8:18 PM Thu 18 Feb 2010 GMT
Clipper 09-10 Round the World Race. Singapore to Qingdao Day 17 report
Team Finland has left Taiwan and is en route for Qingdao, China. At 0720 GMT (1520 local time) today the yacht left Hualien under jury rig and will motor sail to the Chinese Olympic sailing city where the rest of the fleet is due to arrive this weekend.
Team Finland is expected to take six or seven days to reach Qingdao and once there she will be fitted with a new rig. The new mast is en route to Atlantic Spars in Torbay, Devon, UK, today where riggers are standing by to begin work on it before it is flown out to China.
Race Director, Joff Bailey, who is in Qingdao awaiting the arrival of the fleet at the Olympic Sailing Centre, says, 'Approximately seven metres of mast remain and this has allowed the crew to hoist the storm sails (tri-sail and storm jib). This will help provide some propulsion and a significant amount of stability.
'The weather forecast is for strong headwinds for the first 36 hours, then reducing significantly and potentially going behind them over the next few days. Despite the conditions, all the crew were eager to get back out there on board Team Finland.'
Out on the race course it's all about the positioning now. With around 350 miles to run to the finish there's just a hair's breadth between the boats and those of us watching from the comfort of dry land are going to have a nail biting few days watching the positions update every three hours on the race viewer. Slightly frustrating as well as, with the teams so close, Stealth Mode is being called into play as they make their tactical moves.
Spirit of Australia slid into Stealth at 1800 GMT on Wednesday, Jamaica Lightning Bolt exercised their option at 0300 today and California went into covert mode at 0600. The rules state no boat may be in Stealth Mode within 250 miles of the finish line, so if they're going to play their joker, those who haven't already done so will have to do so soon.
Qingdao is currently leading the race and could well be the first team of Clipper 09-10 to claim a home port victory. Will the nerves get to them?
'Jeepers, how close is this?' asks skipper, Chris Stanmore-Major. 'Every time we change helm we go from second to sixth and back again. Just coming to sit on the low side to write this has probably cost us a position. Things are hotting up now to a level we haven't seen since those last few days heading into Geraldton.
'With Hull & Humber, Cape Breton Island and Jamaica Lightning Bolt making a flying run across the course to join us in what had been the leading pack we are surrounded by Clipper yachts and the tactics on the last section of this leg have quickly changed from the 100nm tacks we are used to, to the kind of boat on boat tactics we normally see only on start day.
'Ahead lies the final obstacle: an area of high pressure over Shanghai which will determine, without doubt, the final roll call in Qingdao. Around us boats are positioning themselves ready for this system with each crew and skipper placing their boat on the track they feel will give them the best advantage and the best chance of getting through to the favourable winds beyond. Aboard the Dragon all eyes are on the podium in Qingdao. As the third boat sponsored by the internationally renowned Chinese sailing city we are keen to get the best result possible into our home port. The atmosphere is charged and expectant and all are sacrificing anything necessary to make this happen. Reduced periods of rest, longer on deck and more sail changes mean everyone is tired and cold but all are happy to continue pushing all the way to the line to earn the right to fly one of the coveted pennants for Race 5 - surely one of the hardest, closest most tactically demanding legs of the Clipper 09-10 Race.'
Hull & Humber's skipper can confirm that. Piers Dudin says, 'We thought it'd be an easy sail for the final stretch but the wind is back on and, although the sun is out, the cold is really biting. Every day it has been getting progressively colder and colder, making sail changes and basic evolutions more and more difficult. But spirits are high as we enter the final chapter of the epic race.
'It's still super tight with some big navigational calls to make but no definitive advantage to either side of the course. As per usual we're going our own way hoping that in the long run it'll pay off. We'll see. We're putting a lot of faith in what the GRIB files say and if it's true this race might really not be decided until the final hours. It's gonna be tight!'
With the boats this close, the one hour time penalties carried by Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, California and Cape Breton Island could also make a dramatic difference to the final Race 6 results.
Piers and his crew are looking forward to getting into Qingdao and swapping stories with the other teams and there will be plenty to talk about, not least the huge numbers of other vessels in this busy stretch of water.
'Ships everywhere, absolutely everywhere,' reports Spirit of Australia's skipper, Brendan Hall. 'Cargo ships, oil tankers, fishing trawlers and us, a tiny 68 foot speck on the ocean. There are so many AIS ship targets on the navigation computer screen that at times I cannot even see the icon of our own vessel. Luckily, all the encounters we have had with ships have been positive ones. If it looks like we are on a converging course, I call the ship on the radio and ask them to alter course to give us a wide berth. Every ship has responded positively and, with English being the language used by all merchant seamen, we have had no communication barriers. The dense shipping keeps the crew on their toes and adds another challenge to this race.'
