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race head for the rapidly-approaching Scoring Gate, the wind has picked up and they are preparing for storms ahead.

De Lage Landen’s skipper Stuart Jackson says, “What a beautiful day to be sailing in the South China Sea. Sailing close hauled with around 20 knots of apparent wind is exactly what we needed to prepare ourselves to what we are going to encounter further north, near Taiwan!

“With 350 miles to go to the Scoring Gate we can see that every boat is positioning itself in expectation of the wind shift expected according to the weather forecast.”

Meteorologist and winning skipper of the Clipper Race in 2000, Simon Rowell, has warned the fleet of gales ahead, telling them, “The intense north east monsoon is bringing gales to the East China Sea. Significant high seas of over six metres can be expected over the gulf of Tonkin with reduced visibility.”

There is double cause for celebration for Edinburgh Inspiring Capital’s skipper, Gordon Reid, who celebrates his birthday today. The team has been rapidly moving up the leader board and is currently in fifth position, and the crew are preparing themselves for the changing weather conditions.

Gordon says, “Yesterday brought us another day of playing cat and mouse with the New York yacht in some fairly light wind conditions. We decided to continue heading east with a little bit of north in anticipation of the breeze filling in from the east first as forecast.

“Our constant focus on steering in nice straight lines and enforced trim reviews at the top and the bottom of the hour have ensured we stay competitive as we make excellent progress to the north east and onwards towards the next virtual mark.

“Today we are making final preparations for the upwind onslaught; everything that might move is being secured and the crew have all of their wet weather gear carefully stowed to be within easy reach for when it is required – and it will be soon.”

The American entry New York remains in seventh position close to the Scottish and Northern Irish competition. Skipper Gareth Glover says, “The wind has filled in to 14 knots true and we are now getting much better boat speed towards the gate. We are racing towards it with the other yachts, after losing Edinburgh Inspiring Capital in the night we picked up Derry-Londonderry passing less than five miles ahead of us on the other tack.

“Our overall tactic was to keep to the east side of the track but ended up more in the middle and now some of the other yachts have headed further to the east to pick up good wind and a better course. But you can still go too much to the east and they may find themselves heading to the west to get around to the gate. We are looking to move up the leader board over the next few days and trying and get some points from the Scoring Gate.”

The mood on board Derry-Londonderry is up-beat and the Northern Irish entry has made the most of the wind which has picked up during the last 24 hours.

Skipper Mark Light said, “Things are going pretty well on Derry-Londonderry. We cleared the island of Pulau-Pulau yesterday morning and since then have been on a port tack heading east in order to set ourselves up for the next stage in this race.

“After the frustration of very light and fickle winds early yesterday the wind filled in, as predicted, and we have been making steady ground ever since. We did have to negotiate our way through a fairly large and well spread fleet of fishing boats all working together trawling in pairs – just don’t go between them!”

As the wind picked up Derry-Londonderry decided to follow a more northerly course leaving behindWelcome to Yorkshire and Visit Finland and saw themselves crossing a couple of miles ahead of New York on the opposite tack six hours later.

Mark continues, “A quick chat on VHF with New York skipper Gareth confirmed we were both clear and on we sailed, heading now in an east north east direction. One last challenge for the night was to avoid a tug that was restricted in its ability to manoeuvre being hampered because it was towing a fairly large barge. Successfully avoided, we carried on past another pair of trawlers with an increasing wind and hopefully a climb up the leader board. A good night’s work for our ‘LegenDerry’ crew!”

Meanwhile the situation is more frustrating for Visit Finland and Welcome to Yorkshire.

In his 0600 report to the Race Office Visit Finland skipper, Olly Osborne, says, “Today sees us on a port tack making good speeds eastward, although there is little north in the course. The crew have been working very hard to gain the extra places but it is very frustrating to see that we are continuing to fall down the leader board without a reasonable explanation of why. Still the race is young and we will see what the next days have in store for us.”

Despite slipping from fifth to ninth position overnight, skipper of the English entry, Rupert Dean, is positive about what lies ahead.

“It’s been a psychologically difficult time on Welcome to Yorkshire. Over the past 12 hours we’ve seen our position slip down the fleet and when you look at distance to finish figures alone, it’s very easy to become despondent. However, more than ever before we are formulating a strategy through considerable research pre-race by our navigation team, then sticking to it and seeing it through.

“Regardless of result, this is far more empowering than basing short term navigational decisions on knee-jerk reactions, based on what others in the fleet may be doing at the time. It certainly generates more buy-in from all on board, which ultimately contributes massively to unity across the team. As a team we believe we are sailing our boat very well. Almost without exception, over the past few days we’ve both out-pointed and out-dragged other boats in our vicinity. We believe we are a fast boat and when in the same conditions as others around us, sail very well indeed.”

At the back of the ten-strong fleet is Qingdao who headed north early on in the race. Skipper Ian Conchie has been reflecting on his tactics over the last 24 hours.

“Our early decision to head north has not paid off as we hoped it would.  We knew it was a tactical gamble but ultimately one that did not work as we hoped.  We are now focusing all our efforts to make the purple dragon go as fast as we can to make inroads into the gap to the boats ahead of us.  The next tactical decision is when to tack north. At the moment we are continuing to press east but we will have to tack north at some point.

“On the plus point the wind has strengthened so our boat speed has picked up again and we all remain positive about our chances to improve our standing in the fleet. The forecast is for the wind to keep building so we should have good sailing for the next few days.”

Meanwhile the fight for the top spot continues. While Gold Coast Australia remains in first position andDe Lage Landen in second, Singapore and Geraldton Western Australia have been neck and neck in the last 24 hours.  

Geraldton Western Australia has narrowed in their distance to the Singapore boat after skipper Juan Coetzer saw some good advice paying off.

“A good friend of mine, Ed Green, a former Clipper Race skipper, gave me some advice before the race. He said, ‘If you ever find yourself in a wind hole, put the kite up in order to build up the boat speed, no matter which way you point, just to get her moving again.’

“So yesterday up went the kite and we made huge gains on Singapore. We even did an outside gybe and once we got out of the wind hole, we peeled back to the Yankee 1. By midnight we had overtakenSingapore. The crew have been extremely focused on helming and trim, trying to squeeze out every little ounce of boat speed.”

Despite remaining competitive the Singapore skipper, Ben Bowley, only has kind words for the Aussie entry. 

“Our languishing in a windless hole yesterday was mercifully short lived. With much concentration and a series of tacks we were eventually able to get the boat moving again with the assistance of the windseeker. Sadly during this time Geraldton Western Australia had managed to close the gap on us to within a few boat lengths.  There they remained, never more than a mile away, matching us tack for tack until this morning,” Ben says. 

“It was excellent to have a bit of close boat on boat action to keep the focus.  Under a full moon-lit sky last night our nautical duel was played out, each trying to squeeze the last bit of height or speed out of our vessels.  Congratulations to Juan and his crew for finally getting the better of us!”

With only four miles between the two teams, Singapore tacked away to the north this morning and regained third place, adding to the skipper’s enjoyment of the day.

“Upwind sailing does not get much better than this; clear blue skies and an azure sea, doffing her white caps to us as we hastily scythe through the chop.  Oh, and it’s hot dogs for lunch. Glorious!” theSingapore skipper concludes in his report.

Frontrunner Gold Coast Australia has been making good ground overnight on the other yachts in the fleet, managing to find more wind. But navigating the seas is not only about wind and weather; there are other obstacles to contend with.

Skipper Richard Hewson says, “Last night we passed through a large fishing fleet who were trawling in the South China Sea.  The trawler captains were quite inquisitive about our yacht and consequently altered course to take a better look.  As a result we passed the bow of one of the larger fishing vessels at no more than 500 yards, close enough to see the captain wave at us in his lit up wheel house. 

“It was very pleasant to see that he was friendly and his actions of altering course were to take a better look at our 68-foot racing yacht as opposed to warning us off their fishing grounds. Later today our course will take us past a number of reefs and banks which will no doubt attract vast numbers of fishing vessels.”

