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CLIPPER 11-12
RACE 4: CAPE TOWN TO GERALDTON, WESTERN AUSTRALIA DAY 26

* Victory for Gold Coast Australia in Race 4
* De Lage Landen expected to finish on Monday afternoon
* Race Committee issues 'Shorten Course' instruction for back five teams
Today saw Gold Coast Australia secure victory in the race from Cape Town to Geraldton Western Australia as the race for the final two podium positions heats up. Notching their fourth win of the Clipper 11-12 Race, the Australian entry's crew where cheered on by a welcome party of friends, family and local residents.

Gold Coast Australia's skipper, Richard Hewson, from Hobart, Tasmania, said, "It's fantastic to be home - I love Western Australia, it's like a second home and it's fantastic to be back here."

With victories in every race so far during Clipper 11-12, skipper Richard praised his team's work ethic.

"It's down to good management and good sailing. The guys pushed really hard, we're a good team and everyone works hard and really deserves this, so it's fantastic."

Dutch entry, De Lage Landen, look set to finish second with 233 nautical miles to go until the finish line and an ETA of Monday afternoon (local time).

"After a frustrating drift through the high, we've happily watched the millibars fall and the boat speeds rise," reports skipper, Stuart Jackson.

"We're happily making good progress towards Geraldton under bright sun and blue skies, with a commensurate change in the crew's energy and mood as they anticipate the first cold beers roughly a day away."

Meanwhile the tussle for the last remaining podium place has heated up with Visit Finland, New York and home boat, Geraldton Western Australia, all looking to secure the blue pennant.

"Congratulations to Gold Coast Australia for their four wins in a row and to De Lage Landen who look likely to take second place, that just leaves the last podium place," says Gareth Glover, skipper of New York.

"The third place we've had for most of the final part of this race has been taken by Visit Finland, who have sailed round the wind hole that had taken hold of most of the fleet including us. You will see us fight this one right down to the finish line," explains the American entry's skipper.

"With just over 400nm to Geraldton and the wind now filling in from the east we are able to make Geraldton on this tack if the wind holds and, being over 90nm south east of Visit Finland, it looks like they may have to tack a few times to get there.

"Everyone now is looking forward get to Geraldton now after a long and unforgiving race, being beaten by storms or becalmed for days; we have had it all on this leg."

The third to fifth positioned boats currently have an estimated earliest arrival time in Geraldton of Tuesday with the next batch of boats closely following.

"It's all about trim and helming now as three contenders emerge in the battle for the last podium place," reveals the skipper of Visit Finland, Olly Osborne.

"The route around the top of the high pressure system seems to have paid off, although having the benefit of watching the boats ahead of us during the earlier parts of the race, and a little help from the gods, has been invaluable," continues Olly, who saw his team slip to tenth place after suffering mainsail damage, only to climb their way back up the leader board, with less than 400 miles to go.

"It is beginning to look like we may be finishing within sight of other boats, and every extra mile we can gain here buys us time to concentrate on the pilotage as we approach port. It looks like we will be arriving at night so as well as racing it will require plenty of concentration to get the boat in safely, not to mention keeping the Race Office up all night!"

Hoping to pip both Visit Finland and New York to third place is home boat, Geraldton Western Australia, skippered by Juan Coetzer.

"A great day's sailing: the wind finally came through and we made up some places on the leader board. The crew were over the moon, as this was a result of their hard work and focus," explains Juan.

"Last night we had an electrical gremlin. One of the many GPSs stopped receiving info and went on the blink. As a result it was back to traditional sailing, looking at the tails and helming the boat according to them. It resulted in a good learning exercise. Day time has arrived and we have found the problem and fixed it. It was salt water corrosion!"

Having been carefully studying the weather forecasts for the coming days, the Race Committee has made the decision to shorten the course for the back five yachts who are trapped by light airs with little to suggest their plight will be short lived.

Mindful that the teams will be setting off on the next Southern Ocean leg of their journey in a week's time, and the safety of the yachts and the crews being the primary concern of the race organisers, the difficult decision, one which was not taken lightly, has been made in the interest of the teams and was communicated to them by Race Director, Joff Bailey.

Their race will finish at 1800UTC at which time the teams: Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, Welcome to Yorkshire, Singapore, Qingdao and Derry-Londonderry, will be ranked in order of their distance to finish and asked to begin motoring towards Geraldton. The option to shorten the course is provided for in the Clipper Race Sailing Instructions.

Forty-three crew members are joining the race in Geraldton, with approximately the same number leaving at the end of their time on board. A number of them have been affected by the decision by the Australian airline, Qantas, to ground their fleet yesterday. The last 24 hours have been particularly busy for the Official Travel Partner of the Clipper Race, The Marine Travel Company, whose team have been rebooking affected crew on alternative flights in order to ensure they arrive in time to join the race and to allow those leaving to get back home. The Race Committee has also taken this into account in making the difficult decision to shorten the course.Meanwhile, in the hours remaining until the shortened course finish time, Qingdao are in a battle with the crew of Welcome to Yorkshire, both teams trying to combat the becalmed conditions."Right now we're within three miles of Qingdao, which is very visible on the horizon. Ian and the crew on Qingdao are a good lot and it's great to have some company with whom to share the tedium. Banter and bad jokes are being traded over the airwaves, to help make the time go by. It's also very motivating to have a visible yacht to race against," reports skipper, Rupert Dean.

"We're moving at last, slowly, but better than nothing at all. Winds are still fickle, still off and on. We're hoping they will freshen as we continue our tortuous route north," continues Rupert.

On board the Chinese entry, skipper Ian Conchie is enjoying the healthy rivalry between his team and their Yorkshire counterparts as he looks to stay ahead of them in sixth place.

"We've had the pleasure of sailing with Welcome to Yorkshire most of the night which has pushed the crew to focus on boat speed to try to gain and keep our now regular sixth spot! Only time will tell."

With two of the identically designed Clipper 68s racing so close together it is the crew member who will make the difference, playing a vital part in who secures the most race points for Race 4.

"It's interesting to see how the boats perform when next to each other. At certain wind strengths it would seem that Welcome to Yorkshire has the edge and at other wind strengths we seem to have a slight edge. It's so close between us it makes it interesting how the minute differences in the boats and how they are set up play out," reveals Ian.

Currently in eighth Singapore skipper, Ben Bowley and his crew are ruing a move which they hoped would move them up the leader board.

"Another tedious 24 hours of inching our way toward Geraldton in light and shifty winds. It seems that our tactic of trying to get though a small gap to the east of the high pressure system did not really pay off.

"The high simply followed us to the east and we could not find a route through to the north before we got swallowed by it again. Had we managed to make a little more north we could have been charging toward the finish much as De Lage Landen is now but we were a little too far south to make the plan stick. As a result we have been forced to head back to the north west and around the western edge of the high," says Ben.

"All we can do now is try to glean as much height out of the light breeze and hope that we end up set better to the wind than both Welcome to Yorkshire and Qingdao for our final run into Geraldton.

"The lighter conditions are giving us all a chance for reflection on how far we have come since leaving Southampton and what challenges we have overcome to get here. We have to also look at how far there is still to go and how many races, and associated points, are still up for grabs. This race has not been our best but let us hope that is by far our worst in terms of position!" signs off the Singaporean team's skipper.

Meanwhile on Derry-Londonderry, skipper Mark Light reports glorious conditions as they look to shorten the distance between themselves and the finish line.

"Today started with a beautiful sunrise and continued with the glowing warmth of the sun gradually enveloping all on deck.

"After a night of constant tacking to and fro making use of every wind shift possible we are making progress (although not directly) towards our destination. I think we have successfully avoided the area of very light airs to the east of us which has been responsible for the incarceration some of the other boats and we now have consistent winds to utilise," says Mark, with his team currently in ninth ahead of Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, who have taken up their Stealth Mode option.

"With all the tacking, shifting of airs, extra miles, changing of hotel bookings, re-organising of flights, in port plans and frustrations on board it is worth reminding all on board that this is the challenge of ocean yacht racing and this is also the reason why yachts always have destinations and not arrival times."

Race 5 from Geraldton to Tauranga, New Zealand, will begin on Sunday 6 November.

Positions at 0900 UTC, Sunday 30 October

Boat DTF*
1 Gold Coast Australia Finished at 30/10/2011 07:04:36
2 De Lage Landen 202nm
3 Visit Finland 372nm
4 New York 374nm
5 Geraldton Western Australia 412nm
6 Qingdao 494nm
7 Welcome to Yorkshire 496nm
8 Singapore 562nm
9 Derry-Londonderry 565nm
10 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 615nm (Stealth Mode: Position at 1800 on 29 October)

*DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader

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Some good footage of inside the boats despite the calm weather hijinks!

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Back to sailing!

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Some boom in the water... I called the Belgian guy "Hercule Piorot" all the way thru training poor chap - he tool it very well.

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Shortened Course Provisional Results - 31 October 2011

After the Race Committee’s difficult decision yesterday to shorten the course for the five teams at the back of the fleet who have been gripped by the light winds of a high pressure system for the last week, the provisional placings have been announced.

The positions were recorded at 1800UTC on Sunday 30 October and the rankings are decided according to the teams’ distance to finish (DTF) at that time. The results are provisional until supporting evidence is presented, along with the teams’ race declarations, when they arrive in Geraldton. This will be particularly important for Edinburgh Inspiring Capital and Derry-Londonderry who were separated by just one-tenth of a mile.

Welcome to Yorkshire and Qingdao had been deep in a game of cat and mouse, their positions switching almost by the hour, so close was the race between the two teams. For Singapore, who started Race 4 in third position overall, it is a race they will hope not to repeat. Skipper Ben Bowley and his team have already stated that they are going to put this result behind them and look to getting back on track for the next race – after all, there are still eleven more individual races to come in Clipper 11-12.

Provisional results for sixth to tenth place in Race 4:

6. Welcome to Yorkshire 417.0nm
7. Qingdao 421.6nm
8. Derry-Londonderry 495.5nm
9. Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 495.6nm
10. Singapore 504.5nm

Meanwhile, in the front half of the fleet, four boats are still in competition for the remaining podium positions. De Lage Landen is expected to arrive early this afternoon (local time) in Geraldton to claim second place. Geraldton Western Australia has joined Visit Finland in Stealth Mode in their final approaches to the finish line while New York, who used their Stealth Mode option earlier in the race are currently in third place.

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RACE 4 - DAY 25 - by Guy Jackson and Steve Payne (Welcome to Yorkshire)
One of my favourite films is Groundhog Day in which the central character (Bill Murray) relives the same 24 hours over and over again. Aboard Welcome to Yorkshire we are beginning to know how that feels. The sun has resolutely shone down on us and the wind has abandoned us. We have watched the scheduled race reports daily as other boats have passed us by while we sit viewing a glassy sea. But such is ocean racing and while we would all dearly like to be nearing the end of this Southern Ocean voyage we know that at the moment we are simply in the hands of Mother Nature. As Omar Khaiam put it- “Tis but a chequer board of nights and days where destiny with men as pieces plays”

And we have made our own attempts to improve our lot. The days have been spent attending to many of those jobs which are usually left until port.

In particular both watches have spent today inspecting each of our white sails for nicks and tears, making any repairs and replacing and lubricating hanks. We also have a new method of propulsion which we believe does not offend against racing rules.

In the main it involves James Charlesworth and Kyle Gardiner each sitting with a paddle on the sugar scoop. Unfortunately it has proved to be useless. Due to the disparity in strength between our two principal paddlers we found ourselves more inclined to spin rather than move forwards. However it was inventive, motivating, well executed (in the main) and also very funny.

Let us hope that tonight brings an end to our suffering. Much longer and the loo rolls will begin to run short but more importantly so will the Marmite!


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De Lage Landen secures second place in race to Geraldton31 October 2011

De Lage Landen, the Dutch entry in the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race, has secured second place in Race 4, from Cape Town to Geraldton Western Australia. Led by skipper, Stuart Jackson, the team crossed the finish line at 1400 (0605 UTC) after a marathon race across the Southern Ocean.

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RACE 4 - DAY 25 - by Sarah Grossick (Geraldton Western Australia)

I was asked yesterday if this, my first of 6 legs, had lived up to my expectations. I had to reply that, as I had done so little sailing previously I had no idea what to expect! I could however reply that I have thoroughly enjoyed my first ocean racing experience.

There is little doubt that ocean racing is a test of endurance. It is as much about the mental ability to stay focused, as the physical and sailing ability. It is not easy to force yourself out of a warm sleeping bag after just two hours sleep, to put on damp foulies and go on deck for five hours of freezing weather, the physical side, not just the lack of sleep, but the sail changes involved is sometimes exhausting.

There is, particularly for me as a new sailor, always so much to learn - be it the wind, routing or sails. The diet is very different to my 'normal' one. I miss the lack of fresh fruit and veg and am now craving the luxuries of salad, cheese and steak! The frustration of being in the hands of the wind gods on the race to the finish tests most people’s patience!

However, through all the trying times there is always a great banter between the crew. Moral is always high and there is invariably the sound of laughter from some part of the boat.

So, yes, I have hugely enjoyed my first race. I am also hugely looking forward to arriving in Geraldton. Not long until a comfy bed, hot shower and champagne!

Love to my children, family and friends, Sarah xx


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RACE 4 - DAY 25 - Will Iliffe (Singapore)

Well... today's been a day of two halves. To start we had a bit of wind and were trucking along nicely and making good gains on the rest of the fleet then, at about 1-ish the wind started to die off resulting in us going backwards in the swell for about three to four hours. We've now picked up some wind again and are trucking on nicely but I think the lack of wind was starting to get to me a bit. Am on mother today and I'll rest a lot easier knowing we're moving. It's been a real effort to keep the focus and concentrate on keeping the boat moving best as we can.

To stave off the boredom today in the light wind, Will P, Rich W and I had a go at re-running some of the halyards. In four hours we managed to get a staysail halyard end-for-ended and have switched a spinnaker halyard for a new one. This is all stuff that would otherwise need to be done in port so it was good to get cracking on the jobs list. My own list (engineering) is, luckily, rather short (and will remain so - touch wood!) so it was good to get involved in some different work.

With all this light wind, you'd think that the spirit on the boat would be pretty low but morale is pretty high. Today's five o'clock meeting was one of the funniest we've had on this leg. We're all definitely looking forward to our arrival in Geraldton - mostly because we're all get pretty thirsty!

Willy I (Engineer)

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CLIPPER 11-12
RACE 4: CAPE TOWN TO GERALDTON, WESTERN AUSTRALIA DAY 27

* De Lage Landen claims second place
* Sprint for third place continues to heat up
* Skippers reflect on tough race across the Southern Ocean

Today saw De Lage Landen secure their second podium position of the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race, as the sprint for third place continues with New York, Visit Finland and Geraldton Western Australia all vying for the blue pennant.

Crossing the line at 1405 local time (0605 UTC), De Lage Landen went one better than their result in Race 3 and grabbed second place.

On arriving in Geraldton, Western Australia, skipper Stuart Jackson was full of praise for his crew.

"We're really pleased with our last two results: a third on the last leg and then coming in second here has just been fantastic and it's giving the crew a lot more belief about themselves as well. They're working brilliantly as a team and I'm incredibly proud of them."

Amongst the Dutch entry's crew is Anna Back from Stockholm, Sweden, who joined the yacht in Cape Town for the race across the Southern Ocean and is one of eight 'ambassadors' for De Lage Landen.

"I enjoyed it very much - it's been more than I expected but it has been great. We have had tough days and days when everything has been easy and everything in between. I'm very lucky!

"As happy as we all are to come in to land it feels strange at the same time because now it's over but I will take so much with me from this, so much that I have learned and all the people you get to know - I will have this with me for the rest of my life," explains the 28-year-old who works in sales support.

With the final five boats of the Clipper Race fleet held by light airs, the Race Committee took the hard decision to shorten the race and for Welcome to Yorkshire, Qingdao, Derry-Londonderry, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital and Singapore to finish the race at 1800 UTC yesterday.

"We eagerly await the start of the next leg where we intend to claw back some precious race points by hopefully getting ourselves back onto the podium once again," reveals Singapore skipper, Ben Bowley, upon hearing their provisional positions.

"Our Southern Ocean race is over. The bad luck that has befallen us this race has culminated in a very, very poor result. Last place is a bit of a tough pill to swallow and one I personally have never had to swallow before in all my years of yacht racing. That is not to say that the experience has not been worthwhile; on the contrary, there is huge sense of achievement in what we have done out in the most desolate of oceans," continues Ben, determined to better their result in the next race.

"Weeks of hard work, focus, physical and mental obstacles faced have given everyone the true challenge that they signed up for in the first place.

"The crew have worked incredibly hard to keep the boat moving at all stages of the race and at no point did we lose focus and drive. This result has served to make us all realise that misfortune is abundant whilst racing in the dynamic environment of the open ocean and that hopefully it will average out over the whole fleet by the end of the eight legs!"

Meanwhile on Welcome to Yorkshire, skipper Rupert Dean, is equally as optimistic regarding his team's future prospects.

"The sun is out and we're relieved to be sailing nicely to Geraldton along the rhumb line in good company with Qingdao. Life is good on Welcome to Yorkshire.

"The decision to end the race early for the back five boats has been met with mixed results from individual crew members and boats across the fleet. Some boats with hopes of overtaking others in front will feel penalised, others relieved. There never is an easy answer to this and, for sure, the Race Committee will have chewed the situation over thoroughly before making their announcement," explains the Yorkshire entry's skipper.

"Considering their decision affects not just this race, but crew members and sponsor commitments and the overall itinerary, it is important to appreciate that it was made in the best interests of the round the world race, using the information available at the time. It therefore must be respected."

The last few days has seen the Yorkshire entry gripped in a battle with Qingdao, which saw the Chinese entry grab sixth position leaving Welcome to Yorkshire in seventh.

Derry-Londonderry, have been provisionally awarded eighth place in Race 4 with skipper, Mark Light, in a reflective mood.

"Another beautiful day in the South Indian Ocean as we make our way north easterly towards Geraldton, Western Australia. We are currently making about 8.5 knots under mainsail (protected with first reef), Yankee 1 and staysail.

"We have now officially finished racing due to a course shortening for the last five boats and at 1800UTC yesterday evening we recorded our position and calculated our relative distances to the finish line," reports Mark.

"We have provisionally been given eighth position and this is a fair reflection of our race. Although the decision to end the race was initially disappointing for everybody on board, the Race Committee's decision is definitely the correct one.

"This will allow us, when necessary, to use our engine to make best speed into port so that we will have enough time to repair, refuel, re-victual our boat and recharge the crew in order to be ready to take on another Southern Ocean leg towards New Zealand," says the Northern Ireland entry's skipper.

Meanwhile, a few hundred miles ahead, the sprint for the final podium position has continued to heat up as New York, Geraldton Western Australia and Visit Finland play their final cards in a bid to gain advantage over their closest rivals.

"The last report saw us a few nautical miles behind but like any race it is who crosses the line first and you can bet it's going to be us!" confidently predicts New York skipper, Gareth Glover.

"We're making good time towards Geraldton and during the night we made a numbers of sail changes to keep us at our top speed as the wind picks up to over 20 knots true; we are in top gear and pushing hard for that podium place."

With Geraldton Western Australia and Visit Finland currently in Stealth Mode, Gareth and his crew will anxiously wait for their rivals' positions to be announced.

"Visit Finland have played a great card in their Stealth Mode which will see them up to around 100nm from Geraldton, if we had our card to play this would be the time to use it," explains Gareth, with New York having used their allotted Stealth Mode earlier in Race 4.

Stealth Mode allows a team to hide their position from the rest of the fleet for a period of 24 hours. The Race Office receives regular position updates but the fleet will not receive one, allowing the team to make any tactical changes in course in secret.

Currently in Stealth Mode until 1800 UTC today, the crew of Visit Finland will be hoping they have done enough to secure their third podium of Clipper 11-12.

"In true form the weather is giving us a last battering as we claw our way to windward towards the Abrolhos Islands which mark the last turn in our 4,800-mile route," says skipper, Olly Osborne.

"The last 24 hours have seen more head sail changes than the last week put together as we try to squeeze every ounce of power out of the right sail plan. The duel for the last podium place could still go either way. With us and the good ship New York breaking almost even on every update, it looks like this one will come right down to wire. We have played our Stealth Mode in an attempt to throw her off the scent but with her slightly more southerly position she will enjoy a better wind angle and a boat speed that will be difficult for us to match.

"The relentless pressure is beginning to take its toll on the crew and the excitement of an imminent landfall is slightly marred by the sheer amount of physical input required to maintain our position," explains Olly.

"The off watch are getting little or no sleep up forward due to the pounding of the hull and two crew members were thrown clear out of their bunks last night. However this will really be a race to remember, having pulled so much ground back to secure a top five finish, and to complete the leg without injury is more than we could have dreamed of two weeks ago."

With main sail damage which saw the Finnish entry drop to tenth in the fleet a podium position would be a fairy tale end to their Southern Ocean race but one team who will be hoping for their own epic ending will be home port boat, Geraldton Western Australia.

Skippered by Juan Coetzer, the Western Australian entry are also in Stealth Mode, with their last update seeing them 276 nautical miles from the finish line.

It looks like we are well and truly into the south easter, which I understand is to be called the "Doctor", reports Juan.

"The swell is a little messy, hampering our boat speed, but we are sailing straight for our home port, Geraldton. We are all looking forward to some fresh crayfish, red meat and beers when we get in, as rations are starting to run low. If all goes well we should be in tomorrow afternoon."

Positions at 0900 UTC, Monday 31 October

Boat DTF*
1 Gold Coast Australia Finished at 30/10/2011 07:04:36
2 De Lage Landen Finished at 31/10/2011 06:05:16
3 New York 158nm
4 Geraldton Western Australia 276nm (Stealth Mode: Position at 0100 on 31 October)
5 Visit Finland 294nm (Stealth Mode: Position at 1800 on 30 October)
6 Qingdao Finished at 30/10/2011 18:00:00
7 Welcome to Yorkshire Finished at 30/10/2011 18:00:00
8 Derry-Londonderry Finished at 30/10/2011 18:00:00
9 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital Finished at 30/10/2011 18:00:00
10 Singapore Finished at 30/10/2011 18:00:00

*DTF = Distance to Finish

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RACE 4 - DAY 24 - by Ian Geraghty (Geraldton Western Australia)
Since my last diary we have moved from the Southern to the Indian Ocean, not exactly a seismic transition, as the Roaring Forties went out with a bit of a whimper. We certainly ticked the 'brochure' box having experienced the fury of the mighty ocean on a couple of occasions. The towering seas tossing the boat around like a toy will remain an everlasting memory. But for the majority of our time in this race the expectation of trucking along with following winds sandwiched between a high to the north and a low to the south has not materialised. For the past week or so we have been dogged by a term I have come to loath, a 'blocking high'. A weather system that back in Blighty gives us long days of terrific sunshine, has been sitting in our path, and giving us little in the way of wind in our sails.

Not that we are alone, this is affecting the majority of the other boats. It will certainly make for an exciting finish as the first boats to pop out the other side of the centre of this system will get a considerable advantage. On Geraldton Western Australia we decided several days ago to adopt a strategy of sailing the most direct route, and not detour hundreds of miles to the south. We have managed to keep the boat moving quite well throughout, we have become very slick at going through the sail wardrobe, but I had not expected to be totally becalmed. Nik, my fellow watch leader, remarked that we have experienced more Doldrums like conditions in the past week, than we did near the Equator. To be on the helm with a big fat zero on the log, and the sails slating about is not fun.

As I write we are now in breeze under white sails, hard on the wind, unfortunately a little north of our direct course, but we are watching the wind clock round slowly to bring us back on a direct course to the finish.

For the last 24 hours we have been close reaching and clocking decent speeds, but we have now been 'headed', or knocked off our ideal course. To tack would mean going almost south, so for the time being we are concentrating on sailing the boat as high on the wind as we can.

Our ETA is looking a bit dreadful at the moment. We are all looking forward to getting to our home port. We have quite a busy programme lined up, and with those commitments and the preparations for the next race, downtime is looking pretty sparse - but we will certainly make the most of it!

The weather is getting gradually warmer, gone are the semi permeable outer layer, replaced by light foul weather gear, the night watches are a delight, brilliant stars, and the glow of phosphorescence in our wake.

Life on board remains upbeat, although we are now out of chocolate, Marmite, and sweets. However, there is plenty of porridge, prunes, rice pudding, tinned peaches, milk powder, and flour left, and of course not forgetting the tinned tuna mountain.

On a more unsavoury note, there are six of us who are still in our underpants competition. Three in each watch - clearly this is going down to the wire - I really wish I hadn't started this idea!

So although the wind has been a bit exasperating, life on board is good.

There is total focus on our trim and helming in order to get us to Geraldton as quickly as possible. We are not quite at the stage of hallucinating about cold beer and a steak, but it is getting close to it!

Ian Geraghty
Crew member. Geraldton Western Australia


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yey my guys are in ready for some food & rest around all the chores!
Qingdao and Welcome to Yorkshire arrive in Geraldton - 01 November 2011

Qingdao and Welcome to Yorkshire have both arrived in Geraldton, Western Australia after completing the marathon 4,800-mile race from Cape Town through the infamous Southern Ocean.

With the Race Committee’s decision to shorten the course for the last five boats, Qingdao have provisionally been awarded sixth with Welcome to Yorkshire finishing seventh, a matter of miles behind their rivals.

The final three yachts are due in the marina tomorrow:

Edinburgh Inspiring Capital expected at 0800 local time (0000 UTC)
Derry-Londonderry expected at 1200 local time (0400 UTC)
Singapore expected at 1400 local time (0600 UTC)

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My "family" are safe & sound on land 2 more to go

Qingdao and Welcome to Yorkshire arrive in Geraldton - 01 November 2011

Qingdao and Welcome to Yorkshire have arrived in Geraldton Western Australia at the end of the 4,800-mile Race 4 from Cape Town. The teams finished sixth and seventh respectively in the latest stage of the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race.

