9:40 PM Thu 11 Feb 2010 GMT
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - Singapore to Qingdao Day 10 report.
It's all change amongst the fleet today as the light winds have led to a big shake up in the race positions. Most of the boats have experienced a change in fortunes, all that is except Hull & Humber who have had a lucky escape and retained their position at the front of the fleet, but only just.
'The wind gods shuffled their cards again last and dealt out the hands,' says skipper Piers Dudin, 'Fortunately Hull & Humber came up trumps with a lightweight kite, 8 knots of breeze out of the south east, and 6 knots boat speed in the right direction. The hand has been less fortunate for Cape Breton Island who were still in sight going into the evening's play.'
The Canadian team has slipped back into third place and their distance to leader is now in double figures as they watched Hull & Humber pull away from them. Skipper Jan Ridd says, 'To add insult to injury, we saw Jamaica Lightning Bolt appear over the horizon and a quick check on the AIS (Automatic Information System) showed them sailing at a healthy 4 knots compared to our boat speed of less than 2 knots. At least they had the decency to sail into the same patch of light winds and slow down, unlike Hull & Humber who have shown a complete disregard for the lack of wind and were last reported doing 6 knots!'
Despite a promising move towards the front of the fleet yesterday, Jamaica Lightning Bolt has now slipped back into sixth place. Skipper Pete Stirling describes the point at which their hopes to take the lead from Hull & Humber were dashed as the boat came to a grinding halt.
'At 22:00 UTC last night the wind died and despite our best efforts we could not keep the boat moving. Eight hours later we had managed to sail only 13 miles and most of that in the wrong direction. On a positive note the breeze is now filling back in and we are moving at a reasonable speed again,' he says.
Meanwhile, it appears that those on the west side of the race track have been more fortuitous and escaped the extremely light conditions further east.
'The crew and I are eager to get every new 6 hourly position report as we have been making some good gains on the leaders as our westerly position starts to pay off,' reports California's skipper, Pete Rollason.
However, the American team's meteoric rise overnight from seventh to fourth place has not been completely trouble free, as Pete explains. 'A great 12-hour spinnaker run was brought to an abrupt halt when the halyard snapped, plunging the medium weight spinnaker into the water. Some quick reactions and great teamwork by the crew averted disaster and the kite was recovered with no damage. The heavy weight spinnaker was soon hoisted as a replacement and we were once again flying along with speeds nearing 10 knots. Then, at about 11.30 (local time), the spinnaker decided it needed another swim, this time caused by the two strops supporting the spinnaker block breaking simultaneously. Another great recovery and we are now sailing well under full main, Yankee 1 and staysail.'
As California's skipper rues their misfortune with spinnakers, the team on board Qingdao has had a frustrating night, losing valuable miles to Team Finland at the front of the westerly group.
'As dawn broke, Team Finland was on the horizon,' says skipper Chris Stanmore-Major, 'Via the AIS we could see their speed over the ground and only grind our teeth as they inched forward of us, obviously blessed with just a few knots of extra breeze. Having taken a different route they are now out of sight but our battle continues and no doubt will until the last moments of the race as we have no intentions of letting them beat us into our home port.'
Team Finland is having an excellent run, taking more than 50 nautical miles out of race leader Hull & Humber over the last 24 hours. Now lying in second place, skipper Rob McInally explains some of the thought processes the skippers go through in deciding what route to take.
'Any group of competitors in offshore racing have different ideas over a long leg,' he says. 'Even the split from one side of the track to the other will usually have further splinter groups. If you understand the points of sail that your crew are good at then this will obviously affect your decision.
'California and Edinburgh Inspiring Capital have stood fast on their decision and it would seem, as I await the latest six-hourly update, that they have it right. There could still be a twist or two before the gate is finally within reach.'
Having stuck like glue to Spirit of Australia for the first part of this race, the Finnish team has started to pull out a sizeable lead and skipper Brendan Hall's Australian team is now in an unusual situation as they approach the Race 6 Scoring Gate.
'Having had such a successful time with the scoring gates thus far, we feel disappointed that we aren't in the leading group closest to the gate,' says Brendan. 'But this race is far from over and the rough weather changes everything.'
His thoughts are not shared by Uniquely Singapore's skipper, who believes that light conditions lead to a greater change in fortunes.
'Light winds are good in many ways,' explains Jim Dobie. 'For those at the back of the fleet it allows them the opportunity to make miles, whilst for the front of the fleet it leads to a lot of frustration as the precious miles gained over days are stripped away in six hours. As for us? Well, we have been on our own for many days now so we're
relishing the opportunity of a few boats to do battle with as the race for the gate is thrown wide open again.'
Positions at 1200 UTC, Thursday 11 February
Boat DTF* DTL*
1 Hull & Humber 1120nm
2 Team Finland 1123nm 3nm
3 Cape Breton Island 1130nm 10nm
4 California 1134nm 14nm
5 Qingdao 1135nm 15nm
6 Jamaica Lightning Bolt 1149nm 29nm
7 Spirit of Australia 1149nm 29nm
8 Uniquely Singapore 1150nm 30nm
9 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 1166nm 46nm
*DTF = Distance to Finish, *DTL = Distance to Leader)
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