“We now have just over 300 miles to sail until we reach the Scoring Gate, and we will be working hard to maintain our lead to ensure we reach the gate in first place and win another three points before entering the second phase of the race towards Taiwan.  We should have good, predictable wind from now on, at least until Taiwan where, if the low pressure system currently developing in China has anything to do with it, it could be a bit rough.”

The teams are expected to begin arriving in Qingdao between 22 and 25 February.

ENDS

 

Positions at 1200 UTC, Wednesday 8 February  

 

Boat                                                                       DTF*

1  Gold Coast Australia                                   1911nm
2  De Lage Landen                                            1944nm (+32nm DTL**)
3  Singapore                                                       1947nm (+35nm)
4  Geraldton Western Australia                  1952nm (+41nm)
5  Edinburgh Inspiring Capital                      1967nm (+56nm)
6  Derry-Londonderry                                    1980nm (+69nm)
7  New York                                                        1990nm (+78nm)
8  Visit Finland                                                   1996nm (+85nm)
9  Qingdao                                                           2019nm (+107nm)
10 Welcome to Yorkshire                              2026nm (+114nm)

 

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

 

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Nine of the ten yachts in the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race are now in Stealth Mode for the cruise phase between the first and second parts of Race 7. The fleet is divided into three groups, accompanying each other through the Celebes and Sulu Seas for safety reasons. Edinburgh Inspiring Capital is approximately 50nm from the gate and will be the final boat to go into Stealth Mode as part of the race organisers’ anti-piracy measures. Assistant Race Director, Justin Taylor explains, “The plan is for them to rendezvous with Visit Finland and Welcome to Yorkshire. They have both held station for 12 hours and are now progressing at a reduced speed to allow Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, which is approximately 100nm behind these two, to catch up.” Yesterday the Race Committee made the decision to allow Edinburgh Inspiring Capital to use their engine before the gate for the finish of the first stage in order to allow them to transit the Celebes and Sulu Seas in company with the other two teams. Skipper Gordon Reid says, “We have utilised the engine in short stints, but ironically sailed for most of yesterday and last night in some fairly constant breeze. We are now about to cross into the Celebes Sea and rendezvous with the other yachts and the wind has once more died off. “Yesterday we entered yet another patch of light variable wind. The crew are well practised and have been taught to see the wind and seek the wind and, like giddy children, they indeed did find wind where others may have failed. “The light conditions have also allowed us to crack on with many boat jobs, essential maintenance and repairs, but on every racing yacht the jobs list is never empty, the crew are very fond of the ‘Purple Beastie’ and like to look after her well. It’s great to see such enthusiasm.” In the meantime the leading group consisting of Clipper Race frontrunner Gold Coast Australia and Derry-Londonderry are approximately 170nm from the restart gate located in the South China Sea. It is estimated that they will restart in the next 24-36 hours. Justin explains, “Gold Coast Australia must restart within 95 hours of beginning the ‘cruise’ phase which is before 2054.59 UTC tomorrow. Derry-Londonderry must restart tomorrow before 2214 UTC. They can restart at any time before this, however I suspect that they will leave it as long as possible as the wind conditions in the South China Sea are a bit light at the moment with the wind forecasted to increase slightly in about 48 hours’ time.” Skipper Mark Light from Derry-Londonderry expresses gratitude for the Race Office’s decision to suspend racing on this stage of the race. “The idea of motoring was partly due to the very low risk of piracy activity and partly due to the general lack of wind in this area. This has proven to be a very wise decision as we experience another windless day with very high temperatures and a flat, shimmering sea,” he explains in his 0600 report to the Race Office. “We are making good progress and have only 175nm to go until the re-start gate. Our 12-hourly stops for engine checks bring a welcome opportunity for a swim between the boats. The water is a great temperature (we estimate approximately 27C). We also managed to do a book exchange this morning. So, all going well, no pirates, no sharks and plenty of sleep. Roll on the re-start gate and let’s get racing!” They may not have seen sharks, but aboard their current companion, Gold Coast Australia, the crew has been spotting plenty of other activity in the water. “Sailing through the Sulu Sea has bought with it an abundance of wildlife and we have been spotting dolphins, whales, massive schools of fish and a rogue squid that jumped aboard in the middle of the night and squirted ink from the foredeck to the cockpit covering the mast, sails and everything in its way with spots of ink!” says skipper, Richard Hewson. He continues, “Whilst I love racing yachts more than anything else in the world there are times where I am very grateful that we are in a cruise phase. The last couple of days have been perfect cruising days with very little wind, sunshine and a view of Philippine paradise. After breakfast we hailed Derry-Londonderry and stopped for a swim while we conducted our engine checks.” As the teams motor-sail towards the restart gate, the crews have been able to put to the test some of the other skills learned during their pre-race training. Justin explains, “As De Lage Landen have been using their main engine to charge their batteries during the race from Australia, they have a little less fuel than the other yachts. As a precautionary measure they completed a yacht to yacht fuel transfer from New York yesterday. This involves transferring jerry cans from one yacht to the other. It’s an exercise that we cover in the pre-race training for just such an eventuality.” De Lage Landen’s skipper, Stuart Jackson, says, “Finally the weather has sorted itself out for our cruise section of the race. We now have blazing sunshine and have been enjoying a refreshing swim when we stop our engine to do routine maintenance checks. At lunchtime today we and New York did this together, so it was great for the crews to see some other familiar friendly faces to have a chat with. “It hasn’t been all sunbathing and relaxing as we have been working hard on our maintenance list to give us more time off during the stopover. With the weather being calm and dry these have been the perfect conditions to do this and carry out a thorough deep clean of the boat.” New York’s crew also have maintenance on the agenda. “The time under motor has for the first time let the crew relax and enjoy the views and get on with jobs around the yacht. I have been fixing our sewing machine for the past five hours so we can sew our now taped medium weight kite, which the crew have been working on for the past few days,” says skipper, Gareth Glover. The rest of the teams are also making good progress across the Sulu and Celebes Seas and tactics on the next stage is one of the topics of discussion on board all of the yachts. Singapore’s skipper Ben Bowley says, “We have nearly finished polishing all the stainless, gel-coat and re-splicing all spectra loops on kites and poles. Winches are being serviced and halyard ends attended to. “Presently there looks to be very little wind all across the South China Sea and we shall have to work hard to ensure that we finish at least an hour ahead of either Geraldton Western Australia or Qingdao to claim another podium. I fear that with Derry-Londonderry and Gold Coast Australia being a little further ahead they may catch a little puff of wind and extend their lead before it dies away. That’s not to say that they are un-catchable; when the wind does come back there is every chance it will fill in for the boats further back first, allowing us (and the guys behind us!) the chance to catch up. Time will tell,” he adds. For Juan Coetzer and his crew on board Geraldton Western Australia, the chance to take a dip during the engine checks has been more important than just cooling off. “In the afternoon the wind died completely and the sea was as flat as a pancake, so it was a good time for a swim. After hitting the logs a few days earlier, I had been waiting for a good opportunity to check under the boat for damage. So we took this time for a swim and an inspection. The news was good,” he reports. The skipper of Qingdao, with whom Geraldton Western Australia is travelling, Ian Conchie, says, “Last night we passed through the Basilan Strait and into the Sulu Sea without fanfare and we are now looking forward to reaching the re-start point to try and improve on our race position on the next leg to Singapore. We are just praying there will be wind.” The teams took the opportunity when they stopped last night to have a little bartering session and swap some supplies. They are not alone, as Visit Finland’s skipper has been doing some bartering of his own. Olly Osborne says, “Today began with a surprise visit from the Welcome to Yorkshire crew who swam over and joined us for cake and coffee which was a great opportunity to share stories and see some friendly faces. “The locals are proving very friendly, too, and the large yachts attract a lot of attention from the local fishermen who come up alongside in their wooden skiffs, which are a lot like canoes with motorbike engines on the back. At first this caused me some concern but it soon became clear that they only wanted to offer us fish. So today I exchanged two packets of tobacco for four small tuna and a large dorado, which seemed like a very good deal as far as the fisherman was concerned. We will cook these tonight and I am sure they will be a very welcome addition to our usual fare.” Visit Finland and Welcome to Yorkshire are the third group and are employing a fuel-saving method as they wait for Edinburgh Inspiring Capital to join them. Olly explains, “We are taking turns to tow each other in order to save fuel and to stay in company. We will remain here on station until the Edinburgh Inspiring Capital crew joins us, so we are enjoying a break from frequent sail changes and squally conditions, and instead have rigged a sun cover over the boom and have the fire hose going to keep cool. Welcome to Yorkshire skipper, Rupert Dean, says his crew are also enjoying the company from the Finnish entry, but are eager for Edinburgh Inspiring Capital to join them so they can get going. “They are now around 100nm behind us, so hopefully we will all be able to motor in convoy together in a day or so in the interests of fleet security. “Without the pressure of sailing our yacht to the max, we are focussing on other things. The most important of which is doing as many maintenance jobs as possible before we arrive in Singapore. “There is no doubt all the fleet would like more wind from the correct direction at the moment, which would enable us to make far better progress towards the finish line. In the interests of fleet security and fuel economy we need to motor slowly in convoy at present. The former to look out for each other, for we’re continually being accosted by friendly fishing boats; the latter being improved by sharing towing duties, reinforcing the skills learnt during our training all those months ago before the race start in Southampton.” If you want to see what participating in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race requires, the second episode of Against the Tide airs in the US on Velocity at 10pm Eastern (7pm Pacific) today. It will be repeated at 1am, 5am and 10am (Eastern) on Tuesday mornings and at 5pm Eastern on Fridays. ESPN and STAR Sports channels start airing the series from this week – dates and times vary, check local listings for details in China, South East Asia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Malaysia. After a very successful airing in the UK, Against the Tide, is also available on DVD from www.bookharbour.com. ENDS Teams are required to restart within 95 hours of suspending racing. Gate crossing times. All times are UTC 1 Gold Coast Australia 2154.59 13 January 2012 2 Derry-Londonderry 2314.00 13 January 2012 3 Geraldton Western Australia 0229.40 14 January 2012 4 Qingdao 0313.25 14 January 2012 5 Singapore 0325.31 14 January 2012 6 De Lage Landen 0936.29 14 January 2012 7 New York 1224.02 14 January 2012 8 Visit Finland 2022.00 14 January 2012 9 Welcome to Yorkshire 0322.20 15 January 2012 10 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital DTF* 1,409 at 1200 UTC 16 JanuaryNine of the ten yachts in the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race are now in Stealth Mode for the cruise phase between the first and second parts of Race 7. The fleet is divided into three groups, accompanying each other through the Celebes and Sulu Seas for safety reasons.