After a massive high pressure system and the associated light winds held five of the yachts captive in the Southern Ocean, the Race Committee reluctantly issued a ‘shorten course’ instruction to the teams at the back of the fleet and finished the race for Welcome to Yorkshire, Qingdao, Derry-Londonderry, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital and Singapore at 1800 UTC on Sunday 30 October.

Welcome to Yorkshire finished just four miles behind Qingdao, with whom they had been racing closely and arrived in port shortly after 0130 local time this morning (1830 UTC, 1 November).

Rupert Dean said, “The crew are ecstatic to be here after what has been a very tough, long leg. The worst part about it was being stuck in the wind hole off south west Australia. We’d made up a great deal of ground on New York who came in third place; we were only seven miles behind them but unfortunately the winds were kinder for them than us and we sat there for a very long time.

“The best bit was the Southern Ocean gales. We had two big blows and the second one I particularly enjoyed. It was pretty action packed; we had a couple of big waves that knocked the boat right over and it really showed the importance of life lines.”

Paying tribute to his crew, the Somerset-based skipper, said, “I didn’t hear a single cross word over the four weeks we were at sea – the crew have worked very well together. It has been a disappointing leg for us on the result front so we need to try to do something about it for the next leg. We’re going to have the chance to refocus, it’s a total new opportunity on this next race and hopefully we’ll be able to sail the boat a bit better.”

The result means the only English team in the competition will drop from fourth to fifth place overall in the 15-race series while the Chinese entry climbs one place to seventh.

Guy Jackson, 54, is a solicitor from Leeds who will leave the boat in Geraldton after sailing with the Welcome to Yorkshire team since the race began from Southampton, UK, on July 31. He said, “I have very mixed emotions. On balance, if you’d asked me two days ago I’d have said, ‘I can’t wait!’ but actually when you’re here it’s very sad. It will be difficult to say cheerio to everybody and it has been a fantastic experience.”

Skipper of Qingdao, Ian Conchie, said, “Sixth was nice to get after all the problems we had. We had a lovely start out of Cape Town and were doing really well until half way across and then we had a humungous kite wrap and lost probably 100 miles on the opposition. So, after that, getting back up to sixth, we are more than happy with.”

Explaining the conditions they faced, Ian continued, “The Southern Ocean was a real tale of vicious little storms coming through and other bits were very light, gentle airs. It was very cold, as we expected – bitterly cold at times – and we had the unexpected warning of icebergs which I don’t think anybody had expected and which put the nerves a little bit on edge.

“With all the problems we had, the crew just dealt with them, worked their way through them and in skill they’re miles from where they started. Everyone is over the moon to be here. The last few days just drifting around has tested our patience, to put it mildly, but everyone came through it and we managed to catch up Welcome to Yorkshire on the way so that’s an added bonus.”

On board the ten 68-foot ocean racing yachts, each sponsored by a city, state, country or corporation around the world, are people like you – crew members from all walks of life, aged between 18 and 72 who between them represent more than 40 nationalities. Each one of them has put their everyday life on hold to take part in a unique challenge of a lifetime: racing across the world’s oceans.

Cath Draper, 60, is a school support practitioner and is putting her everyday life on hold for a year to race around the world. She said of the Southern Ocean, “It was very interesting – exciting and scary. One of the scary moments was when we were on iceberg watch and I didn’t really know what I was looking for – I know what an iceberg looks like in the light but in the dark it would have been difficult to spot. It was so dark out there. It just seemed like it was black, black, black from sky to sea; you couldn’t see the horizon on some evenings, there were no stars, no moon… Blackness is one of the things I think I will remember from the Southern Ocean.”

Race 4 was won by Gold Coast Australia who scored their fourth consecutive victory of the competition and De Lage Landen also notched up their best result to date, finishing in second place. Earlier in the day, in a race to the line befitting Melbourne Cup Day in Australia, New York beat Visit Finland to third place by just 21 minutes.

The arrival of Qingdao and Welcome to Yorkshire in Geraldton marks the end of a gruelling, four-week, 4,800-mile (7,680-kilometre) race across one of the planet’s most feared and forbidding expanses of ocean during which they had to dodge icebergs and had to deal with mountainous waves whipped up by winds of up to 70 knots, as well as combat the frustrations of being becalmed for long periods.

The yachts will spend the week in Geraldton before setting sail for Tauranga in New Zealand. It is a much anticipated return visit to the West Australian port that became an instant hit with the crews when the city hosted its inaugural stopover during the last edition of the event, Clipper 09-10.

Race 5 from Geraldton to Tauranga, New Zealand, will begin on Sunday 6 November.

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[Ozee Adventure]

Lisa Blairs video diary for race 3 sailing from Rio to Cape Town
Is there never a start where someone isn't yelling?

[Ozee Adventure]

Looks like the whole fleet is doing the Movember 70's porn star look - Woody's going to wonder where all the cougars went!
1 more to go - come on Singers!

Edinburgh Inspiring Capital claims ninth place in Race 4 - 02 November 2011

Edinburgh Inspiring Capital has arrived in Geraldton Western Australia at the end of the 4,800-mile Race 4 from Cape Town. The Scottish entry finished ninth in the latest stage of the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race.

After a massive high pressure system and the associated light winds held five of the yachts captive in the Southern Ocean, the Race Committee reluctantly issued a ‘shorten course’ instruction to the teams at the back of the fleet and finished the race for Welcome to Yorkshire, Qingdao, Derry-Londonderry, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital and Singapore at 1800 UTC on Sunday 30 October.

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[Ozee Adventure]

Geraldton photos
http://www.w-w-i.com...y.php?pg=1&gp=i

[Ozee Adventure]

Crew say thanks to Geraldton - 02 November 2011

The crews of the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race were officially welcomed today by the City of Greater Geraldton with every crew member taking part in a parade to say thanks to their Western Australian hosts.

The teams gathered en mass to march along the city’s shoreline and were accompanied by a member of the Wajarri Women’s Dance Group.

Councillor Bob Hall from the City of Greater Geraldton, deputising for Mayor Ian Carpenter, greeted the crews in front of crowds of local residents.

“It’s fantastic to see to crews of the Clipper Race back, I can’t believe it was two years since the race was here last – it seems like last Christmas. Welcome back and I hope you enjoy the wider community as well as the business community and we look forward to seeing you back in two years’ time.

Clipper Race Director, Joff Bailey, then took to the stage to thank the people of Geraldton for their hospitality during the race’s second ever visit to the Western Australian city.

“It’s fantastic to be back in Geraldton again following the huge success of the Clipper 09-10 stopover which was voted as one of the favourites by the crew.

“Once again the city has opened its arms to Clipper and put on a fantastic welcome. Special thanks to Mayor Ian Carpenter, Tony Brun and the City of Geraldton for hosting us again and to Commodore Bruce Semple and the Geraldton Yacht Club for all its support and getting up at all hours to give each crew a special welcome, Aussie BBQ and cold beers.

“Unless you’ve sailed long distances like this I’m not sure you can appreciate just how fantastic it is when someone puts an ice cold beer in your hand as you arrive and gives you something decent to eat!”

The skipper of the home port boat, Geraldton Western Australia, is Juan Coetzer, who took the opportunity to personally thank everyone involved in arranging and hosting the world’s longest yacht race.

“Wow, what a welcome! We were over whelmed with the number of people lining the shore last night when we arrived. Thank you on behalf of the Geraldton Western Australia crew to those of you who came out to welcome us in… it made our arrival really special.

“And what fantastic sunsets you have here! It was a real bonus to see the sun set as we arrived in our home port,” continued Juan.

After a hard fought race across the Southern Ocean the crews are taking time to relax in Geraldton before the next race to New Zealand.

“This is our fourth stopover of the race but will undoubtedly be the most special and most remembered by all the Geraldton Western Australia crew, plus we’ve achieved our best result to date and I’m confident this is just the start of things to come!”

Race 5 from Geraldton to Tauranga, New Zealand, will begin on Sunday 6 November.

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[Ozee Adventure]

Gold Coast Australia receive fourth yellow pennant - 02 November 2011

The Geraldton Yacht Club played host to the official Leg 3 Prize Giving as Gold Coast Australia, De Lage Landen and New York collected the much sought after pennants for the race across the infamous Southern Ocean.

The 4,800-mile race from Cape Town to Geraldton, Western Australia saw Gold Coast Australia maintain their winning streak with Dutch entry De Lage Landen claiming the red pennant after finishing second while New York finished just minutes in front of rivals Visit Finland to snatch third place.

Skipper, Richard Hewson, who has guided Gold Coast Australia to their fourth win of the Clipper 11-12 Race, took the opportunity to thank a very special person who attended the Prize Giving.

“It was a very tough race and I’d like to thank the most important person here tonight and that’s my mum,” explained the Australian yachtsman.

“Without her dedication when I was a youngster sailing, taking me to so many regattas and putting up with wet dry suits and wet sails, I wouldn’t be here right now.

“I’d also like to thank the City of Greater-Geraldton Council; the reception we received on arrival was excellent. The yacht club has been amazing, it’s yacht clubs like this that make sailing in Australia so much fun and the reason we’re so good at what we do. Without yacht clubs like this there wouldn’t be a future for youngsters who want to have the opportunity to race round the world like we’re doing.”

Unable to attend each team’s arrival due to travel arrangements being affected by the Qantas strikes, Ian Carpenter, Mayor of the City of Greater-Geraldton attended the official Prize Giving.

“I’m absolutely delighted to have the Clipper Race here again, last time the people in the city really embraced it and I’m sure they will do the same again. I’d like to acknowledge all the help we’ve had from all the sponsors, there’s far too many to name.

“The Geraldton Yacht Club has done an absolutely fantastic job in pulling this event together and Geraldton should be very, very grateful to Commodore Bruce Semple and his team for all the work they have done.”

As crews relaxed with cold beers and a traditional Australian BBQ, thoughts will soon turn to the next leg of Clipper 11-12. The leg to New Zealand and then on to Gold Coast, Australia will be a milestone for the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race as the ten-strong fleet races to New Zealand and the east coast of Australia for the first time in the race’s history.

Race 5 from Geraldton to Tauranga, New Zealand, will begin on Sunday 6 November.

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[Ozee Adventure]

Warm welcome for final arrivals - 02 November 2011

With today’s arrivals of Derry-Londonderry, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital and Singapore, the Clipper 11-12 Race fleet is now complete in Geraldton, Western Australia.

Last Sunday the Race Committee were forced to issue a ‘shorten course’ instruction to the yachts placed from sixth to tenth position due to a massive high pressure system hindering their progress to Geraldton. The committee reluctantly issued the instruction and at 1800 UTC, Qingdao, Welcome to Yorkshire, Derry-Londonderry, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital and Singapore finished the race.

Arriving in port shortly after 1315 local time this afternoon (0515 UTC) was Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, who claimed ninth place in the race from Cape Town.

“It was totally awesome, scary, frightening, the most horrendous conditions you could ever imagine. Absolutely fantastic, though,” explains skipper of the Scottish entry, Gordon Reid.

“Sometimes when it was totally serene when we were down below 40 degrees south it was perfectly calm, a mist on the sea and icy cold and then at other times it was like nothing else on Earth: 40 to 60-foot waves, winds blowing at 60 miles an hour. It was totally ferocious – you felt like a matchstick being thrown around all the time but what a ride,” continues Gordon, who went on to praise his crew’s attitude.

“We went through two particularly bad storms and a few of them were terrified the first time but came to enjoy it as we were in the storm for so long, probably about 24 hours, and in the end they absolutely loved it and couldn’t wait for the next one.

“It’s really good to be arriving in Geraldton at last. We had a fairly poor start but we made up lots of ground and we’ve had a cracking run so I think we can be proud of what we’ve done on this race.”

Arriving in port after Edinburgh Inspiring Capital but finishing Race 4 one place ahead in eighth was Derry-Londonderry, skippered by, Mark Light.

“The Southern Ocean was very big, cold, wet and everything we thought it would be really, but it was such a challenge. It was incredible to cross it for the first time. We’re standing here after such a long time at sea and after so many challenges it’s pretty special.

“The crew did fantastically well; some of the conditions on deck were pretty harsh at times, very cold, very wet and some pretty severe sail changes. We did very well, stuck at it as well, I’m proud of them,” explained Mark, after the 4,800-mile race.

The final entry to arrive was Singapore, led by Ben Bowley, who is optimistic his team won’t see a repeat performance for the remainder of the race.

“One of the things we’ve had to remind ourselves of is what we’ve actually gone out there and done. We’ve crossed the Southern Ocean and that is a great privilege and not a lot of people get to do that. I think the challenges involved along the way at every step, every little thing that went wrong, we generally overcame; the final thing was the lack of kites. I think as a crew we dealt with it incredibly well and didn’t give up hope until the very last minute. It wasn’t until the result came through that we knew we were tenth.

“It was a very frustrating race. I think if we were to zone it down to one specific area that really cost us it was not having enough sticky Dacron to finish repairing our spinnakers which put us at quite a disadvantage once the wind came aft in the final week.

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[DtM]

What is the points situation after this leg?

[Ozee Adventure]

What is the points situation after this leg?

I can't cut & paste over without making a mess
Standings are here
http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/index.php/follow/race-viewer/

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[Ozee Adventure]

The gift of life - 03 November 2011

There was a very moving meeting of four men in the marina in Geraldton this afternoon. Three of the Edinburgh Inspiring Capital crew who are members of the relay team of transplant patients, surgeons and specialist nursing staff met with a Geraldton resident who is playing his part in spreading the organ donation message within his own community.

Bruce McDowell’s daughter was killed in a motorbike accident three years ago has been doing his part to ensure the people and visitors to the City of Greater Geraldton know how important organ donation is and the difference it can make to a desperately ill person’s life.

Nick Barclay is a kidney transplant recipient who is now racing around the world on a 68-foot yacht, something he couldn’t even have contemplated a few years ago. John Buckels has just retired as a surgeon specialising in liver transplants and David Talbot is part of the transplant surgery team in Newcastle. They have both completed the race across the Southern Ocean and will hand the transplant ambassadors’ relay baton to consultant surgeon, Alex Heaton, a kidney specialist.

Clipper Race: John, how important is it for you to make contact with transplant organisations around the world?

John: It’s very important, but it’s particularly important to meet people like Bruce who’s got an important story to tell. If we didn’t have organ donors we couldn’t have transplantation and you can’t get away from the fact that transplantation is the greatest gift of all – it’s the gift of life.

Clipper Race: Bruce, tell us your story.

Bruce: I’m a member of a donor family. My daughter passed away roughly three years ago and she became a donor so consequently that’s made myself and my wife members of a donor family, which we cherish. We think it’s a very important thing to do and we’re really very honoured to be in that role.

Clipper Race: You’d had a chance to talk to your daughter before she passed away about her wishes for what might happen to her organs if she were to die...

Bruce: That’s right. That’s the important thing here is having that discussion and two weeks prior to our daughter’s accident she did discuss it with her Mum and Dad and so at that point, when we were asked, that made our choice – and it’s not an easy choice – but it made our choice easier. So we had no problem in saying yes and now, down the track, we’re really grateful that we did.

John: Bruce, tell them what you’ve been doing recently.

Bruce: As a result of that my wife and I, along with family and friends, have been very much involved in getting the message out there. We’re trying to get that message of discussion out there in the community and so we’ve raised funds to build a donor awareness fountain here in Geraldton. We’ve been successful in getting all the money so I’ve been able to make contact with the builder and we’re going to be getting under way.

The whole idea of this is for it to be very public. It’ll be in a public area and the idea is that people going by will see that the community values these people [organ donors]. Hopefully that will rub off and they will ideally turn to the person that they’re with and even have the discussion at that point. It’s one of those things – once you’ve had that discussion once you don’t forget it, so we’re hoping that will be the long term effect of it.

Clipper Race: Living proof that organ donation is really important is standing next to you – Nick is the recipient of a donor kidney.

Nick: I had my kidney transplant just coming up to six years ago. I’ve just divided my life into when I was sick and when I’m healthy and I haven’t really looked back since I had my transplant. It just gave me a whole new lease on life and I’ve just been living life to the full and having a ball doing it.

Clipper Race: What does it mean to you to meet people like Bruce?

Nick: It’s just fantastic. I got my kidney from a living donor but I appreciate the life-changing experience it is getting a new kidney or a new organ. To meet someone like Bruce, it’s just fantastic, I feel indebted to them because it’s people like him that make my life possible and other people like me.

Clipper Race: Hearing that, is it some kind of consolation for you Bruce?

Bruce: Good onya mate. Yeah, it is.

David: Over the years I’ve been involved with a lot of organ donors and the stories are always very tragic but the positive thing is that something comes out of it and it doesn’t just end at the crematorium. I think it’s a very important message to get out there.

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[Ozee Adventure]

Crews pay their respects to HMAS Sydney - 04 November 2011

The sinking of the HMAS Sydney II was the Australian Navy’s biggest single loss of life during World War II. On the afternoon of 19 November 1941 645 men lost their lives on board after a fierce battle with the German ship, Kormoran, 128 miles north-west of Geraldton.

Crew members from all ten entries in the Clipper Race have taken the opportunity to pay their respects to all those on board who lost their lives.

“Being sailors we’ve got a special bond with the people who have come before us and crossed the seas whether during war times or peace times and have met their end in the sea,” explains Singapore crew member, Roberto Labrador.

“I can certainly feel a connection, hopefully that will never happen to me and I feel for the men, the souls and the families of those people who take the risk of going out there whether it’s serving your country or make a living out dealing with some pretty rough conditions.”

The wreck site of the HMAS Sydney II was discovered in 2008 and a memorial to those who died, among them men from Geraldton serving on board, now stands in the city.

“We’ve come up to pay our respects to the men and women who have lived and lost their lives on the sea it’s a great memorial and a great tribute to HMAS Sydney II and we all felt it would be appropriate to come here,” says Paul Rayner, an Edinburgh Inspiring Capital crew member.



A representative from each of the crews laid a wreath in red, white and blue flowers, the colours of the Clipper Race logo, on behalf of the teams in Clipper 11-12, as well as one in the shape of Australia on behalf of the community of Greater Geraldton, in the colours of the city.

The next leg of the Clipper 11-12 Race starts on Sunday at 1330 local time (0530 UTC), and will see the fleet race to Tauranga, New Zealand.

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[Ozee Adventure]

Romance wins over race rivalry
Tom Davis, Geraldton Newspapers November 4, 2011, 9:44 am

Sworn enemies at sea, Nik Brbora and Annelise Nelson are the most loving of couples at port.

When it comes to race time, the Clipper 11-12 crew members are opposite numbers on Geraldton Western Australia and Gold Coast Australia.

Based in London, the couple nominated to take on the 64,000 kilometre race for what Mr Brbora described “as a challenge”.

They were united for the first time in nearly a month when Mr Brbora stepped ashore from Geraldton Western Australia on Tuesday night.

Though bitter his partner took line honours on Sunday, Mr Brbora said being welcomed with a hug at each port was the greatest prize a man could receive.

“It’s so nice to have someone to welcome you at each port, it’s very special,” he said.

They will bid each other farewell again on Sunday when the fleet departs for a three-week journey to New Zealand.

Mr Brbora, a software engineer of Serbian heritage, said the relationship pattern was “difficult emotionally”.

But he was a great advocate of the saying absence makes the heart grow fonder.

“I think it’s making our relationship stronger because everyone on board shares what we’re going through and they always ask how we’re doing,” he said.

The crews have access to limited email when at sea and satellite phones are only used for emergencies.

Miss Nelson, a Brazilian national, has been aboard all four of Gold Coast’s triumphs since the race left Britain in July.

The management consultant said there was a love/hate side to their relationship.

“There’s definitely an inter-Australia rivalry going on between the two boats — it’s interesting,” she said.

Geraldton secured a fifth-place finish at its home port — the yacht’s best place so far.

Mr Brbora was convinced his crew could turn the tables on his girl and their national rivals.

“So far we’ve been unsuccessful, but it’s going to come,” he said.

TOM DAVIS

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[Ozee Adventure]

[Ozee Adventure]

OK chaps... time to ask for some help...

Helming for speed - so I can take my turn & be useful

I understand you just keep 3 things in your head & make them work
COG / speed / apparent wind

Is this correct?

Anyone care to elaborate?

[Ozee Adventure]

Home and Away - 05 November 2011

With all the crew of the Clipper 11-12 Race taking time to relax in Geraldton ahead of tomorrow’s start of Race 5, some have taken advantage of the extraordinary hospitality shown by the local residents of the Western Australian city.

More than 20 local families opened their doors to crew members after their marathon 4,800-mile race across the Southern Ocean from Cape Town.

Round the world crew members, Martin Woodcock and Tom Way were able to relax thanks to Jill Horwood and her family, with their down time spent on activities such as driving a combine harvester while visiting the Horwoods’ farm!

Jess Mason and Vivienne Li, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital and Qingdao crew members respectively, took the chance to be temporarily adopted by a Clipper 05-06 crew member and his family while they continue to unwind after an epic race through the Roaring Forties.

Colin Dymond, who raced on board westernaustralia.com, provided everything and more that a crew member desires after a long ocean race, including hot showers, a bed that doesn’t move and a promise they won’t be called on watch every four hours!

The next leg of the Clipper 11-12 Race starts on Sunday at 1330 local time (0530 UTC), and will see the fleet race to Tauranga, New Zealand.

You can take part in the Virtual Clipper Race, which is divided into 15 races and follows the same route as the real thing and the only difference is one massive advantage – you can stay warm and dry!

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[Ozee Adventure]

Gold Coast Australia penalised four points for spinnaker write-off - 05 November 2011

The Race Committee has penalised Gold Coast Australia four points for writing off their heavyweight spinnaker during the race from Cape Town to Geraldton, Western Australia.

The rules of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race include provision for the Race Committee to dock points from the teams for sail and equipment damage once a certain monetary level has been reached. This is designed to encourage the crews to sail their yachts conservatively and to promote greater levels of seamanship.

Race Director, Joff Bailey, commented, “The race is a marathon and not a sprint and the crews and skippers must play the long game and protect their sails. They are the powerhouse of the boats so the teams must make sure they last the course.”

Ocean racing is an extreme sport and inevitably the yachts suffer equipment and sail damage at sea because of the massive loads they are under in heavy sea states and strong wind conditions. The penalties only apply to damage deemed to have been avoidable and caused by the teams themselves.

Each Clipper Race yacht has the same equipment on board and an identical wardrobe of eleven sails which they must endeavour to conserve for the duration of the 12-month race. If a sail needs to be replaced the team taking delivery of the new sail is considered to have a competitive advantage over the others in the fleet as the new sail will not have stretched or worn in any way.

During Race 4 Gold Coast Australia suffered a spinnaker wrap – where the tennis court-sized sail twists itself around the inner forestay (one of the cables holding the mast in place) and began to tighten around the person trying to unwind it so the team had to cut away the fabric to free it. It is not unheard of for a team to spend 36 hours or more untangling a spinnaker in order to avoid damage or lose their kite altogether.

Gold Coast Australia’s new heavyweight spinnaker has been delivered in record time by the Official Sail Supplier to the Clipper Race, Hyde Sails, from the company’s loft in the Philippines and will be loaded on to the yacht today.

The Race Committee is studying damage reports from all ten yachts and is likely to issue further penalties during the coming week.

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[Ozee Adventure]

Race to New Zealand starts today - 06 November 2011

Today sees the Clipper Race fleet start the next leg of the 40,000 miles adventure with the race from Geraldton to Tauranga, New Zealand.

This is a new leg for the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and will see the fleet sail round the south coast of Australia to New Zealand.

“After a 400 nautical mile upwind leg down the coast of Australia, the teams can start to ease the sheets and head east across the Great Australian Bight,” explains Race Director, Joff Bailey.

“Going south of the rhumb line to get stronger westerly winds may be the fastest option but will add extra miles.

“The next stage of the race is a dash across the Tasman Sea to the far corner of New Zealand before the final few miles down the east coast to Tauranga.”

Race 5 starts at 1330 local time (0530 UTC).

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[Ozee Adventure]

Race 5 gets underway - 06 November 2011

After one of the friendliest welcomes for the crews of Clipper 11-12 so far, the teams taking part in the world’s longest ocean race have set sail from Geraldton, Western Australia, bound for Tauranga, New Zealand.

Race 5 got underway at 1341 local time (0541 UTC) in a light south westerly breeze, ahead of them 3,800 miles of racing, down the west coast of Australia, around Cape Leeuwin, the most south westerly point of Australia, through the Southern Ocean and on to New Zealand’s North Island.

Welcome to Yorkshire, New York, Derry-Londonderry, De Lage Landen, Geraldton Western Australia, Visit Finland, Gold Coast Australia, Qingdao, Singapore and Edinburgh Inspiring Capital was the order over the start line

Before the start of the race the teams wowed the thousands of spectators on shore who were treated to a parade of sail with all ten teams passing Geraldton’s Foreshore in formation.

More to follow...

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[Ozee Adventure]

My team are off!

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[Ozee Adventure]

Wow never seen purfect before!

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[couchsurfer]

Wow never seen purfect before!

..as long as they figure out which end goes UP!!

[Ozee Adventure]

CLIPPER 11-12
RACE 5: GERALDTON TO TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND DAY 1

* Fleet bids farewell after 'best stopover so far'
* Gold Coast Australia leads the way
* Low pressure system building

After what is widely acknowledged by the crews as the friendliest welcome of Clipper 11-12, the ten teams taking part in the world's longest ocean race have set sail from Geraldton, Western Australia, bound for Tauranga, New Zealand in Race 5 of the 15-race, 40,000-mile circumnavigation.

The hooter sounded at 1330 local time (0530 UTC) and, with a flotilla of local spectator boats in attendance, the teams raced away from the start line, around the turning mark and back towards the second mark just 50 metres off the beach in a brisk westerly breeze.

