Clipper Race Honolulu to Santa Cruz
Clipper Race, Hawaii to California - The tactical move north by the yachts Nova Scotia and Uniquely Singapore has allowed them to carve out a significant lead that will be hard to breakdown. With the fleet expected to arrive early into Santa Cruz, possibly on Thursday, it does not leave much time for the chasing teams to make up the lost miles.
Joff Bailey, Race Director, says, “North has certainly paid off so far in this race and it is unlikely to change over the next day or so. These two teams have obviously read the weather right on this one.”
Clearly delighted at the result of their northerly tactic, Uniquely Singapore’s Mark Preedy said, “Well the move north has worked a treat. We had a few doubters on the boat but they have been banished to the cheese pit until they see the error of their ways. It needs a clean out so hopefully they will get bored and do something about it!”
The unlucky teams further south, Qingdao, Glasgow, Scotland with style Clipper and Liverpool 08 have been caught out by large wind holes that have made it very difficult for them to make significant progress. However, with the wind expected to fill in for them over the next 24 hours it won’t be long before they start making better headway towards Santa Cruz.
Having suffered a similar fate overnight New York Skipper, Duggie Gillespie, spoke of his relief as the wind finally filled in for the US team, “We’re very pleased to get moving again so as to try and keep up with the northerly favoured boats. It’s also good to have smooth seas and the team is working well having had to perform many sail changes in the light weather.”
Thinking they were going to suffer a similar fate, Jamaica’s skipper expressed his surprise at avoiding the forecasted area of light winds, “I thought we were going to be on the edge of a wind hole,” said Simon Bradley. “But as we’ve got 20 knots of wind at the moment I guess the forecast wasn’t quite right! I’m not complaining...”
Jamaica have been lucky to escape the wind hole but have not been so lucky with the announcement today that they are one of the teams to be awarded penalty points for sail damage. Following compilation of all the sail repair data, the Clipper Race Committee, chaired by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, has reached a decision on sail repair penalty points that are to be awarded following the Hawaii stopover. The penalty points awarded are for either replacement sails or for professional sail repairs costs, which are cumulative over the whole race.
“Some of these professional repairs go all the way back to damage that occurred during the first couple of races,” explains Joff. “However, it has taken the repairs in Hawaii for some of the teams to cross the penalty point threshold.
“The vast majority of the sail repair work is very basic and well within the scope of the crew to undertake and it is good seamanship to repair your own sails as you go. Crews can therefore mitigate these professional costs by undertaking some or all of the repair work themselves. In every round the world race it is the teams that look after their sails that will do the best. In addition to the points awarded today, several of the other teams are very close to the sail repair penalty point threshold but have as yet not crossed it.”
The penalty point system for sail repairs is laid out within the Clipper Sailing Instructions and all skippers are briefed thoroughly on how the penalty system works. The penalty points that have been awarded are as follows:
- Jamaica: 3 x sail repair/replacement sail penalty points (2 points for a replacement sail and 1 point for repair costs)
- Nova Scotia: 1 x sail repair penalty point
- Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper: 4 x sail penalty points for a replacement sail
These points will be deducted from the teams overall points tally overnight on Sunday.
CLICK HERE TO READ ALL THE YACHTPALS NEWS ABOUT THE CLIPPER RACE 07-08
- Photos: Clipper Race 07-08
- Clipper 07-08 Race Video 1: Experience life on board Durban 2010 and Beyond in the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Race.
- Clipper 07-08 Race Video 2: This is Uniquely Singapore Clipper in the 07/08 Clipper Round the World yacht race. It was taken during a 10 day period spent beating in the Southern Ocean en route to Fremantle.