Edinburgh Inspiring Capital is approximately 50nm from the gate and will be the final boat to go into Stealth Mode as part of the race organisers’ anti-piracy measures.

Assistant Race Director, Justin Taylor explains, “The plan is for them to rendezvous with Visit Finland and Welcome to Yorkshire. They have both held station for 12 hours and are now progressing at a reduced speed to allow Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, which is approximately 100nm behind these two, to catch up.”

Yesterday the Race Committee made the decision to allow Edinburgh Inspiring Capital to use their engine before the gate for the finish of the first stage in order to allow them to transit the Celebes and Sulu Seas in company with the other two teams.

Skipper Gordon Reid says, “We have utilised the engine in short stints, but ironically sailed for most of yesterday and last night in some fairly constant breeze. We are now about to cross into the Celebes Sea and rendezvous with the other yachts and the wind has once more died off.

“Yesterday we entered yet another patch of light variable wind. The crew are well practised and have been taught to see the wind and seek the wind and, like giddy children, they indeed did find wind where others may have failed.

“The light conditions have also allowed us to crack on with many boat jobs, essential maintenance and repairs, but on every racing yacht the jobs list is never empty, the crew are very fond of the ‘Purple Beastie’ and like to look after her well. It’s great to see such enthusiasm.”

In the meantime the leading group consisting of Clipper Race frontrunner Gold Coast Australia and Derry-Londonderry are approximately 170nm from the restart gate located in the South China Sea. It is estimated that they will restart in the next 24-36 hours.

Justin explains, “Gold Coast Australia must restart within 95 hours of beginning the ‘cruise’ phase which is before 2054.59 UTC tomorrow. Derry-Londonderry must restart tomorrow before 2214 UTC. They can restart at any time before this, however I suspect that they will leave it as long as possible as the wind conditions in the South China Sea are a bit light at the moment with the wind forecasted to increase slightly in about 48 hours’ time.”

Skipper Mark Light from Derry-Londonderry expresses gratitude for the Race Office’s decision to suspend racing on this stage of the race.

“The idea of motoring was partly due to the very low risk of piracy activity and partly due to the general lack of wind in this area. This has proven to be a very wise decision as we experience another windless day with very high temperatures and a flat, shimmering sea,” he explains in his 0600 report to the Race Office.

“We are making good progress and have only 175nm to go until the re-start gate. Our 12-hourly stops for engine checks bring a welcome opportunity for a swim between the boats. The water is a great temperature (we estimate approximately 27C). We also managed to do a book exchange this morning. So, all going well, no pirates, no sharks and plenty of sleep. Roll on the re-start gate and let’s get racing!”

They may not have seen sharks, but aboard their current companion, Gold Coast Australia, the crew has been spotting plenty of other activity in the water.

“Sailing through the Sulu Sea has bought with it an abundance of wildlife and we have been spotting dolphins, whales, massive schools of fish and a rogue squid that jumped aboard in the middle of the night and squirted ink from the foredeck to the cockpit covering the mast, sails and everything in its way with spots of ink!” says skipper, Richard Hewson.

He continues, “Whilst I love racing yachts more than anything else in the world there are times where I am very grateful that we are in a cruise phase. The last couple of days have been perfect cruising days with very little wind, sunshine and a view of Philippine paradise. After breakfast we hailed Derry-Londonderry and stopped for a swim while we conducted our engine checks.”

As the teams motor-sail towards the restart gate, the crews have been able to put to the test some of the other skills learned during their pre-race training.

Justin explains, “As De Lage Landen have been using their main engine to charge their batteries during the race from Australia, they have a little less fuel than the other yachts. As a precautionary measure they completed a yacht to yacht fuel transfer from New York yesterday. This involves transferring jerry cans from one yacht to the other. It’s an exercise that we cover in the pre-race training for just such an eventuality.”

De Lage Landen’s skipper, Stuart Jackson, says, “Finally the weather has sorted itself out for our cruise section of the race. We now have blazing sunshine and have been enjoying a refreshing swim when we stop our engine to do routine maintenance checks. At lunchtime today we and New York did this together, so it was great for the crews to see some other familiar friendly faces to have a chat with.

“It hasn’t been all sunbathing and relaxing as we have been working hard on our maintenance list to give us more time off during the stopover. With the weather being calm and dry these have been the perfect conditions to do this and carry out a thorough deep clean of the boat.”

New York’s crew also have maintenance on the agenda.

“The time under motor has for the first time let the crew relax and enjoy the views and get on with jobs around the yacht. I have been fixing our sewing machine for the past five hours so we can sew our now taped medium weight kite, which the crew have been working on for the past few days,” says skipper, Gareth Glover.

The rest of the teams are also making good progress across the Sulu and Celebes Seas and tactics on the next stage is one of the topics of discussion on board all of the yachts.

Singapore’s skipper Ben Bowley says, “We have nearly finished polishing all the stainless, gel-coat and re-splicing all spectra loops on kites and poles. Winches are being serviced and halyard ends attended to. 