In one of the closest starts in Clipper 11-12 to date, Welcome to Yorkshire was the first across, coming up on the inside of the other yachts who had timed their run to the start line impeccably. They were followed by New York, Derry-Londonderry, representing the UK City of Culture 2013, and the Dutch team, De Lage Landen. The home port favourite, Geraldton Western Australia, was fifth across the start line followed by Visit Finland, Gold Coast Australia and Qingdao. Singapore and Edinburgh Inspiring Capital completed the order.

A one-and-a-half mile beat out to sea to the first course mark and a nose-to-tail drag race back towards the beach saw New York streak into the lead, closely followed by overall leaders Gold Coast Australia, with Visit Finland moving up to third place, while Singapore climbed from ninth to fifth.

Ahead of the teams lies a 3,800-mile race down the coast of Western Australia, rounding the second Great Cape in Clipper 11-12, Cape Leeuwin, the most south westerly point of Australia. It is the first time it has been included in the course in the 15-year history of the event. They will head south again into the desolate isolation of the Southern Ocean and then race east towards New Zealand and the finish line at Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, where they are due to arrive between 25 and 29 November.

Before the start of the race the teams wowed the thousands of spectators on shore who were treated to a parade of sail with all ten yachts steaming in formation past Geraldton's packed Foreshore.

As the boats departed Batavia Coast Marina, where well-wishers turned out in force to wave the fleet farewell, Juan Coetzer, Geraldton Western Australia's skipper said, "The reception here has been really welcoming, people have been really friendly. You go up to people in the street and ask for directions and people walk you to your destination! The yacht club has been amazing. The vibe here is really, really great; I'm so proud to be representing Geraldton and hope to make them proud.

"Our finish here has improved the morale on the boat, the crew now know we can be up in the top of the leader board, we've been in third place a few times during the last race, so they know it can be done. We've got to remain focused and, hopefully, keep climbing."

On board the ten 68-foot ocean racing yachts each sponsored by a city, state, country or corporation around the world, are people like you - crew members from all walks of life, aged between 18 and 72, who between them represent more than 40 nationalities. Almost half of them had no sailing experience before beginning their gruelling pre-race training.

New Zealander Fred Tooley, who also holds the distinction of being Clipper 11-12's oldest crew member at 72 years old, said, "I've been waiting quite a long time for this! I woke up the other morning, quite early, and when asked why, I couldn't put it into words. But the best way to describe it is: I've been here a few days working on the boat, I've read the preface and now I'm starting Chapter One."

Auckland resident, Fred, has joined overall race leaders Gold Coast Australia for the race from Western Australia to his homeland and on to the Gold Coast.

He said, "When I first came here they did give me a bit of stick about the Rugby World Cup! There is no place like home and it will be very nice to sail into my home country."

During the stopover in Geraldton the crews have been welcomed into the homes of some of the residents of the 33,000-strong community, while others have taken advantage of the fantastic kite surfing conditions and beautiful beaches to relax and unwind before the next stage of the race.
They have also paid their respects at the HMAS Sydney II Memorial, commemorating the Australian Navy's biggest loss of life during World War II.

Yesterday the Race Committee applied a four-point penalty to Gold Coast Australia after they wrote off their heavyweight spinnaker during the last stage of the race.

Skipper, Richard Hewson, said, "It's sad to lose the points for the sail but it's fair for the other boats. The fact we had to cut our sail away in the emergency situation couldn't really be helped, but the way the Race Committee has viewed it is very understandable and I think it's all very fair so we'll just have to win a few more Scoring Gates to get the points back!"

Joining De Lage Landen for this leg and aiming for victory is Paul McNeil, a Gold Coast resident and one of a group of De Lage Landen 'ambassadors' racing round the world.

"All of my three children were born in Southport and I've got half the Gold Coast cheering for me and the other half for the Gold Coast Australia team!

"I'm very honoured and excited to be representing the company, very honoured to be sailing with the people we've got - we've got a very good team. We're coming up the field now and it's all about survival in the team but it's a bonus to get on the podium and come third, second and hopefully first coming into the Gold Coast."

Keen to put Race 4 behind them with a positive performance in the race to Tauranga are the crew of Singapore, led by Ben Bowley.

"We had quite a lot of problems with kites on the last race and the guys have been doing a fantastic job on them over the last few days,"
explained Ben.

"Getting in last gave us the least time to prepare the boat and a huge priority for us was to make sure the spinnakers were tip top. We've had a team of three people going at it now for pretty much three days solid and they've done a sterling job and all three are ready to hoist!"

On board Qingdao, round the world crew member, David Hall, is looking forward to some more extreme sailing.

"The Southern Ocean is something completely different. It's like being out in the Gobi Desert, it's very desolate. You look at the waves, when you're high up on them you don't realise how big they are, but when all the waves come over they are the size of houses.

"It's a place to go back to but perhaps not to rush back to, which we are doing!" said the 37-year-old Hong Kong-based teacher.

"We're just hanging in there at the moment with De Lage Landen and New York hot on our heels," revealed Olly Osborne, skipper of Visit Finland.

"We're hoping to hold on to our second place overall during this race.
It's been a busy stopover and it's been pretty much full on but we've repaired all our bits and bobs and we're feeling fighting fit again."

Also pleased with his team's efforts with the maintenance work on the boat is Mark Light, skipper of Derry-Londonderry.

"We've had a really good stopover. We've done an incredible amount of work on the way in, cleaning the boat, and the stopover has just gone smoothly for us. We had a lot of stuff to fix so we've got through it, which is good. We seem to have a good leg and then a bad one so we're due a good leg on this next one!

"I think we're looking well set up actually."

Keith Pickering, from Hull, couldn't hide his excitement just before Welcome to Yorkshire slipped her lines for the Race 5 start.

"I'm really looking forward to getting back in the Southern Ocean, hopefully with a bit more wind than we had coming in.

"It's been fantastic, it really has. It's an experience I wouldn't regret, the decision to sign up was the correct one," continued Keith.

"Geraldton has been great. The hospitality has been fantastic, I even got an extra night at my home stay with Glenda and Murray Blyth, they both work at the visitor's centre and Murray took us all round Geraldton so that was fantastic, I really enjoyed it."

During Race 5 the fleet will pass Cape Leeuwin, the most south-westerly point of Australia but look set to meet tough conditions on their way there.

"It looks like it's going to be a beat down the coast and then there's a very large low pressure coming in," explained New York, skipper Gareth Glover.

"That will bring in excess of 50 knot breezes, so over the next 36 hours the boats are going to take a bit of a pounding!"

Waving farewell to crowds of local residents and friends and family, each team prepared themselves to re-enter one of the toughest sailing environments on the planet.

"I can't wait," revealed Gordon Reid, skipper of Edinburgh Inspiring Capital.

"I love coming ashore but I also loved being at sea so can't wait to get out there and back to the Southern Ocean, we've got some interesting weather patterns forming so I'm looking forward to it, it should be awesome."

The Clipper Race was established 15 years ago by sailing legend Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail around the globe solo and non-stop in 1968-9. Clipper 11-12 is the eighth edition of the biennial race which is contested by a fleet of ten identical stripped down 68-foot ocean racing yachts, each of which is sponsored by a global destination or organisation.

Sir Robin's aim is not only to open up ocean racing to anyone but also to create a global platform for sponsors to profile their destinations and promote business, tourism and culture, acknowledging the traditional trade routes serviced over a century ago by the original clipper ships from which the race takes its name.

Speaking on behalf of the Deputy Premier for Western Australia and the Minister for Regional Development, Ian Blainey, MLA, said, "The State Government is proud to sponsor a yacht of our own with the City of Greater Geraldton. The Government announced a fund of $40 million over four years through Royalties for Regions for regional events across Western Australia. The Clipper Race was one of the first sponsorships under this programme and, of course, it gives us a high profile international platform. It is a wonderful, clever concept and a fantastic challenge."

Positions at 1200 UTC, Sunday 6 November

Boat DTF* DTL**
1 Gold Coast Australia 3696nm
2 Visit Finland 3696nm 0nm
3 New York 3697nm 1nm
4 Derry-Londonderry 3697nm 1nm
5 Qingdao 3698nm 2nm
6 Singapore 3698nm 2nm
7 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 3698nm 2nm
8 De Lage Landen 3698nm 2nm
9 Geraldton Western Australia 3698nm 2nm
10 Welcome to Yorkshire 3698nm 2nm

*DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader

Attached Files

•  croppedimage723371-Race5startGeraldton72337.jpg   50.52K   0 downloads

[Ozee Adventure]

Bugger - day 2 & GC is 16nm ahead of everyone else already


CLIPPER 11-12

RACE 5: WESTERN AUSTRALIA TO TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND

DAY 2

* Gold Coast Australia pulls ahead as fleet makes good progress

* Race on to get round Cape Leeuwin as low approaches

* Building seas lead to sea sickness as crews settle into life at sea

Gold Coast Australia has pulled ahead at the front of the pack buoyed by their latest win as the fleet makes good progress down the Western Australian coast.

Skipper Richard Hewson, who lived and sailed in the area for a number of years, will be using his local knowledge to take advantage of the conditions at the start of Race 5 to Tauranga. It will be the first time the Clipper Race has visited New Zealand and the race is now underway to be the first team to get there.

"Gold Coast Australia is off to another magnificent start in Race 5,"
Richard reports. "It was a very exciting start as we jostled with New York for the pin end of the line," he said.

Despite New York tacking ahead of Gold Coast Australia to be first to the top mark, by the third mark the Australian team had managed to win back their familiar territory at the front of the fleet.

"At the moment we are charging down the coast with winds on our beam and since escaping the lee of the reefs that run up the west coast of Australia north of Rottnest Island, we have seen a substantial increase in sea state and swell making for some very exciting sailing and big waves," Richard said.

"Just as I was writing this blog the yacht smashed through a massive wave and I poked my head up the companionway to see the cockpit full of water," he added.

Richard said he will be sailing outside the 200-metre contour around Cape Leeuwin due to the increase in sea and swell conditions. Originally from Tasmania, this phase of Clipper 11-12 takes Richard through his home sailing grounds. "Once around Leeuwin with the swell and wind behind us we can expect some exciting running and surfing conditions all the way to Tasmania," Richard said.

As the teams battle for position as they make their way down the west coast of Australia towards Cape Leeuwin, De Lage Landen has taken up the position behind Gold Coast Australia that they occupied for much of the last race.

With 11 miles separating Stuart Jackson and his team from Gold Coast Australia, the race is on to reach Cape Leeuwin, the most south westerly point of Australia, before heading south again into the often ferocious Southern Ocean. Then they will race east towards New Zealand and the finish line at Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, where they are due to arrive between 25 and 29 November.

After a "beautiful" start yesterday, Stuart reports that his team has been experiencing "wonderful sailing conditions" although a number of his crew have succumbed to seasickness as they readjust to life at sea after a memorable stopover in Geraldton.

"Overnight we have gained some places on the leader board, and now we are extending our lead over our rivals in our sprint towards Cape Leeuwin," he said.

With the fleet still compressed after just over one day of racing, just
18 miles currently separates the ten teams. Behind De Lage Landen, Olly Osborne and his team on Visit Finland will be particularly keen to get ahead of Gold Coast Australia. Currently lying in second place overall, Visit Finland will need to finish ahead of Richard Hewson's team in order to eat into their commanding lead.

Ahead of the race start from Geraldton, the Race Committee applied a four-point penalty to Gold Coast Australia after they wrote off their heavyweight spinnaker during the last stage of the race. This deduction leaves Gold Coast Australia with 41 points overall compared to Visit Finland's 32.

After an impeccably timed start to Race 5, Welcome to Yorkshire has been experiencing increased swell and a drop in atmospheric pressure suggesting that the lows forecast to pass to the south are not far away.

Skipper Rupert Dean said the stopover in Geraldton was "short but oh so sweet". His team had little time to explore as they had to undertake a multitude of repairs after the punishing Southern Ocean leg from Cape Town.

"On behalf of the Welcome to Yorkshire team, I would like to publically thank the city for looking after us so well, particularly the mayor, local council, the yacht club, businesses, local contractors and families who kindly gave several of my crew beds during our stay,"
Rupert said.

"The support we were given was amazing and considering Geraldton is not a large city in population terms, it certainly punches above its weight!" Rupert said.

After a start in what he describes as "perfect sailing conditions" in front of the foreshore packed with supporters, the team experienced a busy night reefing as a series of local squalls passed through.

"After weeks of not seeing other boats in the previous leg, it's great for team focus to be racing alongside our competitors again," he said.

For the moment, the Welcome to Yorkshire team has plenty of their rivals in close quarters to keep them focused as they are sharing fourth place with three other teams.

One of them in Qingdao and Ian Conchie and his team are also enjoying being up close and personal with the competition after weeks of isolation in the last marathon race.

"This morning found us sailing with most of the fleet all around us which has made for good motivation and banter over the VHF radio," Ian said.

"As the wind has built we have been constantly changing sails to try to balance the boat whilst maintaining good boat speed," he added.

Ian said he was sailing conservatively to preserve his sails with a quote in mind from Paul Cayard, the former skipper of the Volvo 70, Pirates of the Caribbean: "You can't win a round the world race on the first night but you can lose it."

Ian added that some of his crew are suffering from the "old mariners'
nemesis" of seasickness, but said he was confident everyone would have rediscovered their sea legs in a few days.

Juan Coetzer and his team are also getting back into the groove after a memorable stay in their homeport of Geraldton.

"The whole crew of Geraldton Western Australia wants to express their thanks to the people of Geraldton and the members of the Yacht Club for their support and help and to the members of the Yacht Club," Juan said.
He added that his team is enjoying the tight racing and that the mother watch has been busy preparing food and drinks for the crew as they put in and shake out reefs to deal with the variable coastal conditions.

On New York, Gareth Glover and his team are also wishing that they had been able to stay for longer in the friendly Western Australian city.
"The crew of New York would like to say a big thank you to Geraldton for a great stopover. We just wish we could have had longer there," Gareth said.

After tacking in front of Gold Coast Australia on the start line, and holding the lead to the second mark, New York slipped back after they temporarily headed upwind towards the wrong mark due after pressing the wrong button on the GPS allowing Visit Finland and Gold Coast Australia to pull ahead.

"The wind has picked up to around 25 knots and we are all reaching towards the next mark off Cape Leeuwin and then the Scoring Gate,"
Gareth said.

Derry-Londonderry also got off to a good start yesterday, and skipper Mark Light reports that his team is making good speed towards the Cape logging between 10 and 12 knots.

"We're looking to get round the corner so that we can bear away before a deep low pressure system arrives bringing some pretty strong winds and big following seas," Mark said.

"A massive thank you goes out from the Derry-Londonderry crew to all the good people of Geraldton for making it such a good stopover. A special mention must go to the Clipper maintenance team for once again pulling out all the stops to get the fleet back out on the water. The guys worked amazingly hard and the list of beers owed by us gets longer," he said.

On Singapore, skipper Ben Bowley said that conditions have been on the change since yesterday's inshore racing in "perfect" conditions.

"We have seen the wind and sea state start to build ahead of this approaching cold front that is likely to make for an exciting rounding of the Cape," he said.

Like his counterparts, Ben is pleased to have many of the boats within sight to keep him and his crew focused.

"I am personally delighted to be back at sea again and to be away from the hectic frenzy of a race stopover. We intend to get to our next one a bit earlier so that we have more time for maintenance!" he said.

Edinburgh Inspiring Capital received a rousing send off yesterday as the Batavia Coast Pipe Band played their bagpipes for their departure.

"The emotive and stirring sound of the pipes was enough to pull at the heart strings of anyone listening," skipper, Gordon Reid, said.

"Everyone worked hard to make sure that Edinburgh Inspiring Capital was ready for the race to Tauranga, so another big thank you to the crew, the maintenance team and our supporters for all of their solid efforts,"
he added.

Gordon said his team is gearing up for what is set to be a "pretty lively" 24 hours as they sail into strong winds and building seas.

"We are currently sailing with one reef in the main, the Yankee 2 and the staysail, but it won't be long until we need to reduce sail even further," he said.

ENDS//

Positions at 0900 UTC, Monday 07 November

Boat DTF*

1 Gold Coast Australia 3481nm

2 De Lage Landen 3492nm (+11nm DTL*)

3 Visit Finland 3494nm (+13nm)

4 Qingdao 3495nm (+15nm)

5 Singapore 3496nm (+15nm)

6 Derry-Londonderry 3496nm (+15nm)

7 Welcome to Yorkshire 3496nm (+15nm)

8 Geraldton Western Australia 3498nm (+17nm)

9 New York 3499nm (+18nm)

10 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 3499nm (+18nm)

*DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.

Become a fan of the Clipper Race on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/clipperroundtheworld

Follow us on Twitter
twitter.com/clipperrace

Attached Files

•  croppedimage723371-day-2-for-web.jpg   27.05K   7 downloads

[Ozee Adventure]

Gossip is we are waiting til the first boat is past Tassie & then making a decision about Tauranga

[thetruth]

Have you noticed that of the 10 posts on this page 9 were yours? Start your own page. This is not ocean racing.................

Gossip is we are waiting til the first boat is past Tassie & then making a decision about Tauranga

[Potter]

Have you noticed that of the 10 posts on this page 9 were yours? Start your own page. This is not ocean racing.................

Gossip is we are waiting til the first boat is past Tassie & then making a decision about Tauranga

Yes it is, it is just Amateur Ocean Racing. Not only that but they are doing just as many miles in the SOuthern Ocean as the VOR.

[Tokoloshe]

Have you noticed that of the 10 posts on this page 9 were yours? Start your own page. This is not ocean racing.................

Gossip is we are waiting til the first boat is past Tassie & then making a decision about Tauranga

Yes it is, it is just Amateur Ocean Racing. Not only that but they are doing just as many miles in the SOuthern Ocean as the VOR.

Well said Potter. The level of competition makes it well worth watching (and doing), and good luck with your leg Ozee, you've certainly chosen the interesting one.

[Ozee Adventure]

The ocean is for everyone & if 2 people agree its a race - there are ~200 people out there having the time of their lives thanks to this program.

Use your ignore button if its bothering you.

[Leka]

Have you noticed that of the 10 posts on this page 9 were yours? Start your own page. This is not ocean racing.................

Gossip is we are waiting til the first boat is past Tassie & then making a decision about Tauranga

Really easy not to read this thread if you don't like it.

Your ' assholeness' is showing.

[Ozee Adventure]

CLIPPER 11-12

RACE 5: WESTERN AUSTRALIA TO TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND

DAY 3

* Low pressure system bares its teeth giving new crew a baptism of fire

* Derry-Londonderry charges up the fleet into third

* Adrenalin-fuelled drag race underway to Scoring Gate

Derry-Londonderry has romped up the leader board into third place after a challenging night of sailing in high winds and mountainous waves.
Along with the rest of the ten-strong fleet, the team representing the UK City of Culture 2013 experienced the full force of a powerful low pressure system off Cape Leeuwin.

Skipper Mark Light said his crew had worked "tremendously hard" over the first two days of this 3,800-mile race from Geraldton in Western Australia to Tauranga in New Zealand.

"They have carried out many sail evolutions in some very demanding conditions," he said.

Mark also commended his crew's helming in the testing conditions. "We've had huge waves sweeping towards us every few seconds and the deck has been partially submerged on several occasions with the whole boat bucking wildly down below," he said.

Mark said that as he sailed close to Qingdao last night he commented to his crew how she was smashing around and being picked up and thrown down "like an unwanted toy".

"Then I thought 'that's exactly how we might look to the other Clippers'!" he said.

Mark said that it was great to be in such a favourable position at the start of the race, adding that his team is determined to keep the focus "not just for the first couple of days but for the duration of the race".

Just two miles ahead of Derry-Londonderry, Visit Finland will be well within Mark's sights.

Skipper Olly Osborne said his crew had experienced "a baptism of fire"
as the conditions have become increasingly more challenging.

"The security of being ashore in Geraldton was quickly dispelled as we found ourselves shortening sail in the teeth of a gale last night," Olly said.

Despite the challenges, Olly admits that it has been a welcome start to the race as his team is making "terrific mileage" with thoughts already turning to the Scoring Gate, currently around 500 miles away.

"Making the right choices now is so important, and the fine balance between a safe sail plan and pushing for a competitive speed is not always an easy one to meet as the wind varies so much with the passing rain squalls," he said.

Olly reports that his team recorded a boat speed of 25 knots as they surfed down the face of a wave overnight. "The cockpit had no sooner drained than it is filled right up again by the swell catching us on the beam and rolling down the deck," he added.

All the teams know that they will face bitterly cold conditions as they dive further south. "We had a brief hail storm this morning which pinged off the metalwork on deck reminding us of the cold conditions that await us further south," Olly said.

"Whether we can hang on to our second position for the next few days until the Scoring Gate is the big question now, but with Derry Londonderry hot on our heels and the rest of the pack not far behind it looks like we've got our work cut out!" he added.

"Sailing doesn't get more exciting than this and we're loving it!"
reports Gold Coast Australia's skipper, Richard Hewson, this morning.

"As I write Gold Coast Australia has the wind aft of the beam and is surfing down waves the size of houses at speeds of up to 20 knots. The sea looks wild but we have blue skies and crew onboard are having a blast," he said.

Richard said his team has enjoyed a fantastic 24-hour run as they rounded Cape Leeuwin and changed course for the Scoring Gate en route to Tasmania.

Richard said Gold Coast Australia was sailing more like a submarine than a yacht as they rounded the virtual mark off Cape Leeuwin "with large and confused sea and swell resulting in some very exciting sailing".

"Since the wind was coming from the west and we had large swells that were being amplified by the shallow water off the shelf coming from the south and the north west. This resulted in Gold Coast Australia surfing down one wave and then ploughing into the next head on resulting in a great rush of water down the deck," Richard explained.

After a night of conservative sailing due to ferocious weather on the approach to Cape Leeuwin Qingdao skipper Ian Conchie reflects that his team's decision to it play safe as they slip from slipped from fourth position in the fleet down to joint eighth.

"Our goal now is to target a climb up the leader board although I am happy to report that as a result of our conservative approach we have no injuries and the only damage to the boat being our windex [an arrow marking the wind direction at the top of the mast] which snapped at some point, probably in one of the 45-plus knot gusts!" Ian said.

With only 10nm between Qingdao and Singapore who is currently polling in 7th the Qingdao teams

Ian said that his team's new crew mates who joined in Gerladton are getting up to speed although he admits that helming a Clipper 68 in these conditions is proving a "steep learning curve".

On Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, Gordon Reid and his crew have been enjoying some similarly adrenalin-fuelled sailing as they have moved up into joint eight place logging the same distance to the finish as Qingdao.

Gordon reports that his team played cat and mouse last night in what he describes as an "epic gale".

"We had massive thundering waves side swiping the boat, gusts of up to
50 knots and for the first time since leaving the UK we used our storm jib barrelling along and at one point hitting 20 knots on the surf," he said.

Gordon said that under the moonlight his team could see the stars and "the angry seas boiling all around" as they pitched south and rounded Cape Leeuwin in some "fairly challenging conditions" as everyone back home slept.

New York has also been feeling the full brunt of the low over the last
24 hours with much bigger waves and winds of 35-knots plus.

Skipper Gareth Glover said he decided to stick with only the staysail and three reefs in the main overnight to avoid sending crew forward of the mast in the treacherous conditions.

"We had some very big waves breaking over the bow, some of which were the biggest I've seen in the three legs so far and I wasn't prepared to put the crew in any unneeded danger," he said, adding that a number of his crew are also suffering with seasickness.

"The wind looks like it is going to drop in the next 24 hours and then we hope to hank on a new headsail and get racing again and hopes of doing well in this leg are high," Gareth said.

Welcome to Yorkshire has been experiencing "feisty conditions all round"
but sprits remain high as the team makes good progress at the start of the long ocean leg, according to skipper Rupert Dean.

"The gale force winds with regular savage gusts of 45 knots dictate conservative sail plans and we're currently beam reaching with three reefs in the main, the Yankee 3 and staysail," Rupert said.

"The violent motion is making living conditions below decks challenging and several of the team are succumbing to seasickness, which I hope they will work through over the next few days," he added.

Juan Coetzer on Geraldton Western Australia said it had been a day of "hanging on" as they crashed through the short, steep swell coming from two directions.

"We have rounded our first virtual mark and are now drag racing with the rest of the fleet to the next mark," Juan said.

De Lage Landen slipped down to sixth place as the crew dealt with the "bumpy" conditions as the wind built. Following the ideal conditions at the race start on Sunday, numerous sail changes have been called for on the Dutch boat as the team adapts to the increasing wind and sea state.

Skipper Stuart Jackson said that the majority of his team's new leggers who joined in Geraldton have succumbed to seasickness.

Ben Bowley on Singapore said his team had taken "a good kicking" along with the rest of the fleet as they faced the strong winds and hefty seas piling up on the shelf of Cape Leeuwin.

"I was delighted with the performance of both the crew and boat in such challenging conditions so early on in the race," Ben said.

"Today sees us barrelling down the face of some pretty big waves, watching the sunlight give the breaking crests an iridescent quality that is captivating to watch," he added.

After suffering extensive sail damage in the last transoceanic race, the Singapore team is adopting a more cautious approach en route to New Zealand. "As we learnt in the last race, it's better to keep some sails in reserve for the latter parts of the race than going hell for leather in the big stuff!" Ben said.

The fleet is expected to arrive in Tauranga, New Zealand from 25 to 29 November.

