9:08 PM Fri 16 Oct 2009 GMT
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race: Key tacitcal moves are yet to be played out as Cape Breton Island considers playing their stealth card. But for some the stealth move has not proved fruitful, as Edinburgh Inspiring Capital found out yesterday after coming out of stealth mode. Their bid to steal a march on Uniquely Singapore, their closest rival, did not quite pay off. This race is not over by a long shot.
But for California this leg is over. Defeated by the Doldrums, they yesterday turned on their engine and will accept tenth place on this leg as the penalty.
Qingdao's skipper, Chris Stanmore-Major has also decided to conceal his team's next tactical moves and explained in this morning's report to the Race Office why he's waited until now to exercise the option.
'The introduction of Stealth Mode to the Clipper 09-10 Race has added an interesting extra element for skippers and crews, creating the ability to hide one's movements from a fleet desperate to note any advantage or disadvantage gained from any vessel's strategic manoeuvring. For us there was only ever one place to go into Stealth and that was as we closed the Brazilian coast.
'Initially going into the Canaries, crossing the Doldrums and closing the South American coast were the tactical hotspots but as we became embroiled in a parking session with Spirit of Australia and Hull & Humber off the coast of La Palma we felt the cat was out of the bag; 'Hey guys, guess what? There's a massive wind hole around the Canaries.' Next, the ITCZ: we had calculated where to enter this famously fickle region but as we saw every other boat heading for the same spot it seemed a waste to hide the fact that we, too, were heading for the only piece of ocean in thousands of miles that had any wind. If only we had been there 12 hrs earlier...
'So, what's behind door three? Well, the decision is between turning now and heading in towards the coast of Recife under spinnaker following closely the rhumb line to Cabo Frio and the finish - it's the minimum distance, the wind is fresh and the angle is good - or holding on south a little longer and then turning later which means more miles but a better kite run and the chance to miss out on some potentially weak winds on the coast.
'We have made our decision and within the next 24 hours we intend to enact it. Who's interested? Just one boat - the mighty Hull & Humber. This will be one of the last big decisions in this race and the only chance Hull & Humber has of getting past us. If we get it right we will maintain or increase our lead, if they get it right, hmmm, 'Skip! There's something orange on the horizon...' It doesn't bear thinking about.
'Into Stealth we go and let's see if our plan works out. All's well on the Dragon Wagon; but I didn't say that, you didn't hear from me, this never happened.'
Hull & Humber crossed the Equator during the past 24 hours, their youngest crew member, Chloe Hopkin at the helm. 'How many people can say that in their lives? Not many, let me assure you but now I am one. It has to be said it's one of the proudest moments of my life so far and an experience that will never be forgotten!' 18-year-old Chloe is one of the One Hull Ambassadors, a group of young people from Hull who have been chosen to represent their city around the world. Chloe says, 'We are finally getting somewhere now so the spirits are back to a high as we are finally out of the dreaded Doldrums that saw us bobbing around for some time which took it out on most of us. Now I can see why they say it's a challenge of a life time. You are faced by some of the hardest challenges in your life but the benefits are far better.'
Confidence is definitely high, according to skipper, Piers Dudin. 'We've continued to pick up the pace over the past 24 hours, just as the rest of the fleet did before us,' he says. 'We're fast reaching with one reef and Number 2 Yankee towards the Brazilian coast line. Qingdao has been holding off our advances but we hope to find a crack in their armour over the next few days. Not sure how much the front runners will slow up or how long we can carry our speed but we should definitely catch up to within 36 hours of the leading pack.'
That leading pack continues to pile the pressure on Team Finland, whose lead has been cut overnight to under 100 miles.
Helsinki-born skipper, Eero Lehtinen says, 'As expected when looking at our weather files, the wind started going light on us yesterday afternoon so some big losses, especially to the closest boats, and frustratingly slow progress towards the finish line at Cabo Frio were not to be avoided.