“Presently there looks to be very little wind all across the South China Sea and we shall have to work hard to ensure that we finish at least an hour ahead of either Geraldton Western Australia or Qingdao to claim another podium. I fear that with Derry-Londonderry and Gold Coast Australia being a little further ahead they may catch a little puff of wind and extend their lead before it dies away. That’s not to say that they are un-catchable; when the wind does come back there is every chance it will fill in for the boats further back first, allowing us (and the guys behind us!) the chance to catch up. Time will tell,” he adds.

For Juan Coetzer and his crew on board Geraldton Western Australia, the chance to take a dip during the engine checks has been more important than just cooling off.

“In the afternoon the wind died completely and the sea was as flat as a pancake, so it was a good time for a swim. After hitting the logs a few days earlier, I had been waiting for a good opportunity to check under the boat for damage. So we took this time for a swim and an inspection. The news was good,” he reports.

The skipper of Qingdao, with whom Geraldton Western Australia is travelling, Ian Conchie, says, “Last night we passed through the Basilan Strait and into the Sulu Sea without fanfare and we are now looking forward to reaching the re-start point to try and improve on our race position on the next leg to Singapore. We are just praying there will be wind.”

The teams took the opportunity when they stopped last night to have a little bartering session and swap some supplies.

They are not alone, as Visit Finland’s skipper has been doing some bartering of his own.

Olly Osborne says, “Today began with a surprise visit from the Welcome to Yorkshire crew who swam over and joined us for cake and coffee which was a great opportunity to share stories and see some friendly faces.

“The locals are proving very friendly, too, and the large yachts attract a lot of attention from the local fishermen who come up alongside in their wooden skiffs, which are a lot like canoes with motorbike engines on the back. At first this caused me some concern but it soon became clear that they only wanted to offer us fish. So today I exchanged two packets of tobacco for four small tuna and a large dorado, which seemed like a very good deal as far as the fisherman was concerned. We will cook these tonight and I am sure they will be a very welcome addition to our usual fare.”

Visit Finland and Welcome to Yorkshire are the third group and are employing a fuel-saving method as they wait for Edinburgh Inspiring Capital to join them.

Olly explains, “We are taking turns to tow each other in order to save fuel and to stay in company. We will remain here on station until the Edinburgh Inspiring Capital crew joins us, so we are enjoying a break from frequent sail changes and squally conditions, and instead have rigged a sun cover over the boom and have the fire hose going to keep cool.

Welcome to Yorkshire skipper, Rupert Dean, says his crew are also enjoying the company from the Finnish entry, but are eager for Edinburgh Inspiring Capital to join them so they can get going.

“They are now around 100nm behind us, so hopefully we will all be able to motor in convoy together in a day or so in the interests of fleet security.

“Without the pressure of sailing our yacht to the max, we are focussing on other things. The most important of which is doing as many maintenance jobs as possible before we arrive in Singapore.

“There is no doubt all the fleet would like more wind from the correct direction at the moment, which would enable us to make far better progress towards the finish line. In the interests of fleet security and fuel economy we need to motor slowly in convoy at present. The former to look out for each other, for we’re continually being accosted by friendly fishing boats; the latter being improved by sharing towing duties, reinforcing the skills learnt during our training all those months ago before the race start in Southampton.”

If you want to see what participating in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race requires, the second episode of Against the Tide airs in the US on Velocity at 10pm Eastern (7pm Pacific) today. It will be repeated at 1am, 5am and 10am (Eastern) on Tuesday mornings and at 5pm Eastern on Fridays.

ESPN and STAR Sports channels start airing the series from this week – dates and times vary, check local listings for details in China, South East Asia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Malaysia.

After a very successful airing in the UK, Against the Tide, is also available on DVD from www.bookharbour.com.

ENDS

Teams are required to restart within 95 hours of suspending racing.

Gate crossing times. All times are UTC

1 Gold Coast Australia 2154.59 13 January 2012
2 Derry-Londonderry 2314.00 13 January 2012
3 Geraldton Western Australia 0229.40 14 January 2012
4 Qingdao 0313.25 14 January 2012
5 Singapore 0325.31 14 January 2012
6 De Lage Landen 0936.29 14 January 2012
7 New York 1224.02 14 January 2012
8 Visit Finland 2022.00 14 January 2012
9 Welcome to Yorkshire 0322.20 15 January 2012
10 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital DTF* 1,409 at 1200 UTC 16 January

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Charged with documenting the race from the perpectives of the crew on board, the role of Media Crew Member is often percieved as a glamorous “dream job”.

 But throw into the mix a gruelling work schedule alongside tasks including cleaning the bilges, bailing water from the boat and cooking all meals, and suddenly it’s not all fun and games if you’re a Volvo Ocean Race MCM.

While the Volvo Open 70s are in transit from the safe haven port, we caught up with Amory Ross, MCM on PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, about the challenges of life on board Mar Mostro.

volvooceanrace.com: You came into this race quite late. Has it met your expectations so far?

Amory Ross: I didn’t come into this race with any expectations per se but I think it’s been a lot of what I was looking for in a sense of getting out there, finding something new and different. It’s been a really special opportunity. The material the MCMs are given is really impossible to access from any other perspective. We’re certainly hitting on all strides there. We have certainly been one for surprises so far – no shortage of new, off the topic adventures with islands and all kinds of stuff going on. It’s been exciting and the expectations have been a little left behind in terms of new adventures, and something to really sink the teeth into.

 VOR: The dismasting on the first leg must have been incredibly difficult to cover as an MCM. Tell us a bit about how you dealt with that.

AR: When it happened I think we were all more surprised than anything else. The nice thing about my situation is that there are 11 guys on the boat and each has a job to do. The sailors understand I am there for moments like that, and they have all been really gracious and welcoming with questions, and forthcoming with honest answers. Thinking about it now, it was tough. It seems like it was just yesterday. With the suddenness of it all, I immediately started recording the footage but not necessarily the reactions, just making sure from a technical standpoint everything was there because those are the moments you don’t get again. You get one try and that’s that. That very quickly shifted to trying to talk to some of the sailors. I’d be lying if I said it was easy, and there were some less than pleased reactions, but that’s my job. I look back at it now and I’m happy I had the gusto to say something because we all look back on it now in a very different light and everyone understands that in the heat of the moment it’s very frustrating for all.

 

VOR: What are the challenges of being an MCM?

AR: There’s no question that the public’s perception of the job is probably a little glamorous while from the inside it’s anything but. If I had to pick three of the more challenging components they would be:

1. Mentally being ok not helping out. That’s a big one for me. I come from a sailing background and it’s not necessarily that I want to improve the boat’s performance or anything but it’s tough. When times are down and people are struggling a bit I just want to help, I just want to grab something and offer two more hands to the equation. The nice thing is I direct that energy to the food, to the bailing, and just try to stay positive. For me that’s my contribution to the performance of the boat.

2. The scheduling we have is another one. The first leg we had was easy as it was pretty much north-south so there wasn’t much change in daylight hours or time zones. This last leg I had a really hard time with my schedule. I have a schedule for Volvo Ocean Race which runs on UTC, I have our boat time which was Cape Town time, and then I have the changing daylight so people are asking what time food’s coming up, if they are eating dinner when it’s really light or breakfast when it’s really dark. It messes with everyone’s cycle. Trying to regulate my own time and make sure meals are cooked on time, the content’s off the boat on time, making sure I get sleep – it’s a lot to handle.

3. Lastly it’s really hard to find time to rest. My time to work is when it’s sunny and so I find myself up all day, and then at night I’m editing. Sometimes it’s so loud and there’s so much going on. Whether you’re tacking or gybing or stacking your stuff, you really don’t have much rest. I always tend to end these legs pretty darn exhausted. The upside is that we get the opportunity to capture something really special. I will find myself in a bit of a swear-fest hating life, and two hours later I’ll take a picture or get something on video that makes all of it worthwhile. It’s amazing how quickly you forget.

