The significance of the day was not lost on those taking part in Clipper
09-10 as ten yachts lined up on the start line for the short sprint to
Jamaica, the crew of Cork, Ireland racing together again as a single
unit for the first time since their original boat ran aground in Race 5.
As the Irish team prepared to leave the marina this morning Noreen
Osborne, one of Cork’s round the world crew, said, “I haven’t slept a
wink. I think it’s going to be exciting to get Cork out on the water. It
was a very proud moment when we came into the marina yesterday and saw
her dead ahead of us.
“We’ve got a full fleet leaving Shelter Bay, which is going to be pretty
awesome. It’s been four months since everybody’s been together in this
way and I think Cork’s going to get a great reception out on the water.
I think everybody’ll be a bit emotional on board and the other crews as
well; I think they’re excited for us at the same time.
“It’s a very different boat, it’s going to take us a bit of time to get
used to the lay of the land and the way it works but we’ll do our very
best to get out there and sail hard and sail fast. Hannah (Jenner, the
skipper) is really motivated and determined and says a lot of people
start to tire and slacken off at this stage but she wants to keep full
throttle on so everybody, just man up and do whatever needs to be done.
So it’s going to be interesting!”
In addition, for the first race on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal
there was a palpable feeling that the 35,000-mile race is on the home
strait. There are still six races, including this one, to be contested
and competition among the fleet for the coveted podium positions and the
valuable points that come with them is stronger than ever.
The teams left the marina in drenching tropical rain and zero wind and
the race start line was set 50 miles from the coast of Panama. At 1831
local time (2331 GMT) Race 9 got underway with a Le Mans start in 15
knots of breeze from the north east.
All ten boats lined up for a rolling Le Mans start where the crews race
to hoist their headsails in the fastest possible time.
Most of the fleet opted for their Yankee 1 with Hull & Humber, Team
Finland and Uniquely Singapore making cracking starts but it wasn’t long
before overall race leaders Spirit of Australia pushed their way through
to rival Hull & Humber at the front of the pack.
Spirit of Australia’s Jaime Stevens, who joined the team in San
Francisco and will race back to the July 17 finish on the Humber, said,
“It was a very exciting and nerve wracking way to start the race with
all the boats lined up next to each other. We hadn’t done a Le Mans
start since our training but thankfully we weren’t too rusty and got off
to a pretty good start. We are now looking forward to some exciting head
to head racing through the night with all the boats within spitting
distance.”
The 520-mile upwind sprint to Port Antonio on Jamaica’s north coast is
likely to be one of the closest of the Clipper 09-10 campaign.
Skipper of the overall race leader and winner of Race 8, Brendan Hall
said, “Securing another win is certainly our goal. It’s going to be a
different flavour of race to what we’re used to. We love the long races
– that fits our style – so we’re going to have to make some adjustments
to speed things up over a short distance but we’ve had plenty of Scoring
Gates so we’re confident we can keep the pace high on the short legs,
too. There’s no Scoring Gate on this one so all eyes are on the finish.”
For the crew of Jamaica Lightning Bolt this stage holds particular
significance as it is the race to their home port. Pete Stirling,
skipper of the yacht named after the fastest man on earth, said, “This
is the big one – I’m actually a little bit nervous about it because
there’s quite a lot of pressure on. It’s exciting but there’s probably
more pressure than any previous race. Expectations are higher than ever
before and we’re definitely looking for a win this time.
“We did very well downwind on the last race but we do seem to do very
well against the other boats upwind generally so we’re looking forward
to that and certainly nothing less than a podium will do but we want the
win, that’s for sure.”
With a smile, he added, “Spirit of Australia’s always a tough boat to
beat but hopefully we can see them into tenth place!”
The yachts passed through the Panama Canal to reach the Race 9 start
line and the experience gave those on board a moment of reflection, in
particular those who competing in the complete circumnavigation.
Jeremy Reed, a round the world crew member on Hull & Humber, said, “It
was quite surreal when the first gate you go into closes behind you and
you suddenly realise that that’s the end of the Pacific. That’s quite an
emotional moment.”
He continued, “Going through the final lock was again quite emotional,
when you realise that the last lock is opening on to the Atlantic and in
effect you’re on your way home. But I’ve had that feeling quite often
that you’re on your way home during the race – in Qingdao , that’s the
furthest point east you’re going to be, then you cross the 180 degree
meridian you go from the eastern hemisphere to the western hemisphere so
that’s another big moment, then half way in terms of time and then
distance, so there are several moments when you think you’re on your way
home but this is probably the most significant one, going from the
Pacific to the Atlantic.”
The race to Port Antonio, once home to Hollywood legend, Errol Flynn, is
expected to take three to four days and, after the short but busy pit
stop in Panama and a sprint even Jamaican hero Usain Bolt would be proud
of, the teams will be able to relax and enjoy all Jamaica’s vibrant
north coast has to offer.
Positions at 0900 UTC, Sunday 16 May
Boat DTF* DTL*
1 Cape Breton Island 451nm
2 Team Finland 452nm 2nm
3 Jamaica Lightning Bolt 452nm 2nm
4 Hull & Humber 453nm 2nm
5 Spirit of Australia 454nm 3nm
6 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 455nm 4nm
7 Uniquely Singapore 456nm 5nm
8 Qingdao 458nm 7nm
9 California 459nm 8nm
10 Cork (at 0800 UTC) 471nm 21nm