ENDS//

Positions at 0900 UTC, Tuesday 8 November

Boat DTF*

1 Gold Coast Australia 3216nm

2 Visit Finland 3239nm (+23nm DTL*)

3 Derry-Londonderry 3240(+25nm)

4 Welcome to Yorkshire 3245nm (+29nm)

5 New York 3245nm (+30nm)

6 De Lage Landen 3249nm (+33nm)

7 Singapore 3253nm (+38nm)

8 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 3264nm (+48nm)

9 Qingdao 3264nm (+48nm)

10 Geraldton Western Australia 3275nm (+60 nm)

Attached Files

•  croppedimage723371-DLL-Race-5-Day-3-2.jpg   50.96K   2 downloads

[Ozee Adventure]

Leaving Geraldton

Posted on November 8, 2011 by seamansam


The fleet arrived in Geraldton on November 2nd and between that date and the date they left on November 6th the crew had to perform all the essential maintenance of Qingdao, buy and pack all their food for the next leg and deep clean the boat. Their task included the repair of one of their spinnakers. Whilst most of the UK were asleep Qingdao and the rest of the clipper fleet bid Geraldton farewell and started their journey towards New Zealanda. They are currently heading south towards Tasmania. These are excerpts from the first two emails.

Monday November 7th, Midnight UK time
Feeling competitive

All is good. The fleet is still close together and it makes for exciting sailing. We have swapped positions with DLL and Derry a couple of times. Gold Coast are only a
mile or so ahead. We really feel we are competitive, especially when we go past Geralton or Singapore with relative ease.

All else is good. I am still in a watch with Jimbo (James Holding) and Mikey Dave (David Hall). Sam Hall is my bunk/mother buddy.

Yes it was a stressful stopover. There is never enough time. I spoke to Jo, Sam and Martha quickly just before I had breakfast yesterday. Of too bed now.

Tuesday November 8th, 08:00 UK time
Night Rainbows

We have another theory about gold coast – they have a full crew. That allows them to have a whole watch of people on standby ready to change sails. Typically we wait til watch change when everybody is up. Us and Geraldton have small crews and we are at the back. Especially true in this weather…

…. which is ‘fruity’! wow. Worst storm yet and has been blowing for over 24 hours now. But then you get this…

I was helming last night. The salt spray had been blowing in my face for 30 minutes and with both hands on the wheel I could only blink it away. The wind was howling, 30 foot waves were lifting us up and hurling us off course. The moon lit the scene. Then a squall came over. The wind speed went up to 40 knots and it started hailing. Occasionally I could put 1 hand up to stop the hail going in my eyes, but mainly I was helming under water!

The sea was just white. After 5 minutes the squall passed and the moon shone out. I got under co0ntrol again and looked round to where the squall was disappearing downwind and there was the most perfect night rainbow, formed by hail and moonlight. Absolutely awesomely fantastic! Wish you could have seen it too!
http://seamansam.wordpress.com/?p=342&preview=true

Attached Files

•  375168_295262263831790_202383466453004_1076024_174118670_n.jpg   86.05K   0 downloads

[albanyguy]

Certainly has been a bit woolly in this part of the world the last couple of days. Yesterday we were having consistent squalls coming through with lots of thunder, lightning and hail. The boats are about 100nm south of where I'm sitting and they would be very glad of the moderating conditions although no doubt there is quite a swell out there. Wind was around 40 knots at Leeuwin as they were going around there yesterday and in Albany atm it is a gentle 10 knots. Looks like they've got another front coming through later today but now anywhere near as intense as yesterday's.

Wishing them all the best out there.

[Ozee Adventure]

RACE 5 - DAY 2 - by Mark Burkes (Qingdao)

Yesterday's blog referred to the increase in wind predicted to meet us as we round Cape Leeuwin tonight. It looks like we will get what has been forecast, at least we will if this afternoon has been in any way indicative!

Racing in the close company of Visit Finland, Derry-Londonderry, Singapore and Welcome to Yorkshire for the last 24 hours, the whole fleet has been visible during the evening watches as we all try to maximise best course and boat speed.

Having started the day with full main and number one Yankee, we've been on deck all day slowly reducing sail until at 1500 hours local time we found ourselves surrounded by Clipper Race boats as we were all hit by a short, wet and violent rain squall that had us delaying the hoist of the number three whilst we put in a third reef in the main. Others were carrying rather more canvas than was strictly manageable during the squall and several of our competitors rounded up close by, an unusual sight after 24 hours of ocean racing.

Kevin and Johnny, two of our new crew for this leg, have been treating us to pesto pasta and fresh bread for lunch and hot pot is promised for supper and you can tell they are both keen to get onto deck and get stuck in. That said, their efforts below are much needed as the work rate has been high in the first 24 hours and, unlike other races, I seem to have been constantly wet and changing kit at an alarming rate. Even Ian, our skipper, was soaked as he manfully pitched in to help us flake the number 2 Yankee as the rain squall hit and the true wind jumped up to 40 knots.

Rain, wind and steep seas have defined the first 24 hours of this leg and we expect bigger seas and more wind to drive us on to New Zealand over the next few days. All the crew are, I think, just a little subdued, at least subdued for Qingdao (!), although I suspect the absence of Claire, Viv, Bill and Rob has something to do with that, together with the expectation of a hard few days ahead! No doubt usual service will resume after some of our new crew have found their sea legs and we have turned the corner at Cape Leeuwin.

Until then - goodnight all, from the soggy crew of Qingdao

Mark Burkes
Crew, Qingdao

Attached Files

•  croppedimage723371-CV9Race5Day2723371.jpg   49.92K   0 downloads

[DtM]

Ozee,

To go back to your how to steer well I am surprised at Lydia not telling you to "feel the boat".

If you spend your time looking at the dials you will drive yourself mad and the boat slowly.

Instruments tell you what happened 5 seconds ago. Up wind use the angle of the pulpit to give you a feel for heel and speed and how the wheel feels. Once you have that you will get the message back from the boat immediately. It is all about feel of the helm, not too much pressure but enough bite.

[DtM]

And ignore the Truth.

This is as much an ocean race as S2H (in fact more).

Given the route of the Volvo i am pretty sure you are spending more time in the Southern Ocean.

[Ozee Adventure]

Certainly has been a bit woolly in this part of the world the last couple of days. Yesterday we were having consistent squalls coming through with lots of thunder, lightning and hail. The boats are about 100nm south of where I'm sitting and they would be very glad of the moderating conditions although no doubt there is quite a swell out there. Wind was around 40 knots at Leeuwin as they were going around there yesterday and in Albany atm it is a gentle 10 knots. Looks like they've got another front coming through later today but now anywhere near as intense as yesterday's.

Wishing them all the best out there.

Looks like they totally agree with you!
RACE 5 - DAY 3 - by Mark Burkes (Qingdao)

A somewhat harder tick in the box, for us at least, than the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin has lived up to its name as one of the great capes of the world. Thankfully, it has not been quite as sporty as it could have been, with the wind (all 40 knots of it) staying mainly on our beam, allowing us to close reach rather than beat into some very large, very steep swell.

This morning, some of the fleet's skippers have been swapping stories on VHF of various towering walls of water that soaked us all overnight. I would say most were about 35 feet, but on the edge of the 200 metre contour there was the odd 50 footer, which was wonderfully highlighted by the full moon.

These seas, beam on, took some handling, but these yachts are really very substantial. Of course, that doesn't mean that the humans on board don't get thrown around on them like soggy rag dolls from time to time! The bow and the helm are almost equally hazardous positions for the unsuspecting - ow, as is the nav station!

With the deck bucking and rolling under you so violently, it is no wonder that we are all under strict instructions to hang on and clip on at ALL times, just going forward to rig a preventer line on the bow last night, the foredeck was something to behold, bucking and floating upwards before dropping away into a huge black cavernous trough, leaving those on the foredeck weightless and hanging on, contemplating the BANG as we made contact with the foot of the next wave - and about 250 litres of warm salt water in the face at 12 knots! Knee pads are a good idea!

Some of the crew are stoically 'barfing' and carrying on - a strength of mind and character that I much admire. The idea of going through what can be a wet and miserable experience (interspersed with immense fun and exhilaration I will admit) and being cold, tired wet - and sea sick - fills me with admiration.

As a sailor of 25 years, with a cast iron, if somewhat over-developed, stomach even I felt a little rough last night, but a second helping of peach slices and condensed milk, served by Johnny the saloon-skating chef, a bit of on-deck adrenaline, and some tiredness, coupled with us cracking off 30 degrees after rounding the cape, made all things right with the world again.

So, as I write this, we have 3,187 nautical metres to go and an ETA of just 20 November! I have no doubt that this will change and that our ETA will drop out towards the end of the month again, but boy it would be nice to get past a few of the fleet and closer to a podium position, if for no other reason than we will get a day or two more in port!

The good news is that after a conservative sail plan last night to protect the boat and the morale of the crew - in equal measure I suspect, we are now making good progress back into the fleet with the Yankee 3 up and 2 reefs in the main sail. The wind is forecast to drop off later in the day and this should allow us to increase sail area considerably and enjoy some surfing conditions and high boat speeds! Now that's more like it.

Champagne sailor - me - YOU BETCHA! Come on Qingdao!

Mark Burkes
Crew, Qingdao

Attached Files

•  croppedimage723371-CV9Race5Day3723371.jpg   16.15K   2 downloads

[Ozee Adventure]

Ozee,

To go back to your how to steer well I am surprised at Lydia not telling you to "feel the boat".

If you spend your time looking at the dials you will drive yourself mad and the boat slowly.

Instruments tell you what happened 5 seconds ago. Up wind use the angle of the pulpit to give you a feel for heel and speed and how the wheel feels. Once you have that you will get the message back from the boat immediately. It is all about feel of the helm, not too much pressure but enough bite.

Thanks m8
He's forgotten more than I will ever know & I never was a dinghy sailor!
Apparently I'm a "looker upper" according to our skipper - it'll all fall apart if the light at the top of the rig goes!
One of our night passages was about helming with the compass light off for those who where "looker downers"

[Ozee Adventure]

And ignore the Truth.

This is as much an ocean race as S2H (in fact more).

Given the route of the Volvo i am pretty sure you are spending more time in the Southern Ocean.

He's OK this race is more about playing in the sandpit with the other children than sailing skill at the end of the day.

[Ozee Adventure]

CLIPPER 11-12

RACE 5: WESTERN AUSTRALIA TO TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND

DAY 4

* Visit Finland and Derry-Londonderry match racing in fierce duel for second

* Battle on to claim Scoring Gate points

* Gold Coast Australia protects gear from electrical storms

"With less than three hundred miles to run to the Scoring Gate and a consistent beam breeze this really is match racing at its best," reports Olly Osborne, skipper of Visit Finland, this morning.

Visit Finland is engaged in a close duel with Derry-Londonderry for second place with just one mile separating the two teams as they continue the charge to the Scoring Gate in Race 5.

Both teams logged the same 12-hour run of 126 miles in consistent winds en route to Tauranga in New Zealand. The first, second and third boats to cross the line between 40 degrees south 127 east and 43 degrees south
127 east will be awarded three, two and one points respectively.

Olly said that competition had been "hotting up" between the two boats throughout the day. "The next day promises to be very exiting with both crews clearly set on the same objective," he said.

"Both crews appear to almost completely matched as only fractions of a mile separate our two boats from second and third place," he said.

As the two teams are only around a day away from the Scoring Gate, neither of the skippers is likely to take their foot off the gas at this critical stage.

"If the next 24 hours are similar to the last, there could only be a matter of minutes in it," Olly said.

Throughout the night and into this morning both boats have matched each other for course, speed and sail plan and both crews are thriving on the pressure of close quarters racing.

Despite being intense opponents on the water, Derry-Londonderry's skipper, Mark Light, is an old friend of Olly's and the pair took the opportunity to catch up via VHF radio overnight.

"I had a fairly long chat with Mark last night over the VHF and despite the fierce rivalry between the boats it was good to speak to an old friend, and it is very pleasant to be sailing within sight of one another," Olly said.

Mark said that his team had done very well and worked very hard to make up ground on Visit Finland but hadn't quite managed to overhaul them "yet".

"We have been almost neck and neck for the last 24 hours constantly racing in good view of each other, hull up by day and single white or green tri-colour light [located at the top of the mast] by night," Mark said.

Mark said he had also enjoyed catching up with his friend Olly. "I'm not sure he took my advice though about taking down all his sails and stopping his boat to do a long and proper rig check but I was only thinking of their wellbeing!" he joked.

The team on Derry-Londonderry has had its binoculars well trained on Visit Finland's decks. "Like a sniper, we've been looking for any sign of movement on the foredeck which would indicate a sail change or some top secret goings on," Mark said, adding that his team might carry out their manoeuvres in the dead of night to keep Olly and his crew in the dark.

Further down the fleet, Qingdao and Edinburgh Inspiring Capital are also battling in close quarters for seventh place with just a mile between the two teams.

On Qingdao the team has now settled into life at sea and a welcome break in the weather has seen the team increasing sail.

"After the last 48 hours of strong winds and big seas conditions have finally started to ease allowing us to shake out reefs and swap to larger head sails. This morning we were even greeted by the first rays of sunshine we have seen for a few days," said skipper Ian Conchie.

This decision has benefitted the team as overnight Qingdao moved up the leader board and has moved up to seventh place just a whisker ahead of Edinburgh Inspiring Capital.

Skipper Gordon Reid said his team is "stoked" to hear news that Edinburgh Inspiring Capital is being supported by Lothian Buses in their home city of Edinburgh. Two of the company's double decker buses that run on a high profile route through the city have been branded with colourful images of the team that will remain in place until June 2012.

"The Ocean Racing Team on Edinburgh Inspiring Capital is totally stoked to hear the news that the Purple Beastie is emblazoned on two of Edinburgh's double decker buses and we would like to invite everyone to get online, hold on tight and join us in our epic adventure racing around the world," Gordon said.

The team has taken full advantage of the improved weather conditions and last night saw Edinburgh Inspiring Capital jostling with Qingdao for position with only one mile between the two teams at the latest position report.

"The moon was almost full, shooting stars filled the night sky as we surfed wave after wave, with a few pretty big waves breaking over the bow and being side swiped by the odd steam train. But even with a constant soaking and the cockpit full of water it was hard to let go of the helm with so much fun to be had," Gordon said.

"As the sun came up it was time to increase sail even more and as soon as the winds comes round the kite will be up, so it's all good on the good ship Edinburgh Inspiring Capital," he added.

On New York washing is off the agenda just days into this 3,800-mile race to New Zealand due to problems with the team's water maker which desalinates sea water on board.

"Our water maker has stopped working so we have introduced a plan to keep water usage down which includes no washing unless we can get it repaired," Gareth said.

Despite the prospect of a ripe aroma on New York over the coming days as the crew make do with wet wipes to keep on top of personal hygiene, spirits are high and they have increased sail to increase boat speed.

"The sun is out the wind is fresh and we are making good time, so it's happy days on New York," Gareth said.

De Lage Landen has moved up from sixth place into joint fifth with Welcome to Yorkshire.

Round the world crew member on De Lage Landen, Tom Ross, said the crew is being pushed to keep up decent speeds without being overpowered in unpredictable squalls.

"This has meant plenty of sail changes and time on the pointy end making them happen. The conditions are however not helping those who are suffering from seasickness with a few of our crew spending unfair amounts of time with their heads in plastic bags," the 23-year-old student said.

On Welcome to Yorkshire, skipper Rupert Dean said multiple sail changes have also been the order of the day as his team strives to sail the Great Circle route under the most efficient sail plan.

"On this morning's watch we did five evolutions going from reef three to full main and from the Yankee 3 to the Yankee 1 and I expect there's more to come this afternoon," he said.

"These necessary evolutions are a great workout for the crew, developing fitness, understanding, teamwork and, importantly, integrating the new crew quickly into the established team," Rupert explained.

"What's more it is all proving to be fun and there's a real buzz about the boat," he added.

Richard Hewson and his team on Gold Coast Australia have extended their lead overnight putting them within 275 miles of the Scoring Gate and the valuable three points on offer for crossing the imaginary line fist.

"Conditions have abated somewhat since yesterday and the wind has veered slightly to the north allowing for more pleasant sailing above and below deck," Richard reports.

With the moderated conditions, the team has seen the return of some birdlife including the first albatross of the race flying around the boat amongst a number of mutton birds.

"The calmer conditions allowed us to do some maintenance prior to the next blow and to also give down below a good clean to stop the dreaded lurgie that seems to be spreading amongst the crew," he said.

The Gold Coast Australia team has also seen some spectacular electrical storm activity over the last few days prompting them to unplug and turn-off all computers and communications equipment onboard until the storms pass.

Richard said that during these storms he also places the hand-held GPS and VHF radio in the oven which acts as a Faradays cage, an enclosure formed by conducting material used to protect electronic equipment from lightning strikes and other electrostatic discharges.
"These precautions may seem funny to many, however they are a vital part of preserving our sustainability throughout the race," Richard said.

On Geraldton Western Australia, skipper Juan Coetzer said that "big gusty winds and a confused mountainous sea state" caused him to take a conservative approach to his team's sail plan last night.

"The wind has calmed down a little, so we are currently sailing with one reef and a poled-out headsail," he said.

Despite their position at the back of the fleet, the team knows they are at the start of a marathon race and the positions are likely to get shuffled numerous times before they reach New Zealand.

"Today we had our first happy hour on deck and a chat was had regarding the last couple of days. We know we are last at the moment, but it is still early days," Juan said.

Ahead of Geraldton Western Australia in ninth place, Singapore has shaken out reefs and increased sail as the wind abated.

"It feels fantastic to have the big red bus come alive underfoot with the buzz of her sailing at 100 percent again," skipper, Ben Bowley, said.

Ben is mulling tactics as the fleet closes in on the Scoring Gate.
"There are some who feel that staying south and keeping in the bigger winds will pay dividends and those who are sticking firmly to the option of sailing the least mileage," he said.

"The question is, where is the optimum trade off between distance covered and boat speed?" he said, noting that a lot will depend on how swiftly the developing high pressure in the Great Australian Bight opens up and how far south her associated lighter winds extend.

"Once again the options will be discussed and weighed up amongst crews but in the end the wind gods throw in that lovely element of chance that keeps yacht racing such an exciting, and at times frustrating, sport in which to compete and watch," he said.

Remaining optimistic at this early stage in the race, Ben said, "It is nice to see that the pack in still tightly formed and there is still all to play for no matter where in the fleet teams are sitting."

ENDS//

Positions at 0900 UTC, Wednesday 9 November

Boat DTF*

1 Gold Coast Australia 2966nm

2 Visit Finland 2989nm (+24nm DTL*)

3 Derry-Londonderry 2991nm (+25nm)

4 New York 3004nm (+39nm)

5 De Lage Landen 3014nm (+49nm)

6 Welcome to Yorkshire 3015nm (+49nm)

7 Qingdao 3035nm (+69nm)

8 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 3036nm (+70nm)

9 Singapore 3037nm (+71nm) at 0753 UTC

10 Geraldton Western Australia 3062nm (+97nm)

Attached Files

•  croppedimage723371-Day-4-Race-5-JPG.jpg   14.76K   0 downloads

[Ozee Adventure]

The Secret to How We Won Race 4 into Geraldton

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Lisa Blair

The crew on board Gold Coast Australia have finished there fourth and final week in Race four of the Clipper 11/12 Round the World Yacht Race.
At the beginning of the week our race position was threatened by competing boat De lage Landen as we sailed in light and variable winds waters for days as a high pressure system stretching over 700 nautical miles long decided to stall right near us. Tactically we had opted to sail south to Latitude 48 degrees south and round this massive high pressure system just on the edge at the bottom but on day 18 the weather gods showed us some mercy. We ended up 300 nautical miles closer to Antarctica than to Australia and experiencing some bitterly cold conditions with air temperatures of 3 degrees on deck.

Watching the Gib files closely it became evident that the High Pressure system was going to split just to the north east of our course allowing us to cut miles out of our race. The gamble was would we be able to get on the other side of it before it once again moved over our course. We decided to go for it and altered course to the north. The atmosphere on board visibly changed as soon as everyone new we were sailing into warmer weather and that we were finally making our approach to land with our course taking us straight to Cape Leeuwin another of the great capes.

We really did not know if we would make it in time to sail the gap between the two highs as our boat speed was holding at an impressive 4 knots as we sailed with the Light Weight Spinnaker up and the full main. As the winds would shift, veering and backing consistently as well as change in speed ranging from 2knot to 10 knots making trim the primary focus. On day 26 we left the Southern Ocean in our wake as the winds filled in giving us a steady 10 knots of breeze. De Lang Landon were right behind us and within 20 nautical miles, so close that our lead position that we had held since Cape Town was threatened. With sailing you have to play the hand you are dealt and work with what weather conditions you get but luckily for us we were dealt a great hand. The High Pressure System performed perfectly as predicted by the Grib files, taking one huge high air mass and splitting into to two with a steady wind belt in-between that we were able to sail through. Unfortunately for De Lang Landen the wind god were not so kind as they were trapped in the High to wallow around for days.

As we increased our lead on the fleet we were also quickly closing in on land, not just any land but my homeland Australia. After 24 days at sea we passed Cape Leeuwin and Cape Naturaliste making our final approach to Australian shores at first light. Australia showed us her sprite with one of the most stunning sunrises glowing red over the silhouette of Geraldton. Shortly after we saw our first boat in over 20 days as we sailed the final miles.


Crossing the Finish Line at Geraldton
At 0702 am on 30/09/2011 Gold Coast Australia crossed the finish line to the shouts and sheers of the crew as we won another very tough race. Later we were informed that our lead had dramatically increased to over 440 nautical miles to the next boat. In the true Aussi tradition we were greeted by the lovely people of Geraldton and welcomed to a lovely BBQ complete with beer.

6 short days later and it was time to say our farewells to this loving and friendly town called Geraldton and set sail on Race Five, racing from Geraldton to Taronga in New Zealand. Spectators lined the shore as we ran through a series of drills and manoeuvres to refresh everybody’s mind. Every race there are 3-5 people leaving whilst others come to take there place. For some of those new comers, they may have not sailed in a 6 months or more so these refresh sails are vital to ensuring everybody is safe on-board. Shortly after we lined up for the start, sailing pass the marks so that I could get a transit on the start line. After a short delay because the pick was dragging in the water the race gun sounded at 1340 on the 06/11/2011 with Gold Coast Australia in 2nd place just behind ‘I love New York’. It is on as we race to the next mark still holding second place, by the third mark had taken New York and gained the lead. Team Finland and New York are a short 3 nautical miles behind us and with over 3 000 nautical miles left to run, anything can happen.

Attached Files

•  crossing_finish_line_geraldton.jpg   119.3K   3 downloads

[gimmee]

The Secret to How We Won Race 4 into Geraldton

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Lisa Blair

The crew on board Gold Coast Australia have finished there fourth and final week in Race four of the Clipper 11/12 Round the World Yacht Race.
At the beginning of the week our race position was threatened by competing boat De lage Landen as we sailed in light and variable winds waters for days as a high pressure system stretching over 700 nautical miles long decided to stall right near us. Tactically we had opted to sail south to Latitude 48 degrees south and round this massive high pressure system just on the edge at the bottom but on day 18 the weather gods showed us some mercy. We ended up 300 nautical miles closer to Antarctica than to Australia and experiencing some bitterly cold conditions with air temperatures of 3 degrees on deck.

Watching the Gib files closely it became evident that the High Pressure system was going to split just to the north east of our course allowing us to cut miles out of our race. The gamble was would we be able to get on the other side of it before it once again moved over our course. We decided to go for it and altered course to the north. The atmosphere on board visibly changed as soon as everyone new we were sailing into warmer weather and that we were finally making our approach to land with our course taking us straight to Cape Leeuwin another of the great capes.

We really did not know if we would make it in time to sail the gap between the two highs as our boat speed was holding at an impressive 4 knots as we sailed with the Light Weight Spinnaker up and the full main. As the winds would shift, veering and backing consistently as well as change in speed ranging from 2knot to 10 knots making trim the primary focus. On day 26 we left the Southern Ocean in our wake as the winds filled in giving us a steady 10 knots of breeze. De Lang Landon were right behind us and within 20 nautical miles, so close that our lead position that we had held since Cape Town was threatened. With sailing you have to play the hand you are dealt and work with what weather conditions you get but luckily for us we were dealt a great hand. The High Pressure System performed perfectly as predicted by the Grib files, taking one huge high air mass and splitting into to two with a steady wind belt in-between that we were able to sail through. Unfortunately for De Lang Landen the wind god were not so kind as they were trapped in the High to wallow around for days.

As we increased our lead on the fleet we were also quickly closing in on land, not just any land but my homeland Australia. After 24 days at sea we passed Cape Leeuwin and Cape Naturaliste making our final approach to Australian shores at first light. Australia showed us her sprite with one of the most stunning sunrises glowing red over the silhouette of Geraldton. Shortly after we saw our first boat in over 20 days as we sailed the final miles.


Crossing the Finish Line at Geraldton
At 0702 am on 30/09/2011 Gold Coast Australia crossed the finish line to the shouts and sheers of the crew as we won another very tough race. Later we were informed that our lead had dramatically increased to over 440 nautical miles to the next boat. In the true Aussi tradition we were greeted by the lovely people of Geraldton and welcomed to a lovely BBQ complete with beer.

6 short days later and it was time to say our farewells to this loving and friendly town called Geraldton and set sail on Race Five, racing from Geraldton to Taronga in New Zealand. Spectators lined the shore as we ran through a series of drills and manoeuvres to refresh everybody's mind. Every race there are 3-5 people leaving whilst others come to take there place. For some of those new comers, they may have not sailed in a 6 months or more so these refresh sails are vital to ensuring everybody is safe on-board. Shortly after we lined up for the start, sailing pass the marks so that I could get a transit on the start line. After a short delay because the pick was dragging in the water the race gun sounded at 1340 on the 06/11/2011 with Gold Coast Australia in 2nd place just behind 'I love New York'. It is on as we race to the next mark still holding second place, by the third mark had taken New York and gained the lead. Team Finland and New York are a short 3 nautical miles behind us and with over 3 000 nautical miles left to run, anything can happen.

This post should be stamped CONFIDENTIAL and filed with the AIS. I can see the Somali people smugglers taking notes already and licking their lips at the thought of a Geraldton crayfish sandwich !