 

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It’s a day of reflection and celebration for the ten-strong fleet of
ocean racing yachts taking part in the Clipper 11-12 Race as the
skippers and crew members look back on a year which has seen them race
half way around the world.

“The race so far has been full of emotional highs and a great sense of
achievement,” reveals Geraldton Western Australia skipper, Juan Coetzer.

“The crew have all had time to reflect on how far they have come since
they started their training back in Gosport, UK, were the Clipper Race
HQ is based,” continues Juan, with his team currently sitting second
behind rivals Gold Coast Australia.

“We have just past our virtual mark and currently the wind has decided
to be kind and give us a massive lift to the next virtual mark of New
Ireland. We came across our first fishing vessel today, and sadly there
were two whales hanging around in the area.”

Meanwhile on board Australian rivals Gold Coast Australia, skipper
Richard Hewson reports perfect sailing conditions to conclude a year
which has seen his team claim five wins out of a possible six.

“It has been almost like a dream run and I have been saying to all on
board how lucky we are to have this wind as we sail up through the
Solomon Sea,” explains Richard.

“The area we are sailing through is so beautiful sometimes you need to
close your eyes and remember where you are, however you can be quickly
reminded as the wind shuts down completely and the familiar crack crack,
crack crack of the main flapping across the boat in zero knots of wind
and the random swell.”

Crew members across the fleet are being faced with stifling conditions
as they close in on the Equator with dehydration becoming a constant
danger.

“Today at midday, being New Years Eve we had planned to have champagne,
but it was so hot this has been postponed until later in the evening
when it cools down.”

The champagne sailing conditions were also short lived as the Australian
team today saw their boat speed fall to zero knots.

“During the calm conditions we have also made a wind scoop for the front
hatch to try to funnel what wind we can down into the ghetto. This
scoop will probably come in very handy for the remainder of the race in
the north east trade winds once we reach them.”

Also attempting to make best of the current scorching conditions is
Singapore’s skipper, Ben Bowley.

“It is not just the heat that is sapping our strength but also the
humidity. I did not think it was possible for the human body to sweat so
much!” explains Ben.

“Even our two Singaporeans (for whom you would think this climate was
vaguely acceptable) are suffering. Relief comes in the form of squally
downpours shortly after dark. Be aware though, if you are going to dive
below and lather up in shampoo and shower gel mid tropical shower, you
need to be sure there is enough rain left to rinse it out again when you
return on deck.”
Every knot of boat speed becomes of vital importance during light
conditions as Singapore continue their battle with Qingdao.

“We are making our way slowly north via a series of tacks, trying to
ensure that we are always on the making tack. Qingdao have once again
been our sparring partners and a good pace guide to let us know when our
performance is wavering. Occasionally the wind gets up to a more
sensible ten knots of true and our big red bus gets moving nicely; but
mostly we have to be content with ghosting along hoping that the rest of
the fleet is in the same predicament. It seems that the Solomon Sea is
not keen to let us go!”

Just 84miles separates the ten ocean racing yachts as they continue
north for the way point of New Ireland.

“With only a couple of hours away from New Year, the crew are getting
very excited in expectation of the Big Party,” reports Stuart Jackson,
skipper of De Lage Landen.

“Every once in a while we must take some time to celebrate what we have
achieved so far. For half the crew we are going to celebrate the last
five months of this year, since they’ve been gone from home and raced
halfway around the globe. Also I would like to take some time to thank
every one of them for the enormous effort that has been put in this
challenge so far.

“What a beautiful place and a great bunch to celebrate New Year with
signing off with the last blog of the year.”

With over 3,400 miles still to go, Race 7 is still anyone’s to play for,
with Welcome to Yorkshire’s skipper, Rupert Dean, hoping recent
conditions are a sign of things to come.

“Finally we’re moving again! After 24 hours of long calms, interspersed
with intense squalls, Welcome to Yorkshire is on her way.

“Sailing in these Doldrum like conditions has been quite a challenge. It
truly has been an all or nothing scenario. From keeping our yacht moving
in the lightest of zephyrs under windseeker, to deep reefing the main
and beating with staysail alone, constant evolutions and attention to
trim have been required,” explains Rupert.

“Navigationally it has been a challenge too, with 90 degree wind shifts
requiring numerous tacks, in order to remain on the one with the best
VMG.

“The crew are working hard and all are looking forward to welcoming the
New Year in tonight,” signs off the Yorkshire entry’s skipper.

“A Happy New Year to all from the crew on New York,” says Gareth Glover,
skipper of the Big Apple entry.

“This New Years the crew of New York will be working hard on trying to
pull in some miles on the leading yachts and put some to the others and
working every point of a knot upwind. Life on a race yacht is nonstop
even on New Year’s Eve.

“As the fleet are tacking towards our next way point at New Ireland
which is still over 350 nautical miles away we were able to pull in some
miles on the Singapore and Qingdao to a point when we were able to chat
on the VHF,” continues Gareth, with his team sitting in seventh place.

“During the night there was a big patch of wind then no wind so if you
were lucky you would sail in 20 knots for 30 minutes and then no wind
until the next clouds came over so it was on and off all night.”

Ahead of New York by just three miles is Derry-Londonderry, whose
skipper, Mark Light, summed up the race to Singapore so far.

“Heat, thunder, lightning, squalls, torrential rain, fierce gusts, poor
visibility, tropical cyclones, unfamiliar waters, lots of reefing, all
in contrast to blue skies, lots of sunshine, calms, reefs, islands,
fishing boats and flat seas!”

Currently nine miles behind fifth placed Visit Finland, the Northern
Ireland entry will hope to make gains on the Finns during the New Year
period.

“As you may appreciate we are experiencing a bit of everything and lots
of certain things – notably rain!

“Conditions are stifling down below decks and when it is not raining we
have the hatches open wherever possible just to make the temperature
slightly bearable inside!” says Mark.

“Unfortunately for us, we sailed through a large squall last night all
very prepared, knowing what to expect but afterwards didn’t quite expect
the wind to desert us while all other boats in our vicinity managed
after a short while to sail slowly away as we sat there helpless! Let’s
hope our luck will change in 2012!” signs off Mark.

“What a year it has been” reveals Gordon Reid, skipper of Edinburgh
Inspiring Capital.

“For me the entire year has been spent preparing and training crews for
the race. Being appointed skipper of Edinburgh Inspiring Capital in this
fantastic adventure racing around the world is definitely one of my
highlights; surfing monster waves in the beautiful, wild and furious
Southern Ocean another highlight.

“The sailing conditions have been fairly variable from very light winds
to howling squalls, thunder and lightning and heavy rain bouncing off
the decks, numerous head-sail changes all the way from Yankee number 1
to wind-seeker and back and constant reefs in and out of the mainsail,”
explains Gordon.

“We are still racing hard and our efforts seem to be paying out as we
continue to close on most of the other yachts.”

ENDS

Positions at 0900 UTC, Saturday 31 December

Boat DTF*
1 Gold Coast Australia 3420nm
2 Geraldton Western Australia 3423nm (+3nm)
3 Qingdao 3443nm (+23nm)
4 Singapore 3443nm (+24nm)
5 Visit Finland 3464nm (+44nm)
6 Derry-Londonderry 3467nm (+47nm)
7 New York 3469nm (+49nm)
8 De Lage Landen 3480nm (+60nm)
9 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 3490nm (+70nm)
10 Welcome to Yorkshire 3495nm (+75nm)

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Swelteringly hot conditions as Clipper 11-12 fleet continues to race north 
and Crews warned of dehydration risk. 

All ten yachts competing in the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race have been experiencing some fantastic sailing conditions and, as the sea state has subsided from the three-metre swell of race start day, it has allowed all of the teams to dry out kit and carry out some maintenance.

Gold Coast Australia has been monitoring some damage to the stern gland, the flexible membrane around the prop shaft that prevents water entering the boat. It was damaged on race start day and Singapore and Welcome to Yorkshire’s crew transferred the necessary kit from their yachts to Gold Coast Australia to allow them to repair it.