Submitted By YachtPals on 13 Apr
clipper race, Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, Hawaii, Ala Wai, clipper 07-08, clipper, yacht race, sailboats, sailboat, boats, sailing
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Clipper Race Update
Clipper Race: The North Pacific High has re-established itself very strongly in the vicinity of the entire fleet. This has further benefited the yachts further north, enabling them to achieve a better sailing angle and faster speeds towards the Californian coast. Only 12-miles behind the race leaders, Nova Scotia, the skipper on Uniquely Singapore is plotting how to take the lead from the Canadian team. “We’re currently trying to work out how best to catch Nova Scotia,” explains Mark Preedy. “We feel we have a slight advantage being a little more north than them. The question is, do we sail down to them and take them on and risk giving ourselves a harder angle as we approach land, as the wind is due to increase, and also allow New York and Hull & Humber to come above us? Or, hold our ground and wait for the end to make a challenge?”
The teams further south desperately trying to catch Uniquely Singapore and Nova Scotia have an uncomfortable race at the moment as they beat into strong headwinds.
Race Director, Joff Bailey, says, “The high pressure system means that the teams further south have no option but to keep sailing hard on the wind on port tack at the moment. Failure to do so would mean they risk losing even more distance on the leaders if they try to tack north. Hull & Humber and New York will be keeping their fingers crossed that the leading pair get into trouble as they approach the finish and the continental mass of the USA starts to affect the weather patterns making the wind more unpredictable.”
Currently beating into the strong headwinds created by the high pressure system are Qingdao, Liverpool 08 and Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper. Having experienced a major contrast in sailing conditions over the past 24 hours Qingdao skipper Marcus Cholerton-Brown said, “It’s been a wild 24 hourrs, we went from zero boat speed on a flat calm ocean to reefed with storm jib in the space of three hours! We’ve fallen a way behind the fleet during our enforced break so we will have to work extra hard to try and catch up and compete for points. Still a long way to go and anything can happen.”
Whilst not racing with the rest of the fleet Durban 2010 and Beyond and westernaustralia2011.com still have a fight on their hands as they battle against gale force headwinds. At the same time they are trying to make some movement north to get a better angle on the wind so that they can join the fleet in Santa Cruz as early as possible.
It is still only spring in the northern hemisphere and the further north the teams track the colder the weather will become. Reports back from the boats suggest that the crews have already begun to put on their thermal underwear and the shorts and t-shirts have been packed away for a few days. “Boots, socks, fleeces, mid-layers are all appearing again as we beat our way towards Santa Cruz,” says Jamaica skipper Simon Bradley. “These are all items of clothing that crew were not expecting to wear for some time!”
Clipper Race Update
The battle for the top spot has become even closer today as Uniquely Singapore have finally cashed in on their slightly better northerly position and reduced the deficit to 9 nautical miles. They are still approx 15 nautical miles further north than Nova Scotia which will be a key advantage over the next 24 hours. The winds are predominantly northerly down this part of the California coast and Uniquely Singapore’s position will allow them to sail slightly freer and faster than Nova Scotia. At the moment the winds are steady but as the two leading teams approach the coast the effects of the land heating and cooling will affect the wind and make the last ten miles or so unpredictable.
Tactics are being carefully studied on board Nova Scotia, according to round the world crew member Chris Wicks in today’s team blog. He says, “Two-ish days from Santa Cruz and the pressure is on. We’re holding our own but we’re very aware that Uniquely Singapore is breathing down our necks and we can’t drop our guard even for a second. Headsail changes are frequent to ensure our sail plan is always optimal and the strategy team are studying pilot guides to plan our passage through the California Current. It flows north to south, so we need to get plenty of north in now so that we don’t have to work against it on the home straight.”
New York have a strong hold on third place and hold the upper hand over Hull & Humber as they are further north than the Yorkshire team. There is still a possibility that these two teams could make an impact on the leading pair as they approach the unpredictable coastal winds.
Race Director Joff Bailey says, “Now that the first yachts are getting close to the finish the Race Committee will shortly announce the date for the start of Race 9 from Santa Cruz to Panama. Due to the excellent progress that has been made the start date will be earlier than predicted. All Leg 6 crew are reminded that they must report to their boats as requested by 10am on 21 April.”
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