It's a challenge that's keeping Cape Breton Island's skipper, Jan Ridd, occupied as well. 'I can clearly see why this leg of the Clipper Race has earned the reputation of being one of the hardest and can see why the yachts in the Volvo Ocean Race all complained about the same leg!
'Not only do you have to deal with the strong headwinds, sharp steep seas, the poor visibility and the freezing cold temperatures but for me the biggest worry has been the amount of shipping. In the UK, or most parts of the world I have sailed in, shipping normally follows official or accepted routes so, as a yachtsman, you have a pretty good idea which way to expect it to be coming from. Not so here in the East China Sea. Basically it is a free for all with ships coming from all directions and they all want to converge on the Big Blue Canoe. If this was not exciting enough there are random fishing fleets trawling their nets directly across the paths of the ships, paying no attention to what is going on around them. I have given up trying to work out where they are going or what they are going to do and every time I see one we change course and run away from it. How they do not get themselves killed is a mystery.
'On board all our yachts we use a system called AIS (automatic identification system). The AIS talks to other vessels and exchanges data on position, course, speed etc. These are fed into the navigation computer which works out the CPA (closest point of approach) and this is shown on the screen as two red dots, one marking the other vessel's position and one marking yours at the time when the two vessels are closest. I counted eight CPA of under one mile... 16 red dots all happening in the next 20 minutes. I quickly considered our options and unfortunately there was a fleet of Chinese fishermen quite happily heading towards the pile up area, blocking our safe exit path. A friendly master of a cargo vessel came on the radio and suggested I hold my course as he passed close (less than half a mile) on our starboard side. As soon as he had passed I followed his course, allowing him to clear a path for us to follow!
'The problem with the heavy shipping is that, as skipper, you cannot allow yourself to go into a deep sleep. Instead you grab little 'cat naps' where there is a gap in the shipping. The other night I was ordered to my bunk by David Raeburn (a farmer from Devon, UK) as I had been sitting beside him in the saloon waiting for a cup of tea. I fell asleep and thought I had just been out for a minute so asked where my tea was, only to be told that it had gone cold and been thrown. I went to the galley to make another cup, leaned up against the wall and fell asleep again - this time standing up! I was ordered to bed and, with the crew being extra vigilant on the navigation, they let me have a good four-hour sleep. When I awoke there were still red dots all over the computer screen.'
The weather is adding an extra degree of difficulty to this race to Qingdao.
'Since we sailed into the Yellow Sea 24 hours ago both the air and sea water temperature have plummeted,' reports Jamaica Lightning Bolt's skipper, Pete Stirling. 'Coupled with a 30-knot wind out of the north the wind chill factor is well below freezing, even in the middle of the day. The one good thing about the cold northerly wind is we are unlikely to get fog. This however could all change later in the week as the wind is forecast to back round to the south west and create perfect conditions for fog. Every activity on deck now requires a huge amount of effort. With multiple layers of clothing along with hats, gloves and hoods up, just moving around and communicating requires a lot more energy. In fact the dreaded 'Mother Watch' has now become something to look forward to!'
Jim Dobie has been on deck with the Uniquely Singapore crew, changing from a Yankee 2 to 3. 'With the cold weather it takes that much more time as fingers become numb with cold and hanks become a struggle to get your fingers around them,' he says. 'This morning we have tacked back into the coast of China to give us a better angle on the next mark. With the wind shifting 50 degrees and the strength gusting from 20 to 30 knots, helming is proving very difficult at the moment and takes a lot of concentration.'
Uniquely Singapore emerged from Stealth Mode at 0600 to find themselves just 10 miles behind California who were in the lead. 'We're looking to position ourselves and use the wind shifts as best we can,' says Jim.
It's back to the drawing board for Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, whose skipper, Matt Pike, says, 'The plan was good but it did rely on the wind coming east! It didn't, so we made less ground on the fleet than we needed to before we ran out of room. Still we're back where we started with only 400 miles left to catch the leaders. It's a tall order but these races (like most ocean races) are not over until the end.'
Perhaps that high pressure near Shanghai might give Matt and his crew an opportunity over the next 36 hours to close in on the yachts ahead. The Race Viewer will make addictive viewing as the end game to Race 6 plays out.
POSITIONS AT 1200 UTC, THURSDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2010
1 Qingdao DTF 337
2 Cape Breton Island DTF 349 DTL +12
3 Uniquely Singapore DTF 350 DTL +13
4 California DTF 362 DTL +26 (Stealth: position at 0600 18 February)
5 Hull & Humber DTF 363 DTL +27
6 Jamaica Lightning Bolt DTF 373 DTL +36 (Stealth: position at 0300 18 February)
7 Spirit of Australia DTF 395 DTL +59 (Stealth: position at 1800 17 February)
8 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital DTF 407 DTL +71
9 Team Finland DTF 724 DTL +387
10 Cork Did not start
(DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader)
Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at
www.clipperroundtheworld.com
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by Clipper Ventures
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