“This morning after three hours of hard labour and a little bit of cursing, Terry Martin and I managed to get the new stern gland on,” reports Richard Hewson. “The replacement process is normally undertaken while the boat is out of the water and there were a few problems that we had to work out prior to starting the exercise, including how not to lose the propeller and shaft altogether, how to prevent masses of water entering the hull, how to get the water out, and what to do if it all goes horribly wrong.

“The process involves disconnecting the propeller shaft from the gear box and sliding it back, then using a puller to remove the spindle that attaches the shaft to the gear box. This required a special tool to pull the spindle off and thankfully it was in a box passed over by Singapore shortly after race start. The spindle had not been removed for a long time and the nuts took a bit of heat, WD40 and elbow grease to crack. Finally, with the bilge pumps running flat out to remove the water that was flooding in, the spindle was off, and we were able to remove the old cracked stern gland.

“With a bit of messing about the new stern gland was on and with a bit more elbow grease and a little more cursing, Terry and I managed to get the shaft re-attached to the gear box and the stern gland secured in place without sinking the boat.”

Richard continues, “We are still in the lead and in a good position to receive the new wind from the west first, so hopefully will continue to extend this lead over the coming days to reach the Coral Sea Scoring Gate first and gain three points, but more importantly, be the first yacht into the north easterly trades and commence our sprint to Singapore.”

As the temperatures continue to rise – skippers are reporting the mercury reaching the high 30s in the airless environment below decks – dehydration becomes a very real risk for those on board.

“At my midday ‘happy hour’ brief I warned crew about the dangers of sunburn, heat stroke and dehydration,” says Richard. “While conditions on deck are at the moment quite pleasant due to the gentle ten knots of westerly wind, conditions below are getting exceedingly hot.  Our water maker is basically running flat out to cope with the water required for drinking, cooking and showers.”

“Down below the temperature rises with every passing day, although the flatter seas have allowed us to rig our wind scoop today which has brought a welcome breeze through the boat,” reports Qingdao’s skipper, Ian Conchie. “Keeping hydrated is so important as you constantly sweat and lose fluids. As a result we have been using our water maker already to maintain our water stocks.”

The water maker, a desalination unit that allows sea water to be turned into drinking water, is an essential piece of kit, but it is not the only source of fresh water during this stage of the race. Along with the blue sky, champagne sailing, come tropical downpours. At crew brief before the start of Race 7, Joff Bailey, the Race Director, also instructed crew to consider ways of capturing the rainwater in case they need it.

“Wow it’s HOT!” exclaims Ben Bowley, Singapore’s skipper. “I think that we had all forgotten just how hot it gets in the tropics when the wind dies off. Sitting here in the nav station the temperature is hovering in the high 30s. Yesterday evening saw the champagne sailing start properly with our belated ceremonial toast of bubbly to celebrate Christmas. Shortly thereafter the wind eased enough for us to hoist our favourite kite, Vicky, and fly her on a reach. She did us proud overnight but as the sun showed us the first glint of dawn, the breeze swung forward a little too far for us to hold her. 

“The rest of the day has been spent alternating between swift fetching and ghosting along with barely enough wind to keep the sails from collapsing.  At least we have had some company to help keep the crew focused on trimming and driving the boat along an arrow-straight course.  De Lage Landen, New York and Visit Finland have been our sparring partners all day.

“These light, swelteringly hot conditions can be almost as big a drain on energy and concentration levels as slogging it out in the Southern Ocean.  We do have the advantage however of getting some good tans and the obligatory tropics ‘grade 0/1′ haircuts. For now we are making the most of sedately heading in the right direction as in a couple of days we are likely to be smashing our way to windward into 30 to 40 knots of breeze!”

“The racing is staying close with five of us within sight of one another, so everyone is keeping their eyes peeled. With the wind looking to be light for the next few days it will be interesting to see where miles are won and lost,” comments De Lage Landen’s skipper, Stuart Jackson.

He continues, “Sweating seems to be top of today’s agenda, with little chance to get respite from the tropical sunshine. I am sure that is not going to get us much sympathy from those in the British and northern European winter at the moment! We have all taken to having buckets of salt water thrown over us to keep cool whilst on watch.”

>From the tightly-bunched leading group New York’s skipper Gareth Glover writes, “We have Singapore and De Lage Landen on our starboard beam. This keeps us on our game and determined to keep our currently held third spot and improve to second or first. One of our crew has the binoculars permanently fixed on our close rivals, watching their every move. This makes a change from previous races where we have gone weeks without seeing any ships, with only birds for company.

“The sun is still shining and many of the round the world crew have started to reminisce about Leg 1 where they experienced equally hot conditions. Below decks still feels like a sauna, the only difference this time is we have fewer crew. This does have its benefits: no hot bunking and the pick of the bunks around the fans. One of our new leggers, Brian, who joined in the Gold Coast, has rigged up a bimini over the helm to provide some relief from the harsh rays.

“We had a good run overnight averaging about nine or ten knots, flying the heavyweight spinnaker, then the winds dropped as predicted. We peeled to the lightweight in the early hours and then eventually hoisted the Yankee 1.”

Visit Finland is also with the main group of yachts on the east of the race track, neck and neck with Welcome to Yorkshire.

Olly Osborne, skipper of the Finnish entry says, “Today the Coral Sea seems to be living up to its name with clear blue skies only interrupted by a few streaks of cirrus cloud and even the odd coconut floating past! The sun is beginning to feel pretty intense now though and, as the wind ebbs away to little more than a zephyr, being down below is pretty uncomfortable. On the plus side though the racing has been fantastic and we are still within sight of several boats. It looks like it will all boil down to light airs tactics over the next day or so, and we will be watching the weather closely for signs of change.”

Rupert Dean on board Welcome to Yorkshire agrees with Olly, saying, “As far as tactics and routing go, the next few days will be very interesting indeed. With wind speeds expected to drop further, swinging round to the west and then north, it will be fascinating to see whether the boats on the east or west extremities will come out best. In the meantime, for us, it’s all about keeping up good apparent wind speed to maximise our distance north, before ex tropical cyclone Grant moves our way. Hopefully we will all be well north of its centre when it arrives.

“Racing under relentless sunshine and decreasing winds is hot work indeed, requiring plenty of discipline from the watches to maintain focus, whilst ensuring everyone is adequately hydrated and protected against the burning, energy-sapping forces of the sun. Fortunately focus is very good at present, helped by having Visit Finland and De Lage Landen in visual and AIS range. It’s also very good to share some VHF banter with them too, recalling the treats and celebrations made on each boat over this unique Christmas period.”

Derry-Londonderry rounded off their Christmas celebrations with a glass of port on Boxing Day evening, toasting to health, happiness and a safe return to all taking part in the race.

“With the Christmas festivities over and the last of the goodies being devoured we will return to our freeze dried foods, porridge and tinned fruit desserts,” remarks Mark Light, skipper of the Northern Ireland yacht.

“We have entered the forecast area of light winds. The sky is almost perfectly clear apart from the odd fluffy white cumulus clouds which give a rare but welcome relief from the intense sunshine. Up above it is very hot but thankfully we are now sailing upwind, giving some sort of light breeze over the deck. Down below decks the temperature is even higher and with no air flow through the boat you can imagine what it feels like. Strange odours and lots of sweat are inevitable as we continue our daily routines of life at sea. Only 1,000nm to go to the Equator, I remind my crew, so get used to the temperatures!

“The fleet is now once again bunching up into the belt of light winds as we approach the first of our mandatory gates and we all wait to see if the latest tropical cyclone will track towards us and give us any helpful or adverse wind and sea conditions.”

Qingdao and Edinburgh Inspiring Capital are carving out a more central path than the main group to the east of the fleet, while Geraldton Western Australia is furthest to the west.