[Leka]

I noticed in one of the other boats crew diaries, they were trying to work out why GC were consistently fast.
One theory was that they have a full crew and are doing sail changes when needed as opposed to Geraldton, I think it was, waiting until watch change so they had more hands.

Would explain some of the reasons I guess.

Possibly a few of the RTW are good helms and can keep a good steady course as opposed to trainees who will always slow the boat down while learning.

Challenging for the skippers of the boats at the back to keep up moral I would think.

[lydia]

Not sure that GC is that much faster but is certainly setting themselves up for the next weather change far better than anyone else.

Also the fleet seems happy to let GC to get the side and get lateral distance on the side where the next breeze pattern will come from so GC keeps getting richer.
No body even seems to cover them or at least go with them

[Ozee Adventure]

The Secret to How We Won Race 4 into Geraldton

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Lisa Blair

The crew on board Gold Coast Australia have finished there fourth and final week in Race four of the Clipper 11/12 Round the World Yacht Race.
At the beginning of the week our race position was threatened by competing boat De lage Landen as we sailed in light and variable winds waters for days as a high pressure system stretching over 700 nautical miles long decided to stall right near us. Tactically we had opted to sail south to Latitude 48 degrees south and round this massive high pressure system just on the edge at the bottom but on day 18 the weather gods showed us some mercy. We ended up 300 nautical miles closer to Antarctica than to Australia and experiencing some bitterly cold conditions with air temperatures of 3 degrees on deck.

Watching the Gib files closely it became evident that the High Pressure system was going to split just to the north east of our course allowing us to cut miles out of our race. The gamble was would we be able to get on the other side of it before it once again moved over our course. We decided to go for it and altered course to the north. The atmosphere on board visibly changed as soon as everyone new we were sailing into warmer weather and that we were finally making our approach to land with our course taking us straight to Cape Leeuwin another of the great capes.

We really did not know if we would make it in time to sail the gap between the two highs as our boat speed was holding at an impressive 4 knots as we sailed with the Light Weight Spinnaker up and the full main. As the winds would shift, veering and backing consistently as well as change in speed ranging from 2knot to 10 knots making trim the primary focus. On day 26 we left the Southern Ocean in our wake as the winds filled in giving us a steady 10 knots of breeze. De Lang Landon were right behind us and within 20 nautical miles, so close that our lead position that we had held since Cape Town was threatened. With sailing you have to play the hand you are dealt and work with what weather conditions you get but luckily for us we were dealt a great hand. The High Pressure System performed perfectly as predicted by the Grib files, taking one huge high air mass and splitting into to two with a steady wind belt in-between that we were able to sail through. Unfortunately for De Lang Landen the wind god were not so kind as they were trapped in the High to wallow around for days.

As we increased our lead on the fleet we were also quickly closing in on land, not just any land but my homeland Australia. After 24 days at sea we passed Cape Leeuwin and Cape Naturaliste making our final approach to Australian shores at first light. Australia showed us her sprite with one of the most stunning sunrises glowing red over the silhouette of Geraldton. Shortly after we saw our first boat in over 20 days as we sailed the final miles.


Crossing the Finish Line at Geraldton
At 0702 am on 30/09/2011 Gold Coast Australia crossed the finish line to the shouts and sheers of the crew as we won another very tough race. Later we were informed that our lead had dramatically increased to over 440 nautical miles to the next boat. In the true Aussi tradition we were greeted by the lovely people of Geraldton and welcomed to a lovely BBQ complete with beer.

6 short days later and it was time to say our farewells to this loving and friendly town called Geraldton and set sail on Race Five, racing from Geraldton to Taronga in New Zealand. Spectators lined the shore as we ran through a series of drills and manoeuvres to refresh everybody's mind. Every race there are 3-5 people leaving whilst others come to take there place. For some of those new comers, they may have not sailed in a 6 months or more so these refresh sails are vital to ensuring everybody is safe on-board. Shortly after we lined up for the start, sailing pass the marks so that I could get a transit on the start line. After a short delay because the pick was dragging in the water the race gun sounded at 1340 on the 06/11/2011 with Gold Coast Australia in 2nd place just behind 'I love New York'. It is on as we race to the next mark still holding second place, by the third mark had taken New York and gained the lead. Team Finland and New York are a short 3 nautical miles behind us and with over 3 000 nautical miles left to run, anything can happen.

This post should be stamped CONFIDENTIAL and filed with the AIS. I can see the Somali people smugglers taking notes already and licking their lips at the thought of a Geraldton crayfish sandwich !

[Ozee Adventure]

I noticed in one of the other boats crew diaries, they were trying to work out why GC were consistently fast.
One theory was that they have a full crew and are doing sail changes when needed as opposed to Geraldton, I think it was, waiting until watch change so they had more hands.

Would explain some of the reasons I guess.

Possibly a few of the RTW are good helms and can keep a good steady course as opposed to trainees who will always slow the boat down while learning.

Challenging for the skippers of the boats at the back to keep up moral I would think.

We've only got 12 this leg - they are feeling it already!

[Leka]

Muummm!!!!!...................He's doing it AGAIN.................!!!


Clipper Round the World Yacht RaceGold Coast Australia crosses the Scoring Gate at 1102 UTC

[Ozee Adventure]

CLIPPER 11-12

RACE 5: WESTERN AUSTRALIA TO TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND

DAY 5

* Gold Coast Australia first through Scoring Gate to claim three extra points

* Fleet warned of powerful low pressure systems approaching

* Teams prepare to commemorate Armistice Day in Southern Ocean

Gold Coast Australia has won the race to be the first boat through the Scoring Gate to pick up an extra three points as they race from Geraldton, Western Australia towards Tauranga in New Zealand.

The first, second and third boats to cross the line between 40 degrees south 127 east and 43 degrees south 127 east will be awarded three, two and one points respectively.

The close racing throughout the fleet has continued unabated as the rest of the teams sprint towards the Scoring Gate for Race 5 in the hope of claiming the remaining extra points on offer.

Behind Gold Coast Australia just 30 miles separates six teams, all keen to add extra points to their respective tallies.

A close match race along the Great Circle Route is underway between Welcome to Yorkshire and Singapore, and both teams report a busy 24 hours as they tried to hold their spinnakers in the downwind conditions.

Ben Bowley on Singapore reports that the last six hours have been some of "the most pleasurable" in his whole sailing career.

"As I write, we have about 20 to 22 knots of true wind from astern, our medium kite flying and are, for the moment at least, edging ahead of Welcome to Yorkshire, who is just hull up on the crystal clear bright horizon," he said.

"We have some excellent music playing, crew are drying their sodden gear and though very tired, none of us would be anywhere else in the world right now," he added.

Despite one of their heavily repaired spinnakers taking an unscheduled dip in the ocean when a guy parted due to chafing, the team managed to recover her with very little damage.

"I was amazed and impressed that we managed to get Sticky Vicky [the spinnaker] out from her morning bath and back aboard with almost no damage. I have a feeling that the amount of extra material on the sail [used during repairs] has turned her from a 2.2oz to a 2.5oz, just that bit of a tougher bird," Ben said.

Welcome to Yorkshire held off flying their heavyweight spinnaker overnight due to "large sloppy seas" that can lead to wraps and sail damage.

"Instead we sailed conservatively through several squalls with the main and poled-out Yankee 2 hoisting our heavyweight spinnaker at first light," skipper, Rupert Dean, said.

"For the past 18 hours, Welcome to Yorkshire has been having its own battle with Singapore, with both boats in sight of each other as we sail under spinnaker along the Great Circle line," he added.

The two boats have been matching each other gybe for gybe as they endeavour to pick the most direct route in the shifting winds. "We've now raced nearly a thousand miles since leaving Geraldton and it's amazing to see how close the boats still are after all this time,"
Rupert said.

Due to problems with Singapore's tracker [the device that transmits the team's location, course and speed], Ben and his team are currently sending through their coordinates to the Race Office manually four times a day. As a result, Singapore's position data displayed on the race viewer can be three hours older than the rest of the fleet as they are not polling automatically every three hours. Race followers are advised to check the time stamp on the race viewer to clarify when the latest position data refers to.

Rupert and his team have invited the rest of the fleet to join them in commemorating Remembrance Day tomorrow. The annual memorial day is observed on 11 November to recall the official end of World War I on that date in 1918. Hostilities formally ended 'at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month' of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.

"Tomorrow on Remembrance Day we will remember all those who fought for our freedom during the two World Wars and in conflicts ever since. It is a time of reflection and a reminder to note how lucky we are to be out here racing like this," Rupert said.

"As the English boat, we on Welcome to Yorkshire will be paying our respects by reciting a few words from the Royal British Legion followed by a two minute silence during our watch change at midday tomorrow (UTC
+8). We invite the rest of the teams to join us in their own appropriate
way," he added.

As Remembrance Day dawns the teams will be bracing themselves for some ferocious weather, as Simon Rowell, meteorologist and winning skipper from Clipper 2002, warned that a couple of strong lows are looming.

"Firstly the low just passing to the south of the fleet will bring a gusty front with it with sustained winds of 30 to 35 knots at surface and a little higher up they've got 40 to 45 knots, so the skippers will need to look out for those ones," Simon said.

And there's more to come, according to Simon. "A few days down the line the developing low that will get to Tasmania roughly at the same time as the fleet will be strong too," he added.

For now conditions make for some great sailing and Geraldton Western Australia's skipper, Juan Coetzer, reports that his team has been enjoying a "beautiful day".

After recent problems with their generator that have now been resolved, the team has power again to run their watermaker more often and also to enjoy some creature comforts. "The sun is shining and the boat is sailing along to the beat of music again. It's is so amazing how we can take electricity for granted," he added.

Fortunes have changed overnight on New York. Not only has the team fixed their watermaker, but they have also moved up into third place just three miles behind Visit Finland in second.

After discussions with his "nav team", skipper Gareth Glover has opted not to go for any Scoring Gate points in order to focus on their longer term race strategy.

"After looking hard at our plan we worked out that we may only be looking at one point and this will take us north and this might jeopardise our long term goals for this race," he explained.

Gareth said he had decided to head south to find more wind in the hope of picking up more speed.

"The sea state has now flattened off and the crew are finding it much easier to helm and with the wind behind us now we have been running with full main and pole out head sails," he said.

As always in ocean racing, one team's gain has been at the expense of another and in this case New York has benefited from Derry-Londonderry's slide down the leader board from third to fifth.

Skipper Mark Light reports that the Derry-Londonderry team sailed through the night under a poled-out Yankee 2 making good speed towards the Scoring Gate.

Despite preparing the spinnaker for a hoist on various occasions this morning, squally clouds prompted to abandon their plans.

"In the end we put it up anyway and have been making very good progress ever since but all in all it was fairly typical four-hour early morning watch for the LegenDerry crew"" Mark said.

On Gold Coast Australia, skipper Richard Hewson reported that varying winds and a confused sea made for "very challenging sailing indeed" as they raced towards the Scoring Gate.

"When we experienced a wind shift of 40 degrees yesterday evening, the decision was made to gybe to the east rather than sailing south east,"
he said.

"This gained us extra miles to the east and towards the Scoring Gate but closed the gap between Visit Finland and Derry-Londonderry, and at one point we thought we could see their masthead lights as they passed astern,"" he added.

"Whilst the day started with squally conditions and variable winds, this afternoon the sun is out and it is brilliant trade wind type sailing allowing us to do some maintenance and have some fun in the sun,"
Richard added.

On De Lage Landen, Stuart Jackson and his team have realised what a difference a day can make.

"We are now sailing in great conditions with the wind behind us and enjoying a relatively flat dry boat," he said.

However, Stuart is all too aware that the pleasant conditions are unlikely to last given the current forecast but he believes his crew is now prepared for the feisty conditions that lie ahead.

"As we have already had one good blow come through the crew knows what to expect so any early race nerves have well and truly gone and everyone is looking forward to some big surfing competitions," he said.

What has been a fast start to the leg, with great mileage covered by the fleet, looks set to continue with the approaching low, which will hopefully see us all make great progress," he added.

Edinburgh Inspiring Capital and Qingdao continue to jostle for position and the duelling pair was neck to neck at the last position report logging the same distance to the finish.

"We are now racing in company with Captain [Ian] Conchie and his Qingdao crew, who are running a parallel course around one mile off our port beam," Edinburgh Inspiring Capital's skipper, Gordon Reid, said.

Gordon also speaks of their "luck of the Scottish" as overnight the team experienced "a steam train of a wave" causing them to crash gybe.

"Everything was thrown about below decks, including me, and we hove too, then we started sailing backwards with the main sail and boom being held precariously by our double preventer, luckily I was able to get on deck to take control of the situation and we eventually got the boat back on course," Gordon said.

This morning the team has experienced flatter conditions allowing them to turn their attention to routine maintenance, a welcome change for the new crew who have been thrown in at the deep end with challenging conditions at the start of this 3,800-mile race into the Southern Ocean.


As the Edinburgh Inspiring Capital team gains distance on the leaders and closes in on the Scoring Gate, Gordon Reid and his team are excited about what the Southern Ocean has in store.

"It is fantastic to be back in the Southern Ocean, for now we are full of positives and enjoying the magical ride, but we know the Southern Ocean has more in store for us and we wait with a sense of anticipation, excitement and a little apprehension," he added.

Visit Finland continues to hold onto second place and skipper, Olly Osborne reports that his team is making good use of its spinnakers despite the wind angle not being particularly favourable forcing them to sail extra miles.

"With the competition still so close for the Scoring Gate we will have to make the best use of the lighter airs," he said.

"With the sun shining and the wind moderating significantly it seems strange that we are about to cross the fortieth parallel once again,"
Olly added.

With the sea state still very sloppy in the wake of the receding depression and light airs, it is proving difficult to maintain a reliable course, according to Olly.

Despite some gear failure, the team has been celebrating the birthday of Leg 4 crew member, Marie-Clare Chapman.

"The mothers made a great cake in true Visit Finland style, so sitting in the sun and munching cake makes you realise that things aren't so bad after all!" he added.

The fleet is expected to arrive in Tauranga, New Zealand between 25 to
29 November.

ENDS//

Positions at 0900 UTC, Thursday 10 November

Boat DTF*

1 Gold Coast Australia 2754nm

2 Visit Finland 2782nm (+28nm DTL*)

3 New York 2785nm (+31nm)

4 Welcome to Yorkshire 2800nm (+46nm)

5 Derry-Londonderry 2806nm (+52nm)

6 Qingdao 2812nm (+58nm)

7 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 2812nm (+58nm)

8 De Lage Landen 2817nm (+63nm)

9 Singapore 2833nm (+79nm position at
0600)

10 Geraldton Western Australia 2861nm (+107nm position at
0800)

*DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.

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[Ozee Adventure]

Wonder if this lady got on?

[Ozee Adventure]

RACE 5 - DAY 5 - by Mark Burkes (Qingdao)

Offshore sailing simplifies things. Life on board an ocean-going yacht is based on systems, procedures and routine. The log is made every hour, bilges are checked and pumped, routine maintenance is undertaken and damage is identified and, where possible, repaired. The crew are also subject to routines. Meal times are regimented, as is the menu, and there are times when they may sleep and watches, when they must work. And they do little else; just sleep or work (or play of course, dependent on your mind set).

Another important part of life on board a modern yacht, especially a racing yacht, are the regular emails, private and boat-related, but more of the former later. First priority is the GRIB files (weather information) and the position reports from race office. A good report, perhaps illustrating a place gain, are greeted with smiles or whoops, dependent on the achievement, whereas news of light airs (or a gale or storm) might be greeted with gritted teeth and a pledge to bank as much sleep as possible in the next 24 hours!

Our lives’ revolve around such simple things. Sail trim, regular stints on the helm, maintenance, cooking and the like. In some ways such routine may seem much like one's home life and daily commute, although there are differences. This time at sea allows time for thought and contemplation.

It allows one to count one's blessings and value one's friends and family.

At least it does this one, and from catching the eyes of fellow crew from time to time when watching a sunset on deck, I know I'm not alone.

But back to routine. For example, the day is split into four hour chunks.

Your World is a 68 ft long piece of plastic with 14 people living in it and most of the time is spent holding onto something. You are also divorced from all your friends and family - and you get no time off or weekends!

The last few days have been spent at 35 degrees, necessitating a special kind of movement about the boat, using a swinging / skating motion to move around and avoid collision with your fellow crew. Today is different. We are now sailing downwind in a moderate swell and the boat is rocking from side-to-side, a much more comfortable motion, although still unusual to experience for the landlubber.

Simple things also have a significant impact on your immediate quality of life. Is your bunk wet with condensation or salt water from the fore hatch? Are your clothes wet? Is it cold? Are you tired? The answer to most of these questions for most of the crew is yes, meaning that there is little respite to the discomfort. The best way to deal with such questions is, therefore, not to ask them - and certainly not to moan about them.

Thankfully, part of my function aboard is to write about our experiences and so I get an excuse and an opportunity for my own private little moan, out of earshot of the crew. Shh - don't tell anyone.

Of course, there are good days too. Days when the boat is screaming along, surfing down waves, the sky is blue and you get a real flavour of just what a beautiful planet we live on. I awoke this morning to the realisation that we have now entered the Southern Ocean again (that area of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans below 40 degrees South). Very much like after leaving Cape Town, the sun is out and whilst it is quite chilly, the weather is much better than the last few days and we are making 10.5 knots under a blue-ish sky.

Unfortunately, on polling out our number 2 Yankee last night we discovered damage to our starboard spinnaker pole which will be a problem unless we can fix it. That has become a talking point for today's dog watch, although the reduced amount of water over the deck will be a welcome change for those members of the crew tasked with the job, as it is located on the foredeck!

I hope, from these blogs, you are getting some idea of life aboard a Clipper Race yacht at sea. I have tried to be as honest as possible when writing about the ups and downs of an ocean crossing and I do hope it doesn't come over as too miserable! There are fun bits too - honest, and anyway, a large part of this is the achievement of something hard, despite the discomforts.

Today has been a welcome chance to recharge batteries and dry kit in the sun as we sail in tandem with Edinburgh Inspiring Capital a few miles behind us on our Starboard quarter. It has also enabled us to undertake minor service items. Sam L, for instance, has had two life jackets auto inflate on him in 12 hours; one on the helm and one on the foredeck with me. Always amusing to watch... And Jimbo and James created a spectacular lunch which was gratefully consumed on deck.

Of course, the one big luxury that most of us enjoy on board is the ability to contact loved ones from the most remote parts of the planet. That gives us all sustenance when our bunk is a little too clammy and our clothes are a little too soggy and the off watch was just a little too short. So thank you to all of our friends and family. Thanks to our loved ones that have allowed us time to participate in this unique adventure and continue to support us with warm words and news from home.

Bye for now (and trust me, I am working on getting a blog from another of the crew in the near future. In my experience, volunteers usually become more readily available as the deck gets colder and the cloud cover increases - so not long now!)

Mark Burkes
Crew, Qingdao

Caption competition for the photo!

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[Ozee Adventure]

RACE 5 - DAY 5 - by Bersi Kueper (De Lage Landen)

As so many other people joining this race, I have a certain weakness for the explorer of old, that employed all their courage and skill to venture into the wild, gradually expanding our knowledge of the world.

My everyday life is not really that of an explorer, but I can content myself in that I am doing well in my own life, having found an enjoyable balance between performance and duty and the good life.

Now, on the Clipper Race, I realised exploring isn't so much about noble deeds and passionate ventures but foremost about the will to discipline yourself at all costs. And I must honestly say that uncompromising discipline when you're tired, ridiculously nauseous and bone shivering cold isn't really that glorious. Despite all that, one does get up as everyone else does. Not out of peer pressure but because they all suffer as much as you do...but get on with it anyway. No point in fighting the inevitable pain.

On the other side, once the hard ship has past (approaching rapidly once the sea sickness leaves), life is incredible. The food tastes better, each clean piece of clothing is dearly valued, clean hair puts you to unknown new highs. But the biggest lesson so far for me is that those inglorious, painful little moments are the necessary foundations of great achievements, joy and, ultimately, pleasure.

To all the people that continuously discipline themselves and just get on with it, there is so much beauty and greatness in it...I salute you.

By Bersi Kueper

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[Ozee Adventure]

RACE 5 - DAY 5 - by Pete Phillips (Geraldton Western Australia)

Keep calm and carry on. A cliché I know and probably not unique amongst blog titles either but that is exactly what we are doing.

In the last few days on Geraldton Western Australia we have been plagued by everything from injury to breakages from gales to sea sickness. We've managed to get some serious sail changes in, the generator is fixed(ish) and we're getting practised at all doing our bit to keep ol' Geraldton Western Australia going, Juan even danced today.

I say the generator is fixed, what I mean to say is that the breather needs a little extra help every 20 minutes or so as today’s picture illustrates. Although I can't say that doing mother watch for my second day in a row has been either fun or fulfilling it has kept much needed hands free for deck work and may I say is it paying off. As time goes on seasickness and illness will subside and injuries will abate and we will become more effective and efficient as a team and as a boat.

There are many miles left in this race and we do not intend staying last for very much longer!

Peter Philips
Geraldton Western Australia

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•  croppedimage723371-CV6Race5Day5723371.jpg   22.84K   0 downloads

[Ozee Adventure]

CLIPPER 11-12

RACE 5: WESTERN AUSTRALIA TO TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND

DAY 6

* Bunched-up fleet charges through Scoring Gate in close quarters

* Derry-Londonderry skipper celebrates 40th birthday with move up to second

* Teams pause to pay homage on Remembrance Day

The ten-strong fleet was exceptionally close as they powered through the Scoring Gate for Race 5 with just minutes separating many of the teams.

With bonus points on offer for the first three teams to reach the Scoring Gate, Singapore and New York were separated by just three minutes and 17 seconds. Unfortunately for them, four other teams beat them to it and they missed out on the points by just three hours.

Gold Coast Australia claimed three points as the first team to reach the Scoring Gate at 1102 UTC yesterday, while Derry-Londonderry swooped in from their most northerly position to scrape inside it and claim two points at 1519 UTC yesterday. Visit Finland, currently second overall behind Gold Coast Australia, crossed the line just over an hour later at
1632 UTC.

Welcome to Yorkshire was sandwiched between the leading trio and Singapore and New York, reaching the gate at 1855 UTC.

The conditions as the teams drop south into the Southern Ocean have been heavy but have allowed the yachts to make ground towards New Zealand at consistently high speeds with Gold Coast Australia and Derry-Londonderry averaging around 13 knots over the 12 hours to 0001 UTC.

The second gate shown on the Race Viewer south of Tasmania is not an optional Scoring Gate but rather a mark of the course which the teams must pass through.

A further bonus point is on offer for the Ocean Sprint - a time trial for the fastest boat between longitudes 150 east and 154 east, a distance of approximately 240 miles.

Meanwhile, Clipper Race Director, Joff Bailey, is closely monitoring the situation in Tauranga after the MV Rena, a large container ship, ran aground on Astrolabe Reef approximately 12 miles outside the harbour entrance last month.

The oil that has spilled from the ship has caused a major environmental issue and 88 of the 1368 containers have fallen into the sea.

"My main concern is the safety of the Clipper yachts and crews, and therefore I have been in regular contact with the Clipper Race stopover organisers in Tauranga and the local harbour master over the last month to ensure that I have the latest and most up to date information with regards to the incident," Joff said.

He said adjustments have been made to the race course so that the Clipper yachts will sail well clear of the maritime exclusion zone around the MV Rena and clear of any potential hazards.

"If the MV Rena was to break up and discharge the remaining containers into the sea the area around Tauranga, the harbour would be closed and unsafe for any vessel and at that time we would look at diverting the yachts to an alternative destination," Joff said.

"However, at this moment in time the ship looks stable and a salvage company is undertaking a lot of work to remove the fuel oil and they will soon be starting the task of removing containers," he added.

After passing through the Scoring Gate in first place yesterday, Gold Coast Australia gybed to the south and skipper, Richard Hewson, said this was to place his team in a better strategic position for the remainder of the race.

"As we sailed in the evening albatross surrounded the boat, in particular one massive wandering albatross with a wingspan of at least three metres that circled us a few times before altering course for the north," Richard said.

Richard said the albatross leaving the area suggested that strong winds may be on the way which materialised in the early hours of this morning.
The Tasmanian skipper said he was woken by a large wind gust and the sound of water accelerating along the hull of Gold Coast Australia as his team was hit by a front bringing 52 knots of wind.

"The helmsman sailed a perfect straight line as we bolted downwind at 17 knots for a few minutes before the front overtook us leaving with it a constant wind of about 40 knots for the next few hours," he reported.

He added that today all the nationalities on board Gold Coast Australia paid their respects to those who have fallen as part of a Remembrance Day service.

"We reflected on how fantastic it is that people from so many nationalities can come together in a race like Clipper and sail together as friends not enemies," Richard said.

Meanwhile, the city of Gold Coast will be hoping that they can share their team's winning streak as at 2200 UTC tonight (0800 local tomorrow) the city will discover whether it will host the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

Queensland's Gold Coast and Hambantota in Sri Lanka are the only cities vying for the hosting rights and seventy-one delegates from the six Commonwealth regions have gathered on the island of St Kitts in the West Indies for the secret ballot today.
On Derry-Londonderry Mark Light has celebrated becoming a quadragenarian with news that his team has moved up into second place on the leader board as well as picking up two points for being the second boat to pass through the Scoring Gate.

"The Southern Ocean is a hell of a place to spend your 40th birthday in the middle of this opportunity of a lifetime with all the special people that take part," Mark said.

"What an amazing day! I'm loving it and will remember this for a long time to come," he added.

Mark said his team has been enjoying surfing down large swells at speeds up to 20 knots with strong consistent winds.

"The sun is shining brightly making the ocean sparkle all over and the albatross are gliding majestically overhead. This is without a doubt one of those perfect sailing days and definitely one of my best ever," he said.

