Whilst the Southern Ocean leg is the one that often has the most
fearsome reputation, for the teams competing in Clipper 09-10 it pales
into insignificance when compared to what the Pacific Ocean is currently
throwing at them. 24 hours into the latest tempest and another team has
fallen victim to the punishing conditions with California reported to
have been dismasted at the level of their first spreader.
Race Director, Joff Bailey, says, “We received a call from Falmouth
Coastguard at around 1600 GMT yesterday to advise us that California’s
EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) had been activated.
At the time we made every attempt to contact the boat by all means
available but were unfortunately unsuccessful.”
Given that the yacht had been sailing in more than 50 knots of wind with
associated heavy seas, it was essential to establish why the EPIRB had
been activated. Falmouth Coastguard handed over the incident to the US
Coastguard who promptly sent a C130 aircraft towards the transmitting
emergency beacon.
The crew of the aircraft successfully located the yacht and communicated
with skipper Pete Rollason using VHF radio. The aircraft also made
contact with fellow race entry, Jamaica Lightning Bolt, whose skipper,
Pete Stirling, was able to relay the first brief detail back to the
Clipper Race office.
The California skipper confirmed that the yacht has lost her mast at the
first spreader but that her hull is undamaged and that they are
currently motoring towards San Francisco. Jamaica Lightning Bolt,
Uniquely Singapore, Spirit of Australia and Hull & Humber have all been
asked to make for the yacht and the Jamaica sponsored boat is expected
to be on station by around 1400 GMT. A merchant ship in the vicinity has
also been directed to the yacht by the US Coastguard and is due to
arrive early this evening.
“Fruity” is how skipper Brendan Hall describes the conditions through
which he and his adopted crew on board Hull & Humber have just sailed.
“Fruity is the word I now use to describe wind over 60 knots,” he
explains. “It sounds less intimidating when describing the conditions to
those back home.
“If we had seen these sorts of seas back on Leg 1, the crew would have
been incredibly scared. Now, having sailed 20,000 nautical miles, the
round-the-worlders take these conditions in their stride, handling the
boat in a safe, confident, methodical way. This confidence flows on to
the leggers, who are becoming more hardened by the day.
“The boat is under control and we have a very small amount of sail up.
>From time to time, a wave comes in from an unexpected angle and slaps
the hull, rounding the nose of the boat up towards the wind in a very
violent manner. Down below, anything that isn’t anchored down, stowed or
braced goes flying across the boat.
“There is nothing you can do in these instances except hold on, keep
yourself safe and trust that the boat will get through it. While every
lurching round-up makes us all cringe, the boat has not faltered and we
have absolute confidence in her strength and integrity and equal
confidence in our crewmates up on deck, driving her as safely as they
can.”
Uniquely Singapore is taking time to get back up to speed following
their recent knock down which caused some minor damage – tearing off the
companionway hood and buckling the steering wheel and frame in front of
it. As a precautionary measure skipper Jim Dobie made the decision to
hove-to overnight and wait for daylight and the prospect of reduced wind
strength and a better sea state before fixing the steering and carrying
on.
“Don’t know what to say today except I’ve had a gutful of this bloody
ocean,” writes Jim in his 0600 GMT report to the race office. “We
thought we had fixed our wheel but is has come loose again and we don’t
want to carry on with the emergency steering in this large swell and
breaking wave conditions. So the safest thing is to hove to and wait for
this weather to pass or the first light, whichever comes first. We also
haven’t quite solved the companionway issue yet but have managed to
board it up with storm boards and cutting a floorboard.”
Whilst Jim is confident he and his crew can repair the damage caused to
their steering wheel, the decision to wait until daylight is a wise one,
allowing the tired crew to get some much needed rest first.
Jim is not the only one to have found the stormy Pacific conditions
wearing and Cape Breton Island’s skipper, Jan Ridd, reports that things
are becoming harder by the day as the initial excitement and adrenaline
rush wears off.
“We are now all very cold, very wet and very tired,” says Jan. “We are
all looking forward to being able to sail the Big Blue Canoe in more
normal conditions and hopefully without the driving rain, howling wind
and being knee deep in sea water as the waves crash onto the deck. We
are dreaming of blue skies, sunshine and a gentle breeze on the beam –
all things being relative 25 to 30 knots would probably feel gentle to
us at the moment!”
“Apart from the physical ordeal the heavy weather has put the crew and
myself through, we have managed to hold on to and even extend our lead
over our competitors. This has been a motivating force for us when
climbing into soaking wet sailing clothes in the middle of the night to
drive the boat as hard as we dare.
“We feel we are just on the edge of the storm now and are cautiously
starting to put up more sails. Although, every time we increase the sail
area the Pacific firmly reminds us that it has not quite finished with
us yet by sending another squall through with torrential rain and a
burst of very heavy winds.”
Team Finland has just arrived at Bayside Marina in Yokohama in order to
top up with enough fresh water for rest of the leg to San Francisco
following an unresolved problem with their on board watermaker.
“Our aim is to get in and out as fast as possible with water and diesel
supplies for the trip,” says skipper Rob McInally. “Our race against
time to be in San Francisco in time for the race start has thrown us a
number of curved balls that have taken a toll on our efforts. There is
no letting up and we will have to change sails even faster and make
decisions even quicker. Everyone is pushing for the time table to be met
with the difficulty of nursing our new sail and rig at the same time.
This is our first go at a Formula 1 style pit stop, the next will be in
San Francisco.”
Meanwhile, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital continues to nurse their damaged
rig across the Pacific and a prudent move to stay further south has
meant the team avoided the worst of the storm. With more than 2,000
nautical miles of Race 7 still to go, California’s recent dismasting
will serve as a sharp reminder that the Scottish team cannot afford to
take any unnecessary risks if they are to preserve their rig all the way
to San Francisco.
Positions at 1200 UTC, Monday 22 March
Boat DTF* DTL*
1 Cape Breton Island 1803nm
2 California 2072nm 268nm
3 Jamaica Lightning Bolt 2074nm 271nm
4 Uniquely Singapore 2132nm 328nm
5 Qingdao 2155nm 352nm
6 Hull & Humber 2194nm 391nm
7 Spirit of Australia 2199nm 395nm
8 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 2342nm 539nm
9 Team Finland 4533nm 2730nm
10 Cork Did not start