Skipper of the Chinese entry, Ian Conchie, says, “We enjoyed great downwind sailing during the night starting off with our heavy weight kite, ‘Henri’ and then this morning our lightweight, ‘Zorro’ [so called because of the shape of the scar of the repair tape across the sail]. This was a great change for our new crew to re-familiarise themselves with kite work, especially when we peeled between to the two early this morning. Since then we have changed back to white sails and are trying to make the best of the light conditions.

“Tactically it is a very tight race so far, we are still in VHF range of a few boats and we are pushing hard to try and improve our position and get the boat into the best position for the next weather system when it arrives in a few days.”

“What a total contrast to the weather on Christmas Day: from 40 knot gusts and wild seas to a light breeze and blazing sunshine. The deck is too hot to walk on with bare feet,” notes Gordon Reid, skipper of Edinburgh Inspiring Capital.

“The wind hasn’t veered as forecast and instead it has eased and remains from a north westerly direction. We are currently holding our upwind sail plan as we seek the wind amongst the isolated cloud banks. If it continues to ease it may even be time to get the windseeker up.

“Our wind instruments shorted out during the first rain storm of the first day’s racing, and only today is it suitable for a trip to the top of the mast. Unfortunately the intrepid Scarlet (Nick Barclay) dropped the entire cable down the mast whilst trying to re splice the connections… Doh! So our quick fix is turning into a mammoth task and we are now on our third trip to the top in as many hours.

“On we truck towards the Scoring Gate and as Baz (Barry Chamberlain) reminded me… ‘Always keep the faith, Skip.’ So that is exactly what we will be doing!”

Out to the west and sailing their own course, covering more ground than any of the other ten yachts in the 12 hours to 0900 UTC, Geraldton Western Australia’s skipper, Juan Coetzer, has allowed his crew a little festive celebration as a reward for a good day’s work.

“In the early hours of the morning the kite came down, and the Yankee 1 went up. We have been cruising along today so well and so much maintenance had been done, I thought it to be a good idea to crack open some champagne for happy hour. During this time I told the crew they could have their first shower. This really is champagne sailing.”

ENDS

ENDS

Positions at 1200 UTC, Tuesday 27 December

Boat                                DTF*
1 Gold Coast Australia 3,903nm
2 Singapore 3,917nm (+14nm DTL*)
3 De Lage Landen 3,921nm (+19nm)
4 New York 3,925nm (+23nm)
5 Welcome to Yorkshire 3,926nm (+24nm)
6 Geraldton Western Australia 3,927nm (+25nm)
7 Visit Finland 3,926nm (+26nm)
8 Qingdao 3,936nm (+33nm)
9 Derry-Londonderry 3,945nm (+42nm)
10 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 3,953nm (+50nm)

 

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The teams are enjoying a welcome respite from the ferocious weather of the past few days as they commence the charge to the Scoring Gate.

At the front of the fleet Gold Coast Australia is maintaining a comfortable lead in the calmer conditions. Richard Hewson and his team are heading slightly north to make the southern end of the Scoring Gate.

 ”Life on Gold Coast Australia is a little less extreme now the winds have abated and we are heading north. Whilst conditions remain a chilly 7 degrees Celsius outside during the day and below 5 degrees at night, the wind has reduced and the ocean is no longer boiling with white caps,” Richard said

Richard reports that Gold Coast Australia passed 34 miles to the north of lle aux Cochons (Pig Island) and later today will pass to the north of other islands in Crozet group en route to the southern end of the Scoring Gate. “This is the closest we will be to land for almost half a month before we land in Geraldton,” Richard said.

Gold Coast Australia is now just 170 miles from the Scoring Gate for Race 4 and Richard will have his sights set on bagging the maximum three points on offer. The first, second and third teams to cross the line between 40 degrees south and 55 east and 45 south 55 east will be awarded three, two and one points respectively. Richard was back up the mast yesterday trying to remove the remnants of their badly damaged heavyweight spinnaker and checking the rigging following their monster wrap.

 ”When I was up the mast I took a few minutes to observe the fantastic beauty of the surrounding ocean. It is possibly one of the most amazing feelings in the world perched above the albatross and petrel with the boiling white seas of the Southern Ocean below. I took in the amazing expanse of beauty that surrounds us for thousands of miles in a land where in the past only sealers and whalers dared to travel,” he said. After experiencing the full force of Mother Nature in the Southern Ocean over recent days, the teams will be studying the weather closely to ensure they are prepared for the next onslaught.

 To help them navigate and stay safe in the notorious Southern Ocean, the skippers receive a daily weather update from meteorologist Simon Rowell, who skippered Jersey Clipper to victory in Clipper 2002. Simon has been commissioned to provide the skippers with forecasts, and he does this by analysing observations relayed back from the fleet and creating local charts from data available from the US National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Global Forecast System (GFS) model.

 ”The next depression seems to be going south of the fleet, but the skippers will need to be careful of the front as it’s looking sharper than the GRIB files suggest, and the amount of precipitation on the 48 hour forecast indicates lots of squalls and therefore gusts,” Simon said. “Before the cold front goes over, the winds will be coming in a northerly direction from the tropics, so it may give the teams poor visibility over the cold sea,” Simon warns. New York has regained second place from De Lage Landen as they charge for the Scoring Gate, and skipper Gareth Glover is feeling upbeat. “The repairs following yesterday’s damage have begun, the tunes are playing, the sun is almost shining, the bread smells amazing and cups of tea are flowing. The news of our second place has boosted morale even higher and it’s not far to the gate, so who knows,” Gareth said. “In the last 24 hours the winds have been pretty fraught, increasing to over to 20 knots overnight. Despite the cold and wet conditions morale stayed high throughout the night as we surfed the waves and covered some good mileage,” he added.

On De Lage Landen, Stuart Jackson and his team are also enjoying a reprieve from recent conditions despite persistent cold. “There’s more frozen rain coming with the clouds down here, so things haven’t decided to warm up yet. Although now the low has passed conditions have improved greatly with the wind down to around 20 knots on the beam,” Stuart said. “We still have a rather sloppy sea state from the swell of the low that passed through and it looks like conditions should stay pretty much like this for the next few days,” he added.

Rupert Dean, skipper of Welcome to Yorkshire, said his team has slipped back into fifth overnight due to what he describes as “a poor decision” to run bare-headed after tearing their Yankee 3 headsail. “Normally we’d have changed for another sail whilst we repaired the Yankee 3 and then re-hoist. Due to the strong gusty conditions, however, I felt the Yankee 2 would be too big a substitute, so elected to carry on running just with a deep-reefed main. The result was that we sailed with vastly reduced speed, handing back hard won miles to Qingdao and the rest of the fleet,” Rupert said. “With 20:20 hindsight, I should have got the crew to rig the storm jib as a suitable alternative to the Yankee 3 whilst it was being repaired. Why I didn’t do this I don’t know, so I’m pretty cross with myself right now,” he said. “This could be due to a general lack of sleep, as sailing downwind in this rough remote part of the world requires relentless concentration to look after the boat and crew whilst gunning for competitive speed,” he added.

 Qingdao was the boat to benefit from Welcome to Yorkshire’s stint without a headsail but has since slipped back into fifth, albeit by only a mile. Despite sailing in one of the most remote places on the planet, Ian Conchie and his crew have been within VHF range of  Welcome to Yorkshire and a fishing boat. “Just when you think you are the only boat for miles you are proved wrong,” Ian said, adding that he called fellow skipper Rupert Dean for a catch up and spoke to the fishing vessel to ensure they were not trawling large nets. “You have to be careful with fishing vessels this far out, as the large commercial nets they carry can stretch for miles. After a quick chat on the VHF we established through the Asian crew’s broken English that they were using long lines which do not pose a problem to us,” he said.

Ian said he was later called on deck for a large ship of the port side that was not showing on AIS which turned out not to be a ship at all. “I checked the screen as sure enough nothing was showing. I popped my head up and saw the “ship” in question. I told the crew to keep taking bearing on it to be sure but that I was certain it would not be a problem for us. When they asked why I explained that it would not come within 250,000 miles of us as it was the moon!” he said.