Visit Finland has slipped back from second to fifth after what skipper Olly Osborne describes as a "pretty eventful 24 hours" including breaking a spinnaker pole during a broach in a squall.

"The two parts are now securely lashed to the cradle again and our heavyweight spinnaker was retrieved unscathed much to everyone's relief," Olly said.

"Making the right tactical call when sailing deep downwind can mean significant gains, or indeed losses, as we have found out during the last day or so," he explained, adding that choosing the right gybe is not easy even with the accurate weather information the fleet has been receiving from meteorologist Simon Rowell.

"Bearing in mind that the process of gybing the boat often takes upward of half an hour, and is a fairly treacherous procedure to perform in the dark on a heavily pitching deck, it is not something you want to be doing too often," Olly said.

Qingdao has moved from joint sixth with Edinburgh Inspiring Capital to ninth position after a busy night of sail changes as the weather changed for the worst.

"For four hours with two reefs the boat felt like it was continuously surfing with speeds never going below twelve knots and highs of over 20.
We held this as long as we could but safety and a broach dictated putting the three reef in and slowing down," skipper, Ian Conchie, said.

"This morning we have reversed the process slowly increasing sail area to build our speed up as the wind dropped. The crew are now well versed in reefing drills with the whole process becoming very slick," he added.

Ian said that the team had an "emotional" service today marking Remembrance Day at the eleventh hour in the eleventh month in the eleventh year remembering those lost and injured whilst serving their country.

De Lage Landen has had an eventful 24 hours after experiencing what skipper Stuart Jackson describes as "gusty" and "variable" winds, causing an expanded list of breakages and a crash gybe.

"With each and every squall the wind strength and direction varied so much that it required the utmost concentration of the helm. With no wind instruments, only the most experienced helmsmen could take on this task.
Even then it wasn't good enough, whilst broad-reaching the wind direction changed by 20 degrees and forced the yacht into a crash gybe,"
he said.

The team's hard work in these challenging conditions has paid off seeing De Lage Landen move up the leader board to sixth position.

Edinburgh Inspiring Capital has also felt the brunt of the weather as the Roaring Forties live up to their name once again. Gordon Reid and his team are enjoying being back in the Southern Ocean describing its "raw, wild and ferocious glory".

"Out of nowhere we were hit by a massive squall with horizontal rain and
50 knots of wind. Within seconds the poled-out Yankee 2 backed and ripped the spinnaker pole clean off the mast track sending the sail flying across to the port side and the pole flogging about the rigging,"
Gordon said.

"We eventually managed to put the staysail up and drop a couple of reefs in the main as the sun came up this morning. Even during that evolution the wind hit 42 knots as I wrestled with the wheel, hitting 22 knots on the surf mid reef...awesome!" he added.

With Edinburgh Inspiring Capital moving from joint sixth to seventh position today, the team reflects on their progress in this race so far.
"Considering we have sailed almost 1,400 miles the fleet remains in a very tight pack, ensuring that it will be a hard fought battle all the way to the finish," Gordon said.

On Singapore, skipper Ben Bowley, said his team was having a "fantastic ride" through the trough of low pressure. "This was the Southern Ocean sleigh ride we were hoping for last leg but never saw. It's awesome stuff," he said.

"Two reefs and the staysail were more than adequate for the conditions overnight and this morning I have a rested crew who are far more able to work the boat harder in these spectacular Southern Ocean seascapes," Ben said, adding that a "savage" squall after dusk last night brought gusts into the high 40s.

On Geraldton Western Australia, the team has also been facing similarly strong winds. Skipper Juan Coetzer said his team has been carrying out various evolutions to keep the boat manageable whilst maintaining boat speed including one which involved nine crew members.

"When the wind was still increasing with gusts of more than 45 knots we put a third reef in to get the boat under control and the crew is now able to steer a proper course," he said.

New York has headed south to pick up more wind and skipper, Gareth Glover, said that they had found it.

Gareth reported that he was woken by a large "bang" and went on deck to see the spinnaker pole swinging around. "We have ripped the track off the mast again just below the last repair in Geraldton," he said, adding that the other pole that was on the deck at the time had "a big hole" in it were the other pole hit it when it came free.

Now unable to pole-out a headsail downwind, Gareth's team is handicapped in the current conditions. "We have been here before and last time we came in third so now is the time for New York to dig deep and pull it off again," he said.

Rupert Dean said his team had experienced a busy 24 hours with various changes to their sail plan in "stonking strong winds and boiling cauldron seas" on Welcome to Yorkshire.

"Dawn this morning revealed a mountainous, hauntingly beautiful Southern Ocean sea and we're continuing to surf waves at 20 knots and are enjoying our time down here," Rupert said.

"Nevertheless, we realise how lucky we are and so on this Remembrance Day we paid homage to those who lost their lives in order that we can enjoy the freedoms we so often take for granted," he added.

ENDS//

Positions at 0900 UTC, Friday 11 November

Boat DTF*

1 Gold Coast Australia 2485nm

2 Derry-Londonderry 2537nm (+52nm DTL*)

3 New York 2540nm (+55nm)

4 Welcome to Yorkshire 2558nm (+73nm)

5 Visit Finland 2566nm (+81nm)

6 De Lage Landen 2579nm (+94nm)

7 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 2585nm (+100nm)

8 Singapore 2600nm (+115nm position at
0600)

9 Qingdao 2612nm (+127nm)

10 Geraldton Western Australia 2638nm (+153nm)


*DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.

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•  croppedimage723371-Singapore-for-web.jpg   50.49K   6 downloads

[clamslapper]

Isn't the Clipper race on fairly outdated leadmines? I mean it's not on modern swing-keel surfers as I recall.

To your point about Minis (and partial thread hijack): they have started to totally captivate my imagination. Especially the proto versions. I was looking at some videos of Minis with my teenage son the other night, and we were like, WOW that looks amazingly hard, and stupendously fun. I am sure that in a single crossing your sailing skills increase exponentially. Our club does a few fairly lame singlehanded races; I'm sure that if you showed up in a 6.50 with this kind of experience, it would simply be lights-out for all of them!! But it must be seriously dangerous. As I understand it, you don't carry GPS, and your weather tracking must be done from old school SSB radio reports. I can't imagine being in a 21 foot boat in the middle of nowhere in a halfway serious storm.

I was involved with the Global Challenge, which is no more, but the Clipper is in the same mould and like every event will have its positive and negative sides.

I had a place on the 2000 BT Global Challenge as my dream was race around the world. I knew I would never be good enough to do the Volvo and at that time wanted to settle down afterwards with a 'proper' job. The Global Challenge seemed like the perfect ticket. Unfortunately serious illness prevented me from doing the race but I recovered and did two legs of the 2004 race from Boston to La Rochelle and on to Portsmouth.

I had a great time, met some fantastic people and forged some life long friendships. The sailing was a mixed bag and this is exactly what ocean sailing is like. We had the lot from miserable, frustrating, boring times to exciting and exhilarating days. I saw some sights that I still feel privileged to have seen and any ocean passage gives you a real sense of achievement at the end of it. Everyone who I spoke to thought it was worth the money.

The full Clipper race is now something like £40,000 and that is an awful lot of money. Is it worth it? It very much depends on what your goals are.

Do you want to have a great adventure, see the world and have some incredibly varied sailing experiences? If so then the Clipper may well be perfect for you.

Do you specifically want to race around the world and are an amateur or novice sailor? If so then the Clipper is the only realistic option for you.

Do you want to be a professional racer? If so there perhaps are better options, with the greatest of respect to Leeds at Sea!

Of course you could do the Clipper as a crew and subsequently come back as a skipper. Don't forget that people such as Mike Golding, Dee Cafarri, Conrad Humphries, Pete Goss and Alex Thompson were skippers in the Global Challenge or Clipper races and used these campaigns as launch pads for their Vendee Globe careers. Admittedly all of them were professional skippers first and none sailed as a crew in previous races.

If you already are an experienced sailor then for £40,000 you could, for example, buy a Mini Transat 650 boat. Obviously you would have to pay for aspects that are included in the Clipper fee, such as training, logistics, food, marketing etc but a year or two on the Mini circuit would offer you an incredible challenge, improve you greatly as a sailor and (like the Clipper) give you the opportunity to meet people from a very diverse background.

The Clipper and Mini circuit are very, very different events and the Mini is clearly not for novices. I suppose the point I am tying to make is that at this stage you need to consider your experience, decide on your goals and plan accordingly.

Good luck in whatever path you choose!

[Ozee Adventure]

Isn't the Clipper race on fairly outdated leadmines? I mean it's not on modern swing-keel surfers as I recall.

To your point about Minis (and partial thread hijack): they have started to totally captivate my imagination. Especially the proto versions. I was looking at some videos of Minis with my teenage son the other night, and we were like, WOW that looks amazingly hard, and stupendously fun. I am sure that in a single crossing your sailing skills increase exponentially. Our club does a few fairly lame singlehanded races; I'm sure that if you showed up in a 6.50 with this kind of experience, it would simply be lights-out for all of them!! But it must be seriously dangerous. As I understand it, you don't carry GPS, and your weather tracking must be done from old school SSB radio reports. I can't imagine being in a 21 foot boat in the middle of nowhere in a halfway serious storm.

New boats next trip!

[Ozee Adventure]

CLIPPER 11-12

RACE 5: WESTERN AUSTRALIA TO TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND

DAY 7

* Singapore assesses options

* Gold Coast celebrates another victory

* Champagne sailing conditions for rest of the fleet

Today's skipper reports are filled with varying fortunes of the ten-strong Clipper Race fleet as they continue in the marathon race through the Southern Ocean, from Geraldton to Tauranga, New Zealand.

Singapore is continuing to stay north of the fleet in order to avoid the worst of the weather associated with the frontal system that is forecast to reach the yachts in the next 48 hours. It follows a problem that developed with their steering system, forcing them to switch to their secondary system, yesterday afternoon.

The bolts holding the steering quadrant onto the rudder stock stripped their threads and they have had to revert to their back up steering, which is a tiller. This drill is practiced during the rigorous pre-race training that every crew member receives prior to the race start.

Clipper Race Director, Joff Bailey, said, "With the tiller it is not as easy to sail directly downwind in big waves so the Singapore team is currently steering at a more acute angle to the wind whilst they attempt to solve the problem.

Skipper, Ben Bowley, is in close contact with the Race Office and the Clipper Maintenance Team to ascertain whether a repair can be worked out at sea so that they can continue racing to Tauranga. Despite every effort to find a solution, they do not have the specialist tools required on board and are now making their way towards a port on the south coast of Australia in order to make the repairs and put back to sea.

Ben says, "Team Singapore is fairly crestfallen this morning. Having spent the night helming the boat under secondary steering and doing a lot of head scratching, there appears to be very little we can do to fix our steering whilst at sea without specialised tools. For the sake of two stripped threads, our race is over. This is always the risk when you go yacht racing and one that we are all too familiar with. At some point our run of bad luck has to end and we shall start winning races.
Presently we are heading to the north in a bid to get out of the way of the next frontal system and its associated strong winds and big waves."


Explaining the decision to put in to port, Ben continues, "It takes three crew to steer the boat and we have four helming teams of three people. They run in a 1.5-hour on / 4.5-hour off rotation. We then have one mother who tries to provide food and hot drinks for the helming team. We hope to get this issue sorted ASAP as even though we have a very conservative sail plan, this is hard work on all the crew and only sustainable for a short period of time. Gutted, gutted, gutted."

Singapore is still racing and is approximately 600 miles from Melbourne, Victoria, where there are a number of marinas capable of accommodating the 68-foot yacht while the repairs are made. A member of the Race Office team is in Melbourne assisting with arrangements which will be clarified in due course. It is likely to take the team approximately three days to reach port and the repair is likely to take a few hours.

Joff commented, "Given the sea state and weather conditions and the latitudes at which the teams are sailing, this is a highly sensible decision and one that shows great seamanship. For race management and our ten skippers alike, the first and foremost concern is the safety of the crews and the yachts and Ben has made absolutely the right call to pull in to make the repairs to the steering quadrant so that they can get back on the race track."

Ben and his team, who have the 'Can-Do!' attitude of the yacht's sponsor, Keppel Corporation, are confident that with the correct tools they can make the necessary repairs and swiftly re-join the fleet on the race to Tauranga, New Zealand, where the yachts are due to arrive between 25 and 29 November.

Meanwhile the skipper and crew of the Gold Coast Australia have sent a message of congratulations the people of the Gold Coast after hearing of their success in winning their bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

"On behalf of the crew of Gold Coast Australia competing in the Clipper Race, I would like to congratulate the people of the Gold Coast in their fantastic efforts to win the 2018 Commonwealth Games," says Richard Hewson, the skipper of the Australian entry.

"The crew of Gold Coast Australia are very proud to be sailing for your city as we win our races around the world and I am sure that the people of Gold Coast will also be proud to host the Commonwealth Games and will host one of the best games in history."

The Tasmanian yachtsman continued, "The Gold Coast is a fantastic venue with a fantastic climate and friendly people and I look forward to visiting the games in 2018, just as I look forward to finishing our race in the Gold Coast in December this year."

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, founder and chairman of the Clipper Race, said, "I add my congratulations to those of Richard and his crew. Winning the right to stage the Commonwealth Games is marvellous news for Gold Coast and will enhance the city's profile in the world sporting arena. Their sponsorship of a yacht in the Clipper 11-12 Race is already providing them with a global platform from which to promote the Gold Coast name ahead of the games in 2018 and will continue to do so in the 15 ports of call during the 12-month-long event."

"We are now making arrangements to lengthen our snake pit to accommodate the swimming, and building a track around the gunwales for the marathon; where we should have the grand opening ceremony is undecided," jokes Richard, with his team currently leading the ten-strong fleet in the race to Tauranga.

"Not only have we just won the Commonwealth Games but we are also very pleased about our performance so far in Race 5. Earlier in the race we thought we had made a bad tactical decision by heading too far north, but it has all seemed to work out well as we sail under heavyweight spinnaker towards the Tasmania Gate and we are sailing better than ever with the last few spinnaker hoists and drops being even slicker than normal.

"Whist we are sailing very well our joy is somewhat hampered by the news that Singapore has lost her steering and the offer of assistance went out this morning if it was required. Ben and his crew really don't deserve their bad luck and we wish them all the best in their recovery."

On board current occupiers of fourth place, Welcome to Yorkshire, skipper Rupert Dean reports champagne sailing conditions.

"Since dawn this morning we have had the heavyweight spinnaker up and have been charging along on a broad reach under sunny skies. Sailing at great speeds with grins all round, this has really been champagne sailing at its best.

"It's great to see our new crew who, for the first few days suffered from seasickness, now fully recovered and enjoying life on board,"
continues Rupert.

"The Southern Ocean is a far warmer more pleasant place to be than the cold steel-grey surroundings we found ourselves in a few weeks ago.
Admittedly much of this is to do with the warm north westerly winds we are experiencing and that spring is now well advanced in the Southern Hemisphere.

"We continue to enjoy our second visit to the Southern Ocean."

Hoping to keep the English entry at bay is Derry-Londonderry, skippered by Mark Light.

"After a fantastic day's sailing yesterday (and me feeling one year older!), we experienced a night of lighter winds as we made our way south easterly to avoid the high pressure pushing south down on top of us," explains Mark, who celebrated this fortieth birthday yesterday.

"This also enabled us to cover our opponents' actions as we try to protect our valuable second position while trying to make in-roads into the dominant leader Gold Coast Australia. I am amazed, after nearly
1,500 nm of ocean racing, how closely grouped all of the boats still are.

"This is one long match race at the moment and we are doing exceptionally well as a team - things are really coming together on board and there is a huge sense of belief amongst the whole crew,"
reveals Mark, who has his eyes fully focused on a podium place.

"Apart from anything else the sailing has been outstanding and we are managing to look after our boat and equipment very well. This race has the makings of one of the most exciting yet, giving one of the closest finishes so far and we on Derry-Londonderry hope to be right up there in the last two or three days to make sure we achieve one of the much coveted podium positions."

Currently the most southerly positioned boat in the fleet, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, is again experiencing the conditions the Southern Ocean is famous for.

"Is this real or just a dream I need to wake up from? What a wonderful, adrenaline fuelled ride we are having here on this wonderful furious ocean," comments Gordon Reid, skipper of the Scottish entry.

"After ripping our spinnaker pole from the mast track, we are unable fly a spinnaker or pole out a head-sail and with the weather not being conducive to effect a repair, we are keeping the faith and happy with our big game plan even though we found ourselves on a very slightly less advantageous heading last night.

"Now the wind has veered and being further south we are taking full advantage of the stronger winds we sought. Currently the furthest south yacht we are sailing on a fast beam reach on the surf averaging 12 knots and hitting 18s and 20s as we surf the big ocean rollers," continues Gordon.

"With the next low pressure system and intense cold front racing at us from behind, we are enjoying the near perfect conditions before the Roaring Forties give another good beating in around 48 hours time.

"Once more today we are smiling and loving the adventure of a lifetime that we will never forget," signs off Gordon.

Also taking a similar southerly route is Dutch entry, De Lage Landen, whose crew, for the first time since leaving Geraldton, have been able to remove full foul weather gear.

"Finally some sailing in proper sunshine, the thermals are off and we are enjoying surfing downwind in the sunshine - ideal," reports skipper, Stuart Jackson.

"It's amazing what a difference the weather can make on crew morale, having spent a few days with full wet weather gear making it difficult to talk, the big jackets are now off and the usual conversation and banter has resumed.

"We are also finally making back some of our lost miles from choosing to go south early on, so we have managed to get ourselves more amongst the pack again. We are all looking forward to the Tasmania gate, which will be another milestone in the race passed."

Focused on avoiding any damage which could hamper their progress to New Zealand is Geraldton Western Australia skipper, Juan Coetzer.

"Life is good at the moment on Geraldton Western Australia. Looking after the boat is the key to this race. The normal saying is that this race is a marathon not a sprint and the crew are really stoked to see we have moved up one position for now.

"Late in the evening last night we put a gybe in and the wind has been playing in our favour, taking us to our waypoint. Just had happy hour and morale is still high," continues Juan, with his team currently in ninth place.

One place ahead of the Australian entry is Qingdao, who report good progress as they look to mount an assault up the leader board.

"We were greeted today with another glorious sunrise and have spent the day trucking along under a poled out headsail," explains Ian Conchie, skipper of the Chinese entry.

"We have also been busy keeping up with the maintenance required to keep a Clipper 68 out at sea. Chafe checks, steering checks, engine checks and sail checks resulted in repairs to our number two and number three Yankee."

Hoping they can make up ground on current leaders Gold Coast Australia is American entry, New York.

"The crew have been working hard at keeping New York racing over the last few days. We have now fixed our mast track and can now pole out and fly a spinnaker but still have to try it out," says skipper, Gareth Glover.

"The repair took three hours up the rig in 25 plus knots of wind with the yacht pitching from side to side; a job that would have taken an hour on land. But as good as we are at fixing things but we are unable to fix the hole in our spinnaker pole. New York is still sailing well and is making good speed towards the gate.

"Now with only one pole we are going to play safe and not fly a spinnaker until the wind drops a little more. A shame as today is a sunny bright day and great for spinnaker work. Every time I go on deck the crew say, 'NO we need to save our pole,' and I know they're right.
Let just hope it not going to hurt us overall. We just need the wind to pick up or go more to the north and we will be happy."

The fleet is expected to arrive in Tauranga, New Zealand between 21 and
25 November.

Positions at 0900 UTC, Saturday 12 November

Boat DTF* DTL**

1 Gold Coast Australia 2286nm 0nm
2 New York 2351nm 65nm
3 Derry-Londonderry 2373nm 87nm
4 Welcome to Yorkshire 2378nm 92nm
5 De Lage Landen 2380nm 94nm
6 Visit Finland 2394nm 108nm
7 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 2422nm 136nm
8 Qingdao 2438nm 152nm
9 Geraldton Western Australia 2456nm 170nm
10 Singapore 2494nm 208nm

Attached Files

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[Ozee Adventure]

Our happy boat!

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[Ozee Adventure]

CLIPPER 11-12
RACE 5: GERALDTON TO TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND DAY 8

* Singapore makes good speed towards Port Philip Bay
* Crews enjoy lull between frontal systems, preparing for more strong winds tonight
* Geraldton Western Australia's crew back up to strength

As the rest of the fleet powers towards Tasmania and the start of the Ocean Sprint at 150 degrees east, Singapore is making good speed of seven to eight knots under secondary steering towards Queenscliff at the mouth of Port Philip Bay where they will be able to pick up the specialist tools required to repair their steering system.

Skipper Ben Bowley reports from on board an upbeat Singapore, "We have fallen into a different but already familiar watch rota. The new rota is allowing all the crew to get a reasonable amount of rest ahead of a busy couple of days and the intention is to ensure that the crew are well rested and ready to re-commence racing with renewed vigour.

"As we approach the infamous Port Philip heads at the start of the Bass Straits we are likely to see some fairly fruity conditions, up to 30+knots from astern. This may seem like small fry after what the Southern Ocean has thrown at us over the last few weeks, but helming a boat down steep, choppy seas under secondary steering is no mean feat. We also have to ensure our arrival time coincides with slack water or last part of the flood tide entering Port Philip Bay so as to make the transit as calm as possible. Anyone who has tried entering Chichester harbour on an ebb tide and strong onshore breeze will tell you that the scariest waves are not always to be found out in the deep ocean.

"We are lucky to have a crew member aboard, Will Parbury, who has spent extensive time working out of the area on dive boats. With the addition of his local knowledge to some detailed pilotage plans I am confident that we can get ourselves into harbour, effect repairs, and be on our way again within a few hours."

Ben continues, "The crew and I would like to extend our thanks and appreciation for the kind emails of concern and support from all our followers. We look forward to seeing you in Tauranga where we anticipate receipt of our very own 'Melbourne to Tauranga, Race 5.5' yellow winner's pennant!"

Already in receipt of four yellow pennants in Clipper 11-12 is Gold Coast Australia, and if any of the other teams thought Tasmanian skipper, Richard Hewson, might be tempted to take a quick detour home in the next couple of days, they're out of luck.

"We are now almost most northerly boat and we are making best speed for the Tasmanian gate. Tomorrow we should see the rocks of Pedra Branca sticking out of the water to the south of Tasmania as we sail past.

"It would be very tempting to alter course north into Storm Bay and sail into home waters. Unluckily for the other yachts in the race, my desire to win overcomes the desire to sail home so we will continue on past Tasmania to Tauranga!

"The winds over the next week are looking promising to make good speed to New Zealand and at the moment we are sailing in paradise in the Southern Ocean with a moderate 15-knot wind, sunny blue skies and flat seas."

Visit Finland, in their mid-fleet position are also enjoying the conditions but skipper, Olly Osborne, knows they cannot allow themselves to become complacent as the next weather system approaches.

"This morning we are enjoying a fine reach and great speeds in the calmer seas," he reports. "There is a long swell building from astern which makes helming very exciting with the occasional surf getting into the twenties. And this also marks the approach of a much anticipated depression which looks set to arrive soon. As we dive further south toward the south west cape of Tasmania we are hoping to put as many miles in the bank as possible before it arrives, but overall we have been making great distances along with the rest of the fleet and, although our more northerly course has not provided us with such consistent winds, we are still pretty optimistic, and it's great to see we are still keeping pace with the pack.

"I think the most testing conditions still lie ahead in the Tasman Basin over the coming days, and although this is a relatively short leg in our journey the weather is likely to be much more severe than we have seen to date. The prospect of piling onto the continental shelf with a big following sea is one that focuses the mind somewhat, but the crew are in good spirits and are looking forward to the challenges, and the delights of New Zealand that lie ahead."

Spirits have been lifted on board Geraldton Western Australia, where sea sickness and minor injuries have kept a number of crew off deck since the start of the race from their home port.

Juan Coetzer, skipper of the Western Australian entry, reports this morning, "Yesterday seems so far away. The wind has been pretty constant and the sea relatively flat enabling us to steer a proper and true course in the right direction for a change. It is getting colder as we go south - so the crew are layering up with multi coloured clothing. The highlight was to have eleven of our crew on deck at Happy Hour for the first time since leaving G-town."

Getting the crew from both watches together is an important part of the team building required to effectively race a yacht across oceans and the Geraldton Western Australia crew will take great comfort in knowing they are gaining in strength. The teams are not yet at the half-way point of this race and as they pass Tasmania and turn towards New Zealand there will be plenty of opportunity to gain ground on and overtake their competitors in the distance remaining.

De Lage Landen have also had a quiet night and are enjoying their traditional Sunday get-together for the crew as they continue to race towards Tauranga, making the most of the calm before the storm.

"On Sunday we have our deck party where we have a general catch up as a whole crew on deck and enjoy some nicer food and snacks and play party games, although I'm not sure what Bersi [German crew member Bersi Keuper, a user experience architect] has in mind for us today!" explains skipper, Stuart Jackson, ever mindful of the conditions ahead.

"The last frontal system passed through with a wind shift that gave us a pretty hefty crash gybe and a fair bit of damage and it looks like we are due to have another go through tonight, so we'll have to see what sort of gusts that brings."

De Lage Landen, as in Race 4, are putting the pressure on second placed New York, which hasn't gone unnoticed by skipper of the American entry, Gareth Glover.

"Our friends from the last race, De Lage Landen, have now started to come back up from the south as we did and make good miles on the rest of the fleet and are now lying third only 20nm behind us at just under half way to Tauranga. The rest are only a few miles behind that so at this point we are happy to hold on to second, knowing we will have to fight to hold on to this to the end.

"The barometer has been dropping and we are awaiting a front from this low in the next 12 hours and expecting winds to get up to 40 knots which will suit us on New York as we reach towards Tasmania."

Gareth is expecting there to be a change in positions among the fleet in the coming days.

Welcome to Yorkshire and Derry-Londonderry are engaged in a battle for supremacy and were close enough last night to enjoy a little banter over the airwaves.

