9:20 PM Sat 10 Oct 2009 GMT
been a mixed bag of weather over the past 24-hours for the teams competing in Clipper 09-10 as they pass through the area of lights winds famously referred to as the Doldrums.
Skipper Richie Fearon and his team on board Cork have had a busy time dealing with the ever changing conditions. 'The last couple of nights have been really mixed,' says the Irish skipper. 'Firstly we had no wind, then rain squalls, and finally a lot of wind. We have been going from our Yankee 1 to our Yankee 3, reefing the mainsail, shaking the reef out, changing to our Yankee 2, going back to Yankee 1, and so on.
'It's all been good sailing practice and with a lack of wind instruments the crew are starting to rely less on the electronic data and believe more in what the sails are telling them,' says Richie. 'The mood is great on board and although we lost a few places by going out east, there is still just less than 2000 nautical miles to go with everything
still to play for!'
Hull & Humber's skipper, Piers Dudin, also reports a busy couple of days and despite getting through the Doldrums in less than 24-hours the skipper isn't pleased with their current placing on the leader board.
'Our position really sucks for us at the moment,' says Piers. 'But, we forget too easily the two points we have already bagged at the scoring gate. Jamaica Lightning Bolt really pulled a superb move during their stealth mode so well done to them.'
Meanwhile, further back down the fleet and only just beginning to struggle their way through the Doldrums is skipper Jim Dobie and his team on board Uniquely Singapore. 'A very frustrating night with little or no wind,' says Jim. 'We're just trying to get Uniquely Singapore south now and in to some better breeze.'
Still out in front, but with a less comfortable lead than before they entered the Doldrums, is Team Finland. Skipper Eero Lehtinen says, 'With just over 200 nautical miles to the Equator, we have defended our lead successfully, even if it shrank to a third or less of what it was at the Cape Verde Islands. But we knew that was going to happen and decided to spend the lead wisely. East is now king and we are making our approach to the equator from further east than our chasers. This should hopefully help us until the north easterlies kick in again at the Brazilian coast.'
According to the Finnish skipper there is a good reason to avoid getting too close to Recife and the Brazilian coast. 'The further east you are to start with, the better it will all unfold,' explains Eero. 'If the winds remain more southerly rather than easterly, some of us, if not all, will have to throw in a painful starboard tack to clear the corner.
Those that are further east should therefore fair better should this situation occur.'
Those further west include Jamaica Lightning Bolt, Spirit of Australia and Cape Breton Island, with all three teams separated by just fourteen nautical miles.
'We are now extremely focused on trim and helming,' says the Canadian entry's skipper, Jan Ridd. 'There is a group of us that made it through the Doldrums at the same time and the gap between us is widening with every schedule. So a podium place is clearly on everyone's mind. With nothing between those of us in second, third and fourth place at present we are working hard to keep boat speed up without losing height on our competitors.'
Positions at 1200GMT, Saturday 10 October
Boat DTF* DTL*
Team Finland 1780nm 0nm
Jamaica Lightning Bolt 1861nm 80nm
Cape Breton Island 1868nm 87nm
Spirit of Australia 1875nm 94nm (polled at 1100GMT)
Cork 1924nm 143nm
Qingdao 2045nm 265nm
Hull & Humber 2072nm 292nm
Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 2073nm 293nm
Uniquely Singapore 2158nm 378nm
California 2557nm 777nm
(*DTF = Distance To Finish, *DTL = Distance To Leader)
Full details of positions, updated every three hours can be found at
www.clipperroundtheworld.com
by Event media
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