Edinburgh Inspiring Capital has slipped back down to ninth after a brief stint in seventh place overnight, and skipper Gordon Reid reports that his team has been experiencing the “full fury of the mother of all storms”. “What a ride! I have never seen anything like it and I have sailed lots of places all over the world,” Gordon said. “We’ve been taking waves that washed the entire watch on deck from the high side into the cockpit and knocking the helm off his feet,” he added. Gordon describes the extreme conditions that his team has been experiencing as they eat up the miles towards Geraldton. “We were free falling off the top of massive waves all night, one after another after another, the wind was gusting over 60 knots and at one time we were going so fast we caught the wave in front and buried the bow and half the hull straight into it at 25 knots,” he said. “The whole boat was swamped and everyone on deck was washed into the cockpit. The cockpit was full, water pouring down the companionway and everything inside was thrown all over the place,” he said. “Nothing like a bit of seriously scary sailing to make you feel the adrenaline rush of being alive – this is the ultimate Southern Ocean adventure,” Gordon added.

Geraldton Western Australia is hot on the heels of Qingdao as the most northerly of the fleet as they race towards their home port. “The gusty winds make it feel like a roller coaster, but it has all settled down now and we’re making good progress towards the Scoring Gate,” skipper, Juan Coetzer, said. On Derry-Londonderry, skipper Mark Light reports that the temperature above and below decks has dropped dramatically. “We have an air temperature of about 4 degrees Celsius and when you add wind chill factors and lots icy cold Southern Ocean spray, it feels very cold indeed,” he said. Mark said that helming is being done in shifts of 20 minutes to give crew the opportunity to rotate between being on the helm, on watch and down below to warm up. “Hot drinks are a must and we have a large thermos flask down below permanently filled with hot water. Our generator is now run through the night now only to charge our batteries but also to add a precious heat source which has now doubled up as a drying room for gloves, hats and even boots,” he said. Mark said that watches are woken earlier now to give them more time to get ready with all the extra layers required. “One crew member went on deck last night with eight separate layers on and when I commented on the amount of layers she calmly said that she was saving the ninth layer for when it gets really cold. Welcome to the Southern Ocean guys!” he said. On Singapore, Ben Bowley and his crew have managed to hoist progressively more sail as the wind moderates but with a few crew out of action with a bout of the flu, progress has been hampered. “Right at this moment it would be perfect to hoist the heavyweight kite but I am inclined to wait until the next watch change when we have a full complement on deck,” Ben said. Other crew members are struggling with the cold. “Some people are also struggling with fingers seizing up whilst trying to hank and un-hank sails due to not having the correct kit,” Ben said. “It amazes me that many of the crew did not realise just how cold it could get when the southerly Antarctic wind blows, numbing bodies and minds,” he added.

Ben’s top tips for kit for sailing in this part of the world are a good thick pair of wetsuit diving gloves and boots at least one size too large to accommodate thick winter socks without losing feeling in the toes.

Olly Osborne, skipper of Visit Finland, reports that a short break in the weather yesterday allowed his team to run the lower half of the main sail out of the mast track and carry out a repair. “Two large sole boards made a good platform on deck to lay out the damaged part and by holding the sail in place by pinning it to the boards we were able to match up the edges of the tear fairly well,” Olly said. With the wind forecast to build again, the Visit Finland team went for a combination of Sikaflex (waterproof sealant) and strips of sailcloth to close the tear quickly before the daylight faded. “This system worked quite well and although the Sikaflex seemed to get just about everywhere, we were able to lay the strips on quite accurately, With the whole watch battling against the pressure of the wind we managed to roll up the loose sail and tie it in place to see us through the night and to allow the repair to harden. The wind built further throughout the night but when the dawn broke the repair was still intact,” Olly said. During the afternoon with the wind easing again we ran the main back into the mast track and hoisted it to it’s full height It was a great relief to see that the repair had worked, and even looked pretty robust,” he said. “The focus for us will now be to regain our racing spirit, and claw our way back up the leader board,” he added. 

 

 Positions at 0900 UTC, Friday 14 October Boat DTF*

1 Gold Coast Australia 3,105nm

2 New York 3,194nm (+89nm DTL*)

 3 De Lage Landen 3,209nm (+104nm)

Welcome to Yorkshire 3,257nm (+152nm)

5 Qingdao 3,257nm (+153nm)

6 Geraldton Western Australia 3,272nm (+167nm)

7 Singapore 3,334nm (+229nm)

8 Derry-Londonderry 3,390nm (+285nm)

9 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 3,395nm (+290nm)

10 Visit Finland 3,422nm (+317nm)

 

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A vintage WWII Airshow featuring the Texas Flying Legends will follow racing at the ninth annual Newport Bucket Regatta on Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28.  From 4:30 to 5 p.m. on each of those days, the Coast Guard will literally stop boat traffic off Fort Adams and Castle Hill as the public enjoys the spectacle. The Newport Bucket Airshow celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the Bucket Regattas (held in Newport and St. Barth’s); it will feature six rare WWII vintage aircrafts including Last Samurai, one of only two Japanese Zeros still flying in the world; the FG-1D Corsair Whistling Death; the P-40K Aleutian Tiger; two P-51D Mustangs Dakota Kid II and Little Horse; and the Mitchell B-25 Bomber Betty’s Dream. 

“We’re always trying to think outside the box and figure out how to make the Bucket Regattas exciting for participants and spectators,” said Tim Laughridge, co-founder and director of the Newport Bucket Regatta. “In the past, the Bucket Regattas have been much more private events, and this year with the Texas Flying Legends making a debut in Newport, we can get the local community down to the waterfront and more involved than ever before.”

 

The Newport Bucket is the sister regatta to the St. Barth’s Bucket held each Spring and is known for a legendary combination of thrilling big-boat racing and memorable shore-side celebrations set in the spirit of the Corinthian ideal. With 20 yachts registered to compete in Newport – including J Boats Velsheda and Ranger, the 37 meter Dubois/Fitzroy Moonbird, 42 meter Frers/Royal Huisman Hyperion and 35 meter Fontaine/Holland Jachtbouw Whisper – the regatta will once again live up to its reputation for hosting some of the world’s finest yachts afloat. Ironically, they are competing not for a fancy silver trophy but for bragging rights and a highly-sought-after tin bucket. The event is open to yachts over 100 feet LOA with the exception that those in the Demi Class can be 76 feet or over for 2011, in recognition of the earlier days in the regatta when the yachts competing were smaller.

 

A public viewing will be available at the Quonset Air Museum from noon to 7 p.m. both days of the Airshow and will include access to the planes and pilots along with a viewing of the launching (approximately 4 p.m.) and recovery (approximately 5 p.m.).

 Best vantage points for spectators are Fort Adams, Castle Hill and Brenton Point State Park in Newport, R.I.; Fort Wetherill and Beavertail in Jamestown, R.I..

 History of the Newport Bucket Regatta:

The first Bucket regatta was organized in Nantucket, Mass., in August, 1986. Between 1986 and 2001, the Nantucket Bucket flourished, becoming a premier Mega Yacht Regatta that invited owners and crews of the world’s largest sailing yachts to sail to peak performance in a safe venue, in the spirit of wholesome competition. The concept of pursuit racing was brought to life by the Bucket, with each yacht assigned its own start time on a clear starting line for safety, and the start time calibrated to induce the yacht’s speed handicap.  Consequently, the first yacht to cross the finish line, wins. Following the announcement that 2001 was to be the last Nantucket Bucket, the founders passed the torch to the present Bucket Organizing Committee:  Hank Halsted (Exeter, R.I.), Ian Craddock (Italy) and Timothy Laughridge (Newport, R.I.). The summer venue was shifted in 2002 to Newport, R.I., where the event has since been hosted by the Newport Shipyard.

 

 

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