"After a quick chat on VHF radio with Welcome to Yorkshire's skipper, Rupert, we got back to constant trimming and concentrating on the helm which has paid dividends as we have managed to pull away slightly from them again!" says Mark Light, skipper of Derry-Londonderry. "A very good headsail change up from Yankee 2 to Yankee 1 has helped proceedings - the evolution was briefed, timed and de-briefed and turned out to be one of our best ever - further proof that things are really coming together on board and that focus and hard work remains high on our priority list."

The English yacht's crew are making the most of their current challenge to hone their helming skills, as Rupert Dean reports this morning.

"Last night was a tricky one on Welcome to Yorkshire. Having dropped our heavyweight kite the previous day, we had been expecting a night of beam reaching under fresh but moderating north westerly winds, under main, Yankee 1 and staysail. Instead they remained fresh and very gusty until this morning, making keeping the boat in a straight line for helm and trimmers very challenging.

"Keeping your yacht in a straight line is one of the key ingredients to success in ocean racing. It demands real concentration and technique. So important is it that on some yachts only specialist helms are allowed to do it. On Welcome to Yorkshire all get to helm the boat, in accordance with the traditional values of the Clipper Race and those of our campaign. After all, the race is about the crew and what they aspire to achieve out of the experience.

"The challenges of helming last night were compounded by the loss of damping gas in our steering compass. This stops the compass from wildly swinging back and forth through great arcs as it is disturbed by waves and the turning momentum of the yacht. Without it, it becomes very difficult to know exactly when you are steering on course, resulting in a lot of over-compensation at the wheel and a far from straight line. Experienced helms know not to over rely on the compass, using other stimuli to do a good job. The feel of the wind on your face, the apparent wind angle and strength, angle of the swell, feel of the boat beneath your feet, windex and visual references in the sky (sun, moon, stars) all help. The latter are particularly useful, so were very much missed during the cloudy night last night.

"The crew on Welcome to Yorkshire will have to rely on much more on their senses for the remainder of this race to Tauranga. By embracing this challenge, hopefully they will become much better helms and sailors for it."

Qingdao's crew have an equipment issue of their own - their navigation computer has stopped working. Salt water and electronics are not the most comfortable of bedfellows. (We also have someone confined to bed after a fall & bruising in the snakepit - don't have all the details yet)

"It makes it hard to view the weather updates that the Race Office sends us daily but in terms of navigation it is not an issue," comments skipper Ian Conchie. "We all carry paper charts and have been plotting positions and courses on the charts as well as the PC since the race start in Southampton.

"It shows what a harsh environment the Southern Ocean can be on both people and equipment whilst providing some amazing sailing at the same time. We are reminded of this with every update as we monitor the progress of Singapore.

"We have had some lovely sailing conditions for the last 24 hours, reaching along with around 20 knots apparent wind with a full main and our number 2 Yankee. This has been giving us good speed towards the next gate off Tasmania. Unfortunately the temperature has also dropped and frequent showers are making our life that bit harder too. All of this puts a strain on the crew who look tired but remain cheerful and upbeat, looking forward to our next stopover in Tauranga."

"Today Baz (round the world crew member, Barry Chamberlain, a project manager) and I managed to do a full assessment of our mast track damage and initiate a temporary repair which will allow us to fly the spinnaker again or pole out a head sail," reports Edinburgh Inspiring Capital's skipper, Gordon Reid.

"For now we continue on a fast beam reach under conventional head sails. The sky is looking angry, the swell is building and gusts are increasing in frequency and strength," reports "The latest navigational warnings are predicting winds of 50 knots plus and a sea state of very rough to high. The crew are a little bit nervous but mainly very excited as the storm front approaches.

"The conditions last night were fairly lively and again today as the weather patterns in the Southern Ocean are more typical and extreme than when we were this far south in the last race: preceding fronts, followed by low pressure systems one after another, bringing with them lots of rain but also plenty of wind are making this race a fairly fast one so far."

The fleet is expected to arrive slightly earlier than anticipated in Tauranga, between 21 and 25 November.


Positions at 1200 UTC, Sunday 13 November

Boat DTF*
1 Gold Coast Australia 2,027nm
2 New York 2,072nm (+45nm DTL*)
3 De Lage Landen 2,097nm (+70nm)
4 Derry-Londonderry 2,100nm (+73nm)
5 Welcome to Yorkshire 2,106nm (+79nm)
6 Visit Finland 2,118nm (+90nm)
7 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 2,170nm (+143nm)
8 Qingdao 2,173nm (+146nm)
9 Geraldton Western Australia 2,180nm (+153nm)
10 Singapore 2,386nm (+359nm)

*DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.

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[Ozee Adventure]

I found this today...

Crew presentations are held all over the world, see the dates and locations below for your nearest one.

Crew Recruitment Manager, David Cusworth, who took part in 2002 edition of the Clipper Race as a round the world crew member on board New York, takes the presentations as he goes through topics including the history of the Clipper Race, the unique race fleet, the race concept and the high and lows of the challenge of a lifetime.


United Kingdom
Clipper Race Head Office, Royal Clarence Marina, Gosport: 25 November



New Zealand
Royal Port Nicholson YC, Wellington: 30 November at 2000

Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Auckland: 1 December at 1800

Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club, Tauranga: 3 December at 1700



Australia
Stand at the ISAF Regatta, Fremantle WA: 3-18 December

Fremantle Sailing Club, Fremantle WA: 6 December at 1900

Royal Perth Yacht Club, Perth WA: 7 December at 1800

CYCA, Sydney: 11 December at 1700

Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron should be in here approx 15th Dec

Southport Yacht Club, Gold Coast: 19 December at 1700



2012

London International Boat Show: 6-15 January

Hong Kong; January (Dates TBC)

Keppel Bay Marina, Singapore: 29 January at 1100 and 31 January at 1900

San Francisco: April (Dates TBC)

New York: June (Dates TBC)

Northern Ireland: July (Dates TBC)

Den Helder, Holland: July (Dates TBC)

new boat below

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[Ozee Adventure]

Qingdao diverts towards Tasmania after crew member injured in deck fall - 14 November 2011

Qingdao, one of the ten 68-foot yachts competing in the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race, is diverting to Hobart, Tasmania, to allow an injured crew member to seek medical attention ashore.



Jo Sandford, 56, sustained a shoulder injury and bruising around the coccyx after falling on deck and has been confined to her bunk. However, as she is in acute pain, the on board medic, Joan Clancy, has recommended hospital treatment.



Skipper, Ian Conchie, has taken the prudent decision, one supported by the Race Management Team, to divert to Hobart and the yacht is expected to arrive there in the next 36 hours.



Ian reports, “Our plan is to stop in Hobart briefly to allow Jo to go to the hospital. The Race Team are arranging for a representative to meet them when we arrive. We will then quickly turn the boat around and resume racing to Tauranga in New Zealand.



“We have to be careful to note our position when we drop the sails and return to the same position afterwards to stay in the race. Looking at the weather we are hoping that we can make it in and out of Hobart before the high pressure establishes itself over the area.”

[Leka]

Thats a bummer, wondered why they were heading so far north.

They seem to be on an odd course for Hobart.
Pointing directly to Strahan at the moment.


Wonder if Q and Singapore get an exemption from the Tasmania gate?
Would seem logical to do that I would think.

[Ozee Adventure]

Thats a bummer, wondered why they were heading so far north.

They seem to be on an odd course for Hobart.
Pointing directly to Strahan at the moment.


Wonder if Q and Singapore get an exemption from the Tasmania gate?
Would seem logical to do that I would think.

Yeah I wondered about the course too - maybe just hugging into the coast abit?

[Leka]

Thats a bummer, wondered why they were heading so far north.

They seem to be on an odd course for Hobart.
Pointing directly to Strahan at the moment.


Wonder if Q and Singapore get an exemption from the Tasmania gate?
Would seem logical to do that I would think.

Yeah I wondered about the course too - maybe just hugging into the coast abit?

Possibly. I guess if they turn east soon we will know.

Would not like to try to get through Hells Gates with the south easterly's that have been blowing for a while.

[Leka]

Sorted, heading East again now.
Sure looks like they plan to miss the Tasmania gate though.

[Ozee Adventure]

CLIPPER 11-12

RACE 5: WESTERN AUSTRALIA TO TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND

DAY 9

* Qingdao diverts towards Tasmania after crew member injured in deck fall

* New York hangs onto second but teams pile on pressure from behind

* Gold Coast Australia escapes spinnaker damage after cutting jammed halyard

Qingdao, one of the ten 68-foot yachts competing in the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race, is diverting to Hobart, Tasmania, to allow an injured crew member to seek medical attention ashore.

Jo Sandford, 56, sustained a shoulder injury and bruising around the coccyx after falling on deck and has been confined to her bunk. However, as she is in acute pain, the on board medic, Joan Clancy, has recommended hospital treatment.

Skipper, Ian Conchie, has taken the prudent decision, one supported by the Race Management Team, to divert to Hobart and the yacht is expected to arrive there in the next 36 hours.

Ian reports, "Our plan is to stop in Hobart briefly to allow Jo to go to the hospital. The Race Team is arranging for a representative to meet them when we arrive. We will then quickly turn the boat around and resume racing to Tauranga in New Zealand.

"We have to be careful to note our position when we drop the sails and return to the same position afterwards to stay in the race. Looking at the weather we are hoping that we can make it in and out of Hobart before the high pressure establishes itself over the area."

Another team which has temporarily left the race course is Singapore.
Following problems with their primary steering system, Ben Bowley and his team have diverted towards Queenscliff at the mouth of Port Philip Bay where they will be able to pick up the specialist tools required to undertake a repair.

"After last night's front passed over with very little fuss, we have been enjoying the warmer weather and several of the crew have peeled to their shorts," Ben reports.

"Our gybe south should allow us a better approach to Melbourne and keeps us well clear of lee shores," he said.
As he makes his way back to Australia, Ben said he had received "a lovely quote" in an email from his grandma, who has owned a number of boats with character.

"'Be to her virtues ever kind, and to her faults, a little blind' which seems rather apt at the moment!" he said.

New York is hanging onto second place although Gold Coast Australia has pulled ahead almost doubling their lead over Gareth Glover and his team since yesterday.

"Over the past 24 hours the wind has dropped and as we can only pole-out the Yankee 3 going downwind after fixing the mast track, we have lost some miles to the fleet," Gareth explained.

"This is disappointing after how much hard work has to be put in to just get a mile ahead with the fleet being so close," he added.

Gareth said the stronger winds forecast over the next 48 hours present the conditions in which his team thrives.

"We will see the wind increase over the next week as a very deep low is heading our way with the centre passing right over the Great Circle course to New Zealand. It looks like we will have to re-think our tactics to stay away from the winds of more than 50 knots forecast to the south," he said.

Richard Hewson on Gold Coast Australia reports that his team has enjoyed a "thrilling" 24 hours whilst extending their lead. A number of sail evolutions included a hasty heavyweight spinnaker drop as a large black cloud approached "like a racehorse".

"Our spinnaker halyard cover ripped apart in the drop and got stuck in the jammer, resulting in the halyard becoming stuck. With the spinnaker neither up nor down, there was no option but to cut the jammed halyard and recover the spinnaker," he said, adding that the new sail was safely recovered undamaged.

Meanwhile, a dramatic wind shift dashed Richard's hopes of sailing close to his homeland of Tasmania.

"It's unfortunate that the wind changed before we reached the Tasmanian Gate, as it would have been nice to see my homeland and to share it with the crew. Unfortunately the wind has decided on our new course, and we are now heading straight towards Stewart Island in New Zealand," he said.

Currently in third position and enjoying what skipper, Stuart Jackson, describes as "Champagne sailing", the De Lage Landen team is making the most of the calm before the storm and contemplating the heavy weather ahead.

"Tomorrow we are due to have another low pass over us. It looks to be our strongest yet and we should have gusts well into the 50s [knots] so we're getting the boat prepared and hopefully we'll come through it unscathed," he said.

There are currently only four miles between De Lage Landen and Derry-Londonderry. The skipper of the Northern Irish entry reports that one front has already caught up with his team.

"On board Derry-Londonderry we had a front pass over us last night which brought strong winds, lots of torrential rain, very gusty conditions and dark menacing clouds but also allowed us very good boat speeds. We went from the Yankee 1 to the Yankee 2 and put a reef in the main and were able to surf consistently at speeds of between 12 and 20 knots. As soon as the front passed the wind shifted and we changed to a more downwind set-up of full main and poled-out number 2 Yankee," he said.

With the team hot on the heels of De Lage Landen, thoughts have turned to tactics and the battle for podium position.

"Only hours from the mandatory Tasmania Gate, we're seeing the fleet beginning to bunch up. We've been sailing with Welcome to Yorkshire for the past two days and we've now been joined on our AIS [Automatic Identification System] by De Lage Landen.

"It is great to have all these other Clippers around to race against visually and on AIS as this also focuses our racing minds. The race is most definitely on for the podium positions and will take a few twists and turns yet as we carry on with this very fast downwind sleigh ride,"
Mark added.

After grappling for position with Derry-Londonderry yesterday, Rupert Dean and his team on board Welcome to Yorkshire have seen their hard work and careful helming pay off as they currently share fourth place.

"With Derry-Londonderry visible on the horizon only four miles ahead, we were pushing Welcome to Yorkshire hard and we probably had a bit too much sail up for the conditions at the time. However, we pushed on, knowing that the winds were due to back round behind us and decrease in strength.

"This happened radically as the cold front passed over us and, before we knew it, we were setting the boat up on port gybe with full main and a poled-out Yankee 2," Rupert said.

With the Tasmanian Gate in their sights, Rupert is proud of his team's progress so far in this race as they race confidently towards New Zealand.

"After passing Cape Leeuwin, the southern tip of Tasmania will be another key milestone for the crew on their Southern Ocean odyssey and they should be proud of what they have achieved so far. In the meantime, our focus is to make as much distance as possible towards New Zealand before the next low hits us and, of course, work our way up the fleet in the process," he added.

Olly Osborne reports that his team on Visit Finland has been experiencing some "really exciting surfing" with a fast following swell and brilliant sunshine between passing rain squalls. "It's great to see the miles whizzing by in true Southern Ocean style," he said.

Olly has been the latest skipper to celebrate his birthday at sea, following Mark Light's 40th last week, and the Visit Finland crew didn't let it slip by unnoticed.

"I was surprised to find the crew waiting with presents, bunting and party hooters outside my cabin when I woke up. We also enjoyed a fine selection of cheeses in the evening that my wife, Lucy, had arranged to be brought from Geraldton, so all in all it was a fantastic day, and I am sure I will not have a birthday like it again," he said.

Olly said he plans to shape a more southerly course through the last deep ocean leg of this race after passing through the Tasmanian Gate.

"The weather forecast looks like it will not be giving us such a battering over the next few days after all, as the depressions look set to track further south, and with a good following sea the surfing conditions look set to last," he said.

As the crews approach New Zealand, they will be looking forward to the next milestone on their 40,000-mile circumnavigation: reaching the most southerly point of their year-long race around the globe.

Geraldton Western Australia's skipper, Juan Coetzer, said the day brought wet and windy weather and that his team was enjoying the increased breeze.

"The crew enjoy the windy conditions and has become really slick at reefing the main, and we've been reefing all night long," he said.

"Overnight we managed to regain some lost mileage on the boats ahead.
Currently we're in eighth place, and the crew is totally inspired to capitalise on the new breeze in order to catch the next boat...Edinburgh Inspiring Capital!" he added.

On board Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, the team has been revelling in the exhilarating conditions the Southern Ocean is throwing up. Skipper, Gordon Reid, reports that his team has experienced another "epic day's sailing" as they were hit by harsh weather conditions.

"We had 30 degree wind shifts and gusts over 40 knots, and all that together with building and confused ocean swell of up to 40-feet, makes driving the Purple Beastie both challenging and exhilarating all at the same time.

"The challenge for Clipper skippers as we race around the world is to find a balance between teaching and getting the job done as this is a race after all. Teaching sail trim is easy but teaching helming in such extreme conditions is no mean feat, and ultimately there is no substitute for experience. However, with that said the team on Edinburgh Inspiring Capital is getting on with it, learning fast and looking out for each other. It's a team game," he added.

With the low pressure system set to deepen, Gordon saidf his team is prepared for the next "onslaught".

"All deck equipment has been checked, all potential chafe arrested in its tracks, crew briefed on potential sail plan adjustments and ready for squall watch. The skipper has a fresh pot of coffee and we're ready for another night of fun and frolics on Edinburgh Inspiring Capital," he said.

ENDS//

Positions at 0900 UTC, Monday 14 November

Boat DTF*

1 Gold Coast Australia 1789nm

2 New York 1875nm (+86nm DTL*)

3 De Lage Landen 1877nm (+89nm)

4 Derry-Londonderry 1882nm (+93nm)

5 Welcome to Yorkshire 1882nm (+93nm)

6 Visit Finland 1885nm (+97nm)

7 Geraldton Western Australia 1965nm (+177nm)

8 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 1971nm (+182nm)

9 Qingdao 2011nm (+222nm)

10 Singapore 2294nm (+505nm position at
0600)


*DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.

Attached Files

•  croppedimage723371-Pic-1-11114-copy.jpg   43.7K   3 downloads

[Ozee Adventure]

Chronic Sea Sickness – Almost Man Overboard
Posted on November 14, 2011 by Lisa Blair

Gold Coast Australia sailed in some challenging conditions on our first night at sea as we raced in the 5th race of the Clipper 11/12 Round the World Yacht Race. Racing from Geraldton to Tauranga in New Zealand, we experienced large breaking swells as our 68 foot home turned into a submarine, spending more time under the water than on top as we beat into 30 knots of wind.

The dreaded sea sickness re-surfaced as many of the crew were struck down and unable to get out of there bunks with the leggers, crew who join for one race only, suffering the worst as they adjust to life at sea away from all the creature comforts of land like stable ground. Two of our crew were chronically ill for the first three days with sunken, pained eyes and green faces.

Day two dawned with a spectacular sunrise offering a clear view of the surrounding seas, a boiling and turbulent sea as the tops of waves are ripped off by the wind and the spray clouds your vision as it is so thick. The sun is shining, offering a clear blue sky adding to the amazing beauty of the marine blue ocean trimmed with frothing white foam.

Some of the crew were not so lucky this day as huge waves would crash over the deck washing anyone and everyone away in its path only to have the crew’s stopped short by there life lines. Crew member Annelise Nelson was carried from forward of the main companionway and thrown meters back to land by the traveller on the other side of the deck bouncing, to a halt on her safety line while another crew member Nina Zeun learnt the art of floating on the deck as she was continually doused by great torrents of water cascading down the deck.

Gold Coast Australia has now rounded Cape Leeuwin and struck out towards the Great Australian Bight sailing in moderate conditions on Day 3 flying our brand new Heavy Weight Spinnaker, our last having met a watery grave on the previous race during a gale in the Southern Ocean. As the miles dropped off we continued east towards the scoring gate, a virtual line in the ocean where the first three boats across receive points towards there final race tally. The weather continued to deliver 30 knots of wind as we sailed square with the Spinnaker. By midday on day 4 we took first place at the scoring gate and received a bonus three points.

After a short reprieve from the strong winds another low front came through on day 5 bringing with it increased swell and winds of 47 knots. Earlier that same day the leach line on both sides of the Heavy Weight Spinnaker snapped and was slowly working it’s way out so taking into account the predicted low front we dropped the Spinnaker and poled out the Yankee 2 at the midnight watch change. From then on there was a rotation of crew working on the Spinnaker trying to re-thread the leach line for more than 10 hours in the stuffy environment down below as the boas pitched and bucked over waves. Not an easy job.

When we arrived on deck for watch at 4am on day 6 with winds gusting 50 knots we figured that it was time to put a reef in to calm the impressive speed of the boat down. Later that same morning Skipper Rich Hewson took the helm to allow me to snack on some cookies that were getting offered around when he was shoved by a massive wave causing the nose to fall down into the trough so far we were almost pitch-polling. The angle of heal was so violent that the rudder was half out of the water, resulting in a broach. I was standing just behind the helm leaning against the radar post during the broach so I has a full view of the events.



Rich shouted for the main to be dumped by fellow crew member Fred Tooley the oldest crew member competing it the clipper race at an impressive age of 72 years. Fred was on the leeward side and as I watched he was dragged from his seat and completely disappeared under water as the gunnels were buried, I simply could not see him and assumed that he had been washed overboard but lucky for Fred his safety line had stopped him short at the back of the boat. Suffering some minor injuries and shock we sent him down below to rest.

A short time later I took the helm once again and surfed an amazing three waves in concession. I could feel the stern getting picked up by a mega wave as the nose almost buries in the wave in front, I added helm to starboard to ride along this monster and felt the boat accelerate as we planned across the water. We gained so much speed that we caught the wave in front riding over the lip and dropping effortlessly onto the face of the next wave only to continue to accelerate and once again catch the wave in front, By now my heart is in my mouth as I mentally shout to myself ”don’t make a mistake, don’t broach” because to do this would be disastrous to both the boat and crew at such speeds. Almost out of control now we surf down the face of the third wave racing an incredible boat speed of 22 knots and ride this until we finally slow down enough for the wave to pass beneath us. Back under control and my hands are shaking from the shock and adrenalin rush of what was an amazing surf down three waves.

In the following days the winds reduced allowing the sea state to calm down and the crew to dry out our home. Currently we are sailing with 15 knots of wind in slight conditions and still holding our lead on the fleet, increasing the miles to 60 nautical miles in the lead. In second place is ‘I love NY’ who are fighting hard to catch us. It is hard to believe that at the moment we are at 44 degrees South with beautiful sunshine and smooth sailing but with an amazing 2, 400 nautical miles left to race with a low front due in two days to offer mixed sailing conditions.

www.LisaBlairSailstheWorld.com

[Ozee Adventure]

[Ozee Adventure]

Relentless

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Lesley Roberts

http://robertsroundtheworld.wordpress.com/

Since just shortly after the start of this race the weather has been quite ‘full on’. There has been no respite from the wind, the bumpy sea and the rain/waves. We have spent most of our time wet and a bit cold. My bunk is now slightly damp with condensation running down the walls and I am eternally grateful for my Ocean Sleepwear sleeping bag and its waterproof outer. I am also becoming a very adept bunk contortionist as I struggle into my 5 layers of clothing in my bunk before getting up to put my foulies on. My boots are doing a great job at keeping my feet dry (thanks Daddykins) and my legs are warm enough with just thermal tights under my oilies but the top half of me is doing a good job at resembling Michelin woman. I still have my furry midlayers in a dry bag in my cave locker – I’m saving them for when it gets really cold. The other outfits on deck are proving entertaining, the array of hats and buffs are great and we have Rich and Scarlet in bright yellow dry suits – Banana Man and Banana Skin respectively!

The sea and weather conditions are everything I had imagined when I pictured a sailing race around the world, rough, wild and exciting. It still amazes me that I am here, on a tiny boat in the middle of a huge boiling ocean. I’ve tried to capture the experience in photos but they are never quite the same so I’ve tried using the video camera on my camera so we’ll see how that goes.

I was on mother watch yesterday. A challenging day! Partly due to cooking at 35 degrees, balancing all the food and utensils then catching them as we are hit by another wave, to the fact that the full kettle managed to spill twice all over the galley, to working with a mother watch partner who has very different ideas as to how things should be done and is very definite about it being their way. And finally, to trying to wash my hair (a mothers day perk) in the galley sink without falling over, soaking myself or the galley and rescuing the shampoo and conditioner bottles as they fly through the air whilst leaning backwards at 45 degrees with soap in my eyes! All in all a relentless day to go with the relentless weather. However, worth it for the 8 hours sleep that follows a mother watch.

[Ozee Adventure]

Ben Turner - Round the World
Friday, 11 November 2011Southern Ocean - The Sequel
http://benturner-rtw.blogspot.com/2011/11/southern-ocean-sequel.html

Hello all, again. Well, we're back out again, and this time we've come out all guns blazing. After the horrors of the last Southern Ocean leg, we're determined to get back up the leader board where we know we belong.
But what a great stop-over Geraldton was. The people were so friendly and most of the city knew we were there, and who we were, which was great. Coming into the stop we had a mountain of work to do, but with a gladiatorial effort from all the crew and supporters out for the stop, we managed to get 90% of the work done and had a little bit of time to chill and have a laugh in the town. But the focus was then onto the start, and how desperately we needed to get a good one. The weather was perfect for it, and a quick round the can race (racing marks) in front of hundreds of spectators on the shore, we headed out down the west coast.

This was certainly a baptism of fire as in 12 hours we went from yankee 1 and full main to 3 reefs and yankee 3, while some of the fleet just went 3 reefs and staysail. After the shifting around of places we found ourselves 8th, but not for long as we charged up the fleet in 6 hours from 8th, to challenging 1st and 2nd.

The crew were short handed as the bad sea state had led to a few of the crew heading for their bunks where they stayed for a few days. Meanwhile on deck, we were in an almighty match racing contest with Visit Finland who were just a mile ahead. At one point we were 0.44 miles behind and did a simultaneous sail change. We were so close we were shouting at each other trying to distract the change. Again we were matched and only a difference in course led the 2 boats apart. The race was on the scoring gate; we knew if we could sneak through the north end of it, we could sneak 2nd place and a vital 2 bonus points. We crossed during last night and it all looks promising that this is what happened. Our temporary slip down the board as we headed north east was short lived as we now turn out to be in 2nd again, and although it looks close, we think we could be further ahead.
This morning has been a fantastic day's sailing; broad reaching (wind slightly behind the side) with 25 knots of wind, and big swells have led to big surfs of 20kts plus and 6 hourly milages of 70 miles. Although today is Remembrance Day, it's also a day of celebration as today our skipper. Mark Light, "Sparky", turns 40, so a massive Happy Birthday to him.