'Later in the night we found more breeze again, but just like there was a speed limit for us, the current started playing funny games with us. Boat speed was suddenly 1-2 knots higher than SOG (speed over ground)! We just gybed before breakfast trying to get out of the counter current or eddy of the Brazilian Current. Our course is 35-50 degrees off the finish line and there is not much we can do about it.
'The last 500 miles will give us a lot to think about as four teams are focused on sailing their boats as fast as they can. With better pressure and wind angle they have been able to cut a huge chunk of our lead and now we will have to make sure we don't give them too many overtaking options. The light or no wind ahead of us might cause nearly a restart for the leg, we would be not the happiest about that, but it simply is part of ocean racing that the unexpected is always around. No panic mode anyhow, we simply do our best and see what happens. The wind should play its tricks on all of us at some stage...
'We have had all three spinnakers in use during the last 24 hours, we gybed once in the night and trimming and driving have been done with full focus.'
Spirit of Australia is hot on Team Finland's heels and Brisbane-based skipper, Brendan Hall says, 'We've clocked up some great speeds over the last 24 hours. We have been pushing hard and it is starting to show against the other boats around us. The advantage we have is increased but anything can still happen.'
The boxing kangaroo will fall prey to the bald eagle of Cape Breton Island if skipper Jan Ridd has his way. He says, 'Well done to Brendan for producing some consistently amazing six-hour runs irrespective of wind conditions. We have not thrown in the towel yet but definitely have been working hard to match him and his crew. A few days ago we had better boat speed and were pulling away, then they engaged overdrive and consistently put in runs of over 60 nm! We are still going well and have been trying all sorts of sheeting angles to try and match their speed and have come up with some new and effective ideas.
'We've been on a reach now for days and hopefully today we will get a wind shift a get to hoist a spinnaker which will be nice to get the feeling we are physically doing something to catch Spirit of Australia.'
Jamaica Lightning Bolt is still hustling for a podium position and matching Cape Breton Island's pace. Peter Stirling, the skipper of the Jamaican boat, says, 'As this leg of the race enters its final phase the yachts in the leading pack of five are starting to jostle for position and get set up for the run to the finish. Having stayed a long way offshore to avoid the lighter winds along the Brazilian coast we are now heading back in on course for the finish line under full mainsail and medium weight spinnaker. Cape Breton Island has just appeared on the horizon on our starboard bow. Given their angle to the wind we don't believe they have a spinnaker up so now is our chance to try and drive home an advantage over them.'
Cork, Ireland, still has a chance to get on the podium and skipper, Richie Fearon, says, 'With just over 600nm to go we have set our course for the rhumb line to Rio. Our choice of staying out to the east has not paid off in the way that we intended it to. When we had the wind in a south easterly direction we were always going to be the windward boat but now the wind has gone north of east our plan has been revisited.
We were at an advantage and it has gone and now with the race closing we need to put ourselves back in to a point of advantage to try and gain back our places. We know that boat for boat and on even ground we are the faster boat but until we can get there we are chasing. As a crew we won't stop until it's over, we have never dwelt on any of the situations. As I've often said to the team, and what they have adapted to very well, is that no matter what position we are in and no matter what the conditions are, it doesn't change the way we sail the boat, 100% at full throttle. Our heads are very much held high and the boat has been sailed extremely well; the winds have gone against us on a number of occasions on this leg but we can't blame the cards that have been dealt. If we don't get the position we are wanting, we will just reflect on the leg, learn from the positives and come out stronger and quicker to Cape Town.'
POSITIONS AT 1200 UTC, FRIDAY 16 OCTOBER
1 Team Finland DTF 499
2 Spirit of Australia DTF 573 DTL +107
3 Jamaica Lightning Bolt DTF 612 DTL +113
4 Cape Breton Island DTF 614 DTL +115
5 Cork DTF 655 DTL +156
6 Qingdao DTF 1104 DTL +605 (position at 0800UTC, now in Stealth Mode)
7 Hull & Humber DTF 1154 DTL +655
8 Uniquely Singapore DTF 1461 DTL +962
9 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital DTF 1490 DTL +991
10 California DTF 1641 Finished racing
(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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by Event media
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North Fremantle, WA
