Still high on their Scoring Gate point from yesterday, the team on board
Qingdao is now focussed on bettering their position and taking the top
spot in Panama. To help them achieve this the Chinese entry, which was
lying in second place and just eleven nautical miles behind current race
leaders, Spirit of Australia, decided to go into Stealth Mode at 0600GMT
today.
For Qingdao’s temporary skipper, Hannah Jenner, Stealth Mode is a new
tactic which wasn’t available when she skippered Glasgow: Scotland with
style in the Clipper 07-08 Race. It means that her team’s position is
hidden from view, both in terms of the position reports sent to the
other boats and also on the Race Viewer of the website.
In her morning report, Hannah, who will take charge of Cork when she
arrives in Panama, says, “Another night rolls in aboard Qingdao and with
it a slightly more gentle breeze than we experienced the previous night.
With gusts of over 20 knots and a tricky sea state last night it was a
bit of a wake up call for those who had relaxed into comfortable
spinnaker sailing. Still after a few hours of hard work, the sea state
settled and once again a glorious day dawned with some good mileage runs
at the scheds.
“As for tactics, well obviously that is a secret but we are working hard
on light airs performance in anticipation of declining winds further
down the race track. It is safe to say that as a team we are thoroughly
enjoying the race and as a skipper it is great to be back!”
With Qingdao hidden from view it will be a nervous 24-hours for the
front runners on board Spirit of Australia as they wait until tomorrow’s
0600GMT position report to see if they have held the lead.
The Australian team’s skipper, Brendan Hall, doesn’t appear too
concerned at this stage reporting, “More champagne sailing aboard Spirit
of Australia today. The action on deck comes in bursts. For long
periods, we sail on our course and there is not enough work to occupy
nine people on deck but as soon as the call comes for a spinnaker gybe
or change, the watch leaps into action and does the job in a fast and
slick manner. After a drink of water, the watch returns to chatting and
contemplating – such is the ebb and flow of daily life when racing in
light winds.”
It would appear that Team Finland is more concerned about race position
in their report as the further south they get, the lighter the winds
become and the more likely the fleet will concertina which could lead to
changes in positions.
“We are still in wind, which is grand,” says Team Finland’s skipper, Rob
McInally. “Although it is looking like there is more behind us so the
fortunes of the yachts further back could start to change.
“The next mark of the course is 230 nautical miles away so we are about
to turn on a more easterly course with the hope of making up more ground
on Qingdao and Spirit of Australia. Neither team is easy to take miles
from and we are still watching over our shoulders with the real danger
of the race turning inside out once again.”
One of the teams taking advantage of the stronger winds further back is
California as they work hard to maximise the daily runs.
Skipper Pete Rollason says, “The victualling as always on board
California has been superb and any thoughts of weight loss on this leg
are sadly misplaced. However, it is that excellent cuisine that is
providing the crew with the energy for the numerous spinnaker peels,
drops and hoists that are part of our daily life in these variable wind
conditions. It is all about helming, sail trim and sail selection, as
always and the crew are working tirelessly whenever the need is there.
“We have made some small gains over the last 12 hours and hope this
continues as we drive California hard.”
The crew on board Cape Breton Island has also been pushing hard as the
team tries to regain the miles they lost when the track for their
spinnaker pole broke, It’s not happening as quickly as they might like
as skipper, Jan Ridd, explains.
“Late last night we had Edinburgh Inspiring Capital firmly in our sights
when we had to drop our medium weight kite as a small tear had been
spotted in it,” says Jan. “We quickly hoisted the heavyweight, a
stronger smaller kite but much slower, costing us some valuable miles
whilst we made the necessary repairs. We now have the medium weight up
again and are busy trying to figure out our course so we can gain any
advantage over the boats ahead.”
Conversely, Hull & Humber is enjoying another drama free day, with
temporary skipper, Justin Taylor, reporting, “More great downhill
sailing, peeling between lightweight and medium weight kites.”
His thoughts are echoed by Uniquely Singapore’s skipper, Jim Dobie,
whose team, despite suffering another spinnaker wrap, is improving all
the time.
“How spoilt we are,” says Jim. “Sailing in pretty much ideal seas, it’s
sunny, it’s warm and there’s a fair breeze as well. The kite is still
going strong and the only trip up was another wrap last night but this
was quickly solved with a quick repair and up she went again pulling us
along nicely. With all the boats in the same conditions it’s proving
difficult to make any gains at the moment, so we concentrate on our
course and speed in the knowledge that at some point the conditions will
change and when they do we will do our very best to start gaining on
yachts. At the moment we are enjoying what we have and the crew are
relishing the downwind steering and are gaining confidence all the
time.”
Positions at 1200 UTC, Tuesday 27 April
Boat DTF* DTL*
1 Spirit of Australia 1761nm
2 Team Finland 1783nm 22nm
3 Qingdao Stealth Mode
4 Jamaica Lightning Bolt 1818nm 57nm
5 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 1818nm 57nm
6 Cape Breton Island 1833nm 72nm
7 Hull & Humber 1901nm 140nm
8 Uniquely Singapore 1902nm 142nm
9 California 1905nm 144nm
10 Cork Did not start