Well, the winds look set to hold, with a slight lull tomorrow, all the way to Tasmania where a second low will hit and give us another few days of exhilarating down wind surfing... I mean here, sailing towards our New Zealand mark at 48 south before the final sprint up the coast to Tauranga. Fingers crossed we shall still be in as good a, if not better, shape than before. Long may the good ship Derry continue to fly and bring fortune.

Cheers

[Ozee Adventure]

CLIPPER 11-12

RACE 5: WESTERN AUSTRALIA TO TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND

DAY 10

* Fleet gets battered by powerful low and prepares for worse to come

* Derry-Londonderry and Welcome to Yorkshire start Ocean Sprint

* Gold Coast Australia gets surprise airborne visit from Tasmanian crew member


The ten teams competing in the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race are bracing themselves for a violent storm south east of Tasmania.

"Once started, there is no way to stop it, you can't just switch it off or change the channel and there's no pause button," Derry-Londonderry's skipper, Mark Light, said this morning in anticipation of the approaching heavy weather.

At sea self reliance is vital and all the teams are making sure they are as prepared as possible for what lies ahead. "There's no breakdown vehicle to drive by and offer assistance, so we are totally reliant on our own efforts, resources, resilience, skills and experience," Mark said.

"Anybody who goes to sea will relate to what we are all feeling and will know what needs to be done so are preparing, sorting, stowing, briefing and waiting for the battle to commence," he added.

This morning Derry-Londonderry started the Ocean Sprint for Race 5, crossing 150 degrees east at 0732.44 UTC. The fastest team between 150 and 154 degrees east will be awarded a bonus point irrespective of their relative position within the fleet. Under the race rules, skippers have to inform the Race Office when they start and finish the time trial within three hours to be eligible to win the point.

"This is pure and simply nature at its most powerful, demonstrating that whatever she [Mother Nature] wants to happen will take place and all we can do is deal with it," he said. "Part of the beauty of this vast wilderness of ocean is that she can throw anything at you, at any time, whenever she feels like it," he added.

Mark said that he had received all the weather warnings and updates, satellite images and advice, so now it was up to him and his team to prepare for the "inevitable onslaught".

As Gold Coast Australia made the most of what skipper Richard Hewson described as "near perfect sailing conditions" earlier this morning, a surprise airborne visit was paid by fellow crew member and Tasmanian Gina Gourlay who will join Leg 5 of the race in Gold Coast.

Gina flew out from Cambridge Airport near Hobart in Tasmania to find her fellow team mates in the middle of the Southern Ocean approximately 180 miles offshore.

"Gina's plane flew a few circles around us and we made contact on VHF radio and had a bit of a chat and shared greetings. Gina is very excited to be joining Gold Coast Australia when we arrive in the Gold Coast on
14 December, and I was very happy to hear that everybody is well in Tasmania. The plane stayed just long enough to take a few photos before it headed back, so a big thank you to Gina for making such an effort and giving us such a big surprise," Richard said.

Richard reports that after Gina's visit the weather began to worsen and the team has now turned its attention to preparations for the high winds. The Tasmanian skipper is using his local knowledge and has full confidence in his Clipper 68's performance in heavy weather. "I have all faith that Gold Coast Australia will weather the storm with ease provided we look after her and sail with a conservative sail plan," he said.

Meteorologist Simon Rowell had some relatively good news for the fleet this morning. Earlier forecasts for winds up to 90 knots in the area had been downgraded to more "normal levels" of 60 knots. "It's still not going to be an awful lot of fun, but I think that the gust peaks the teams will get won't be as extreme as they were looking to be yesterday," Simon said.

A lack of wind yesterday saw New York clinging on to second place, but overnight the team was back in the game almost doubling its gain on front runners Gold Coast Australia. This morning New York is heading north to avoid the worst high winds.

"Knowing we will lose miles and maybe a place by heading north, the safety of the crew and yacht comes first over racing. We are following the recommendation to pass north of 46 degrees south and stay there until we receive further information from [meteorologist] Simon Rowell that it has passed. Already the winds are building more than forecast and we are now under a second reef and Yankee 3 with the storm staysail hanked on just in case," skipper, Gareth Glover, said.

The crew on board New York has become well-versed in the extremes of ocean racing and has been busy getting ready for the high winds by storing kit bags, sorting clothes out for the weather, and switching to their rough weather menu.

As the weather worsens skipper of De Lage Landen, Stuart Jackson reports that in such conditions it is "comforting to know that there is another yacht nearby" as they communicate with close neighbours Derry-Londonderry and prepare for the brutal weather ahead.

"It's been an afternoon of stowing everything that can move and battening down the hatches in preparation for the low coming through. We are already experiencing wind around 40 knots and are still expecting a fair amount more, especially with the clouds in the frontal system," he said.

On Visit Finland the team has been reminded how quickly situations can develop in the wild conditions after the Yankee 2 headsail was dragged under the boat during a drop. Six piston hanks attaching the sail to the forestay were torn off and skipper, Olly Osborne, reports that he had to hove-to [a technique whereby the counteracting forces of the action of the rudder and the sails is used to prevent forward motion] in order for the foredeck team to retrieve the sail from under the boat.

"Apart from a slightly blue tint, the Yankee emerged in one piece much to our relief. This was a good shake down for the weather ahead and it serves as a good reminder of just how quickly things can develop at sea," Olly said.

Now sailing under storm sails in sixth place, Olly said his crew had "lashed down pretty much everything except the kitchen sink!"

"It is now a process of waiting for the approaching weather, and the mood on board is one of caution but confidence in our boat and in each other," he said.

In seventh place behind Visit Finland, Gordon Reid and his team on Edinburgh Inspiring Capital have already been experiencing some extreme conditions.

Gordon reports that just after 0100 UTC the team's barometer dropped five millibars in around two hours and "the sea started to boil with rage". That marked the start of a testing night for the team as they faced five hours of "wave after wave of ferocious rain, gusts of over 50 knots, waves crashing over the bow and waves like runaway trains crashing into the side of the boat with an almighty 'boom'!"

When changing from a Yankee headsail to the storm jib, Gordon said his team was dealing with 54 knots of wind. "It was lively to say the least as we surfed the monster waves mid evolution with horizontal freezing rain making it almost impossible to see the bow of the boat. The crew did a brilliant job of wrestling the sail down as I luffed up [pointed the bow of the boat into the wind to de-power the sails] to make sure the sail stayed onboard," Gordon said.

Getting battered by such conditions pushes the crews to their limits and is extremely physically demanding. "There's no need for a circuits session at the gym, just helm the Purple Beastie for five hours. It's a whole new exercise regime especially when it's a Force 10 on the Beaufort Scale. What a ride, what a rush!" he said.

Gordon said that the front had passed with the winds easing back temporarily to a more manageable 40 to 45 knots. "For now we're sailing north east as fast as we can to get further away from the low before it passes south of us," he added.

Geraldton Western Australia is snapping at Edinburgh Inspiring Capital's heels, and just six miles separate the two teams.

Currently in fifth place, Welcome to Yorkshire is the latest team to declare that it has started the Ocean Sprint. Skipper Rupert Dean reported that he reached the start point at 150 degrees east at 0922.26 UTC this morning as they start to feel the power of the approaching depression.

"As the low approaches us from the south east, the winds are really picking up. We have already worked our way down the sail changes to a treble-reefed main, staysail and Yankee 3, and we know there is much more to come," Rupert said.

"Right now we are pushing directly east to give reasonable progress towards our destination, whilst not venturing too far south into the predicted area of strongest winds.

"At times like these, the balance between racing hard whilst ensuring the safety of the vessel and crew, shifts its emphasis to the latter,"
he said.

"The success, position-wise, of each boat as this storm passes will be down to the skills of the crew, skipper and strategy adopted. Some will go for a high risk strategy, racing hard towards the finish but encountering potentially greater winds and damage.

"Others may radically divert their route, adding miles to be sailed to avoid the worst winds, or stopping their vessels altogether to ride them out hove-to. Neither strategy is wrong of course, providing all arrive safely at the finish. It all boils down to decisions the skippers will take and their willingness to accept different levels of risk," Rupert added.

For the two boats which have currently suspended racing to put into ports in Tasmania and Victoria, racing is off the cards until they have dealt with their respective mechanical and medical issues.

On Singapore "cabin fever" is setting in, according to skipper Ben Bowley, as they make their way towards Queenscliff at the mouth of Port Philip Bay where they will be able to pick up the specialist tools required to undertake a repair on their steering system.

"The monotony of not racing and having to moderate the boat's speed is proving a little frustrating for all. We are literally itching to get the steering fixed and underway again," Ben said.

"It will be fantastic to feel Singapore start to hum again as the speed returns to our more usual 9 to 11 knots. At present it feels like we are driving down a motorway stuck in third gear which means lots of effort
and not much in the way of results!" he added.

Ben said the main thing occupying his team's minds at the moment is timing their arrival at Port Philip with slack water. Their progress is being hampered by the wind being almost directly astern and the team is making its way towards the pit stop in a series of short gybes.

"Now our minds are focused on how we can be best prepared, mentally and physically for showing our true colours in Race 6," Ben added.

The team on Qingdao has also suspended racing to seek medical assistance for crew member Jo Sandford, 56, who sustained a shoulder injury and bruising around the coccyx after falling on deck and has been confined to her bunk. Skipper Ian Conchie made the judicious decision to divert to Hobart yesterday, and despite their northerly position his team has not escaped the ferocious weather experiencing gusts of 50 knots as they make their way to Tasmania.

Ian has reported to the Race Office that he expects to arrive in Hobart at midnight local time (1300 UTC). Upon arrival, an ambulance will be waiting to take Jo to hospital for treatment and the Qingdao will return to the race course to resume racing.

"As we approached Tasmania the wind dropped last night extending our ETA so we all prayed for wind. This morning our prayers were answered but with too much wind!" he said. Now the team is sailing under their storm jib having being tested getting the Yankee 3 down in strong winds with waves breaking over the foredeck," he said.

Ian said his team's thoughts are with the rest of the fleet as they prepare to face even stronger winds further south.

ENDS//

Positions at 0900 UTC, Tuesday 15 November

Boat DTF*

1 Gold Coast Australia 1555nm

2 New York 1597nm (+42nm DTL*)

3 De Lage Landen 1622nm (+68nm)

4 Derry-Londonderry 1635nm (+80nm)

5 Welcome to Yorkshire 1646nm (+91nm)

6 Visit Finland 1675nm (+120nm)

7 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 1750nm (+196nm)

8 Geraldton Western Australia 1756nm (+202nm position at
0800)

9 Qingdao 1808nm (+253nm)

10 Singapore 2217nm (+662nm position at
0600)


*DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.

Attached Files

•  croppedimage723371-pic-3.jpg   44.04K   7 downloads

[Ozee Adventure]

Qingdao in & out of Hobart during the night
Our crew will be the only ones to get a glimpse of Iron Pot, Organ Pipes & Tasman Island with any luck

[thetruth]

CA not ORA luv

Qingdao in & out of Hobart during the night
Our crew will be the only ones to get a glimpse of Iron Pot, Organ Pipes & Tasman Island with any luck

[Ozee Adventure]

Singapore retires from Race 5 - 16 November 2011

Following Singapore’s diversion to Queenscliff at the mouth of Port Philip Bay near Melbourne to fix their primary steering system, skipper Ben Bowley, has informed the Race Committee of his intention to retire from Race 5. Ben’s reason for retiring is to make sure that his team gets to New Zealand in plenty of time to prepare for the start of Race 6 when they will resume racing from Tauranga to Gold Coast, Australia. The Race Committee has reluctantly accepted the request.

Race Director, Joff Bailey, said, “The Race Committee has accepted the retirement of Singapore from Race 5 with regret, but we believe it is a judicious decision given the forecast of high pressure and light winds developing over the Bass Strait which would hamper the team’s progress if they continued to follow the race route to New Zealand. If Ben and his crew continued racing the expected light winds it could significantly delay their arrival in Tauranga and jeopardise their preparations for Race 6.

“The diversion to Queenscliff has caused Singapore to fall more than 600 miles behind the leading boats and once they have completed the repairs to their steering this could be close to 1,000 miles,” Joff said.

Ben commented, “Retiring from the race was done with much regret and sadness. It is our intention to continue on towards Tauranga in the most expedient manner possible and arrive in time for a sensible stop to regroup ready to show our worth in the second race of leg 5 to Gold Coast.

“Wars are won, not by toughing out every battle, but by knowing when to retreat, regroup and charge again with your army refreshed. We have ten battles still to fight and the next one starts on 4 December in Tauranga.”

Barring a big issue with one of the other teams, Singapore would have finished Race 5 in tenth place to gain one point following their pit stop. By retiring, the team also receives one point so nothing is lost in terms of their standing on the overall leader board.

Retirement will allow the Singapore team to use their auxiliary engine in the expected light winds and take an alternative route around New Zealand over the North Island or via the Cook Strait. This will cut several hundred miles off of the distance to Tauranga and ensure they arrive in time to prepare for Race 6.

On Friday Singapore experienced problems with its primary steering system approximately 1,300 miles into Race 5 from Geraldton, Western Australia, to Tauranga, New Zealand, prompting Ben Bowley and his team to switch to their back-up steering system.

The bolts holding the steering quadrant onto the rudder stock stripped their threads and since then the team has been steering their Clipper 68 with the tiller-operated secondary system. This drill is practiced during Clipper’s rigorous training that every crew member receives prior to the race start.

Attached Files

•  croppedimage723371-Singapore.jpg   61.58K   0 downloads

[Ozee Adventure]

RACE 5 - DAY 9 - by Mark Burkes (Qingdao)

The storms, gales and strong winds of the last week or more have finally abated and left us able to enjoy a fine day's sailing downwind with blue skies and relatively warm air temperatures. Unfortunately Joanne, one of our crew on this leg and the last, from Cape Town, has been in the wars rather, having taken a tumble on deck, and she has been in some pain.

Our skipper, with the full support of the crew, decided we should divert to Tasmania so that our fellow crew mate, Jo-Jo, can get an immediate and thorough check-up and so, after we have passed through the gate to the South, we will be continuing on to Hobart. We are just hopeful that we will not be swallowed up by the high that is squeezing down on us, as we had enough of sitting off Geraldton for days on end on the last leg!

It's odd, but knowing that we are soon to make landfall has had a strange effect on the crew. Normally, within say three days of a leg finish, we start to think about all the delights and luxuries shore side has to offer and an excitement is tangible, especially when we are in a close battle with others in the fleet. In this instance, of course, it is very different.

Once we have Jo-Jo safely ashore and in the hands of the professionals, we will be turning around and leaving again, sailing another 1,500 miles or more. No showers, no beers, no land even. This has had us musing on what we could manage in a 30 minute stopover. As ever on Qingdao, maintenance tasks were considered first, followed by pizza, which ranked high, as did beer (which is clearly not an option - but was nice to contemplate anyway) and showers also featured highly. A plan of action was considered, which involved a call to Tasmanian directory inquiries and an order for take-out pizza. Menu options were debated and the relative merits of deep crust and thin base were also considered at length.

Unfortunately, it then became apparent that such additional activities and victualling, even if allowed by the authorities, would be likely to be considered outside assistance and therefore prohibited under race rules. Oh dear.

Never mind. We will be satisfied to get Jo-Jo onto dry land where the absence of constant bumping and banging should alleviate her discomfort and allow her to mend properly under professional care if necessary.

In the meantime, we still managed some light-hearted high jinks, convincing our youngest and chirpiest crew member, Claire (aka Bambi) that she might have to go up the mast to sort out the 'dangle' and in order to do this she would need a 'long weight', which we kept in the rope locker - well, you have to keep spirits up somehow...

Anyway, we should be in Hobart soon and once we have Jo-Jo safely ashore we'll keep our fingers crossed for this high pressure system to stay well away from us. I don't think we or Singapore will have much of an appetite for days at sea doing nothing near the back of the fleet as the rest of our competitors sail on to the finish line in good breeze.

All the best

Mark Burkes
Crew, Qingdao

Attached Files

•  croppedimage723371-CV9Race5Day9723371.jpg   30.42K   10 downloads

[Ozee Adventure]

Round the world clippers coming

Posted at 9:04am Wednesday 16th Nov, 2011 | By Andrew Campbell andrew@thesun.co.nz


A fleet of nine 20.7 metre yachts is on its way to Tauranga with the first vessels expected to begin arriving next week.



The Clipper Round the World Race fleet is for the first time making Tauranga a port call on the leg from Geraldton, Western Australia.


The clipper yachts begin the race in the UK. See video below to see the kind of sea conditions the yachts are racing in.

The depleted fleet is today passing south of Tasmania and steering for Foveaux Strait, assisted by a strengthening tail wind.

When the leaders arrive off A Beacon early next week, the finish will be officiated by the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club.

The yachts will finish by passing between the beacon and a club committee boat, says commodore Wayne Eaton.

“When we know they are at about Mayor Island we will be heading out there – it depends on what progress they are making,” says Wayne.

“We will anchor off A Beacon and be the finish line.

“I have got a couple of boats on offer, we may well alternate depending on the hours.

“If you spend three hours out there at night, you might not feel too crash hot about doing it again the next day.”

The yacht club team will include the regular race officers Warren Belk and Bill Whitiskie with Wayne and vice commodore Garry Smith giving them a hand.

“Their course is taking them round the bottom of New Zealand and up the East Coast, so that might slow them down a bit,” says Wayne.

“They are charging along wherever they are now, and then because of the Rena we are making them go around Mayor Island, which keeps them well out to sea out well beyond White Island.”

The yacht club’s responsibility is to finish and start the race.

Wayne says the club will also be hosting the prizegiving for the leg on December 2.

The fleet departs on December 4 for Southport on the Gold Coast.

“It’s not a very long visit to New Zealand and they don’t have any crew changes in New Zealand,” says Wayne.

“It’s a bit of a step on the way, rather than an individual leg. The boats don’t get pulled out of the water here.”

Two boats are delayed; Singapore has headed for Melbourne with steering problems, and Quindao is heading for Tasmania with an injured crew member.

Race leaders on Tuesday are Gold Coast Australia, New York and De Lage Landen.

They have passed south of Tasmania and are heading for Foveaux Strait, pushed along by a strengthening tail wind.

The crews on the 10 clippers come from all walks of life and 40 different nationalities.

“The ratio is about 60-40, male female and 40 per cent of them have never set foot on a boat before,” says Clipper Round the World sponsorship manager Katie Beney.

“But everybody gets five weeks training back in the UK.

“There are 17 crew on each boat, and a commercially qualified skipper,” says Katie.

“Ten of them are onboard round the world – they are doing the whole race. The other seven are either on for one or several legs.”

The ages of the sailors range from 18-72.

A single leg costs £7000, or about NZ$11,000, Staying on board for the whole 40,000 miles of the longest ocean race costs about NZ$80,000 at current exchange rates.

The decision to add the New Zealand-Australia East Coast leg was made partly because Australians represent the second largest nationality in the race crews.

There are eight Kiwis, one of whom is from Tauranga, says Katie.

“We’re very excited about coming to New Zealand for the first time. We’ve also found a lot of crew that have done previous races who want to sign up for this leg.”

For Tauranga, the Clipper fleet arrival will mean the whole shore based community including media, sponsors, plus family and friends of the 180 crew will be in town for the period round the ten day port call.

There is a mobile workshop in a 40ft container that will be set up at the Tauranga Bridge Marina travel lift hard stand and the race office in port until the December 4 restart.

http://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/18645-round-world-clippers-coming.html#vid

[thetruth]

Yawn...................start your own thread

[Potter]

Yawn...................start your own thread

???

umm...this is a thread.

[Ozee Adventure]

CLIPPER 11-12

RACE 5: WESTERN AUSTRALIA TO TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND

DAY 11

* Singapore retires from Race 5

* Low pressure system passes over front markers

* Rival crew member helps out Qingdao

It's been another day of difficult decisions and challenging conditions for the ten-strong Clipper Race fleet as they continue to race through the Southern Ocean while the Race Committee has reluctantly accepted a request of retirement from Singapore.

Following Singapore's diversion to Queenscliff at the mouth of Port Philip Bay near Melbourne to fix their primary steering system, skipper Ben Bowley, has informed the Race Committee of his intention to retire from Race 5.

Ben's reason for retiring is to make sure that his team gets to New Zealand in plenty of time to prepare for the start of Race 6 when they will resume racing from Tauranga to Gold Coast, Australia. The Race Committee has reluctantly accepted the request.

Race Director, Joff Bailey, said, "The Race Committee has accepted the retirement of Singapore from Race 5 with regret, but we believe it is a judicious decision given the forecast of high pressure and light winds developing over the Bass Strait which would hamper the team's progress if they continued to follow the race route to New Zealand. If Ben and his crew continued racing the expected light winds could significantly delay their arrival in Tauranga and jeopardise their preparations for Race 6.

"The diversion to Queenscliff has caused Singapore to fall more than 600 miles behind the leading boats and once they have completed the repairs to their steering this could be close to 1,000 miles," Joff said.

Ben commented, "Retiring from the race was done with much regret and sadness. It is our intention to continue on towards Tauranga in the most expedient manner possible and arrive in time for a sensible stop to regroup, ready to show our worth in the second race of leg 5 to Gold Coast.

"Wars are won, not by toughing out every battle, but by knowing when to retreat, regroup and charge again with your army refreshed. We have ten battles still to fight and the next one starts on 4 December in Tauranga," he added.

Barring a big issue with one of the other teams, Singapore would have finished Race 5 in tenth place to gain one point following their pit stop. By retiring, the team also receives one point so nothing is lost in terms of their standing on the overall leader board.

Retirement will allow the Singapore team to use their auxiliary engine in the expected light winds and take an alternative route around New Zealand; over the North Island or via the Cook Strait. This will cut several hundred miles off of the distance to Tauranga and ensure they arrive in time to prepare for Race 6.

On Friday Singapore experienced problems with its primary steering system approximately 1,300 miles into Race 5 from Geraldton, Western Australia, to Tauranga, New Zealand, prompting Ben Bowley and his team to switch to their back-up steering system.

The bolts holding the steering quadrant onto the rudder stock stripped their threads and since then the team has been steering their Clipper 68 with the tiller-operated secondary system. This drill is practiced during Clipper's rigorous training that every crew member receives prior to the race start.
Upon arriving in Queenscliff at 1300 local time (0200 UTC), an upbeat Ben thanked the support shown by their many followers as good progress is made on their repairs.

"We have rectified our steering issues and are now just about ready for sea again. We intend to slip lines at 0700 local time tomorrow (17 November) to take the first slack tide out," reports Ben.

"Our intention is to head east through the Bass Straits, keeping a close eye on the weather and make a decision on the final routing based on the next 48 hour's worth of weather data. Our routing is intended to make the most expedient passage to Tauranga and we shall be keeping you informed of our intentions as they progress. Thank you and we look forward to seeing you all in New Zealand."
Another team who have been unfortunately required to divert to land is Qingdao, after an injury to a crew member needed medical attention.

"As we closed on Tasmania yesterday the wind built until we were down to three reefs and the storm jib!" explains skipper of the Chinese entry, Ian Conchie.

Qingdao made the decision to divert to Hobart after crew member, Jo Sandford, sustained a shoulder injury and bruising around the coccyx after falling on deck as on board medic, Joan Clancy, recommended hospital treatment.

"As we approached Hobart we were getting gusts up to 50 knots. It's amazing to see these boats handle the large seas and big winds with complete ease and a number of crew have even commented on how good these boats feel and react to heavy weather," continues Ian.

With the each edition of the Clipper Race boasting over five hundred crew members from all walks of life and from over forty nations, unsurprisingly you don't have to travel far to find a member of the Clipper Race Alumni, willing to help in a time of need.

"In Hobart we were met by one of Gold Coast Australia's crew, Gina Gourlay," reveals Ian.

"Gina and her Dad had come out in the early hours of the morning to help look after our injured crew mate. She was whisked off to hospital once she had cleared customs and we were clear to go and we had the pleasure of motoring back out of Hobart as the sun rose.

"A big thanks to Gina and her dad for all their help and we look forward to seeing her in Gold Coast. We are now on our way to New Zealand pushing hard to try and catch up the fleet, we are only 150 miles behind the next boat so that is our target!"

After yesterday's warning of worsening conditions, skipper of Derry-Londonderry, Mark Light, reveals the low pressure system has now passed over.

"Although very windy, as expected, the sustained winds were lower and of shorter duration," comments Mark.

"We did still experience gusts up to 60 knots and were very happy that we put a lot of time and thought into our preparations before things turned ugly.

"Now we have consistent winds - we are flying along under full main and Yankee 2 with 25 knots of wind on the beam. Boat speeds are good and we are regularly surfing up to 20 knots," continues Mark, with his team currently in fourth place but just six miles behind De Lage Landen, in third.

"I have said that the person who has the record speed at the end of this should skipper the next edition of the race. Unfortunately the person with a top speed of 22.3 knots; is me!"
Hoping to hold Derry-Londonderry off from piping them from a podium place is Stuart Jackson and the crew of De Lage Landen.

"After all our preparation for the storm last night, it was rather kind to us and we only saw 50 knots in the squalls, although there was some very impressive thunder and lightning as the front first came in," says Stuart, skipper of the Dutch entry.

"This led us to turn off our electrics and put our handheld GPS and VHF in the oven in the hope Faraday's Effect worked if we were to be hit. Thankfully there was no need.

"After a busy night, we have been enjoying some relatively quiet down wind sailing today and when the low passes south of us we will gybe to head for the south of New Zealand."

Gold Coast Australia, current leaders in the race to Tauranga, geared up well for the predicted rough weather much to the delight of skipper, Richard Hewson.

"Well done to the Gold Coast Australia team for all the preparations made before the storm. The preparations made were very thorough indeed, as we were expecting the worst.

"As we monitored the storm approaching and the increasing wind there was no doubt that it had the potential to build into something big. As the storm passed beneath us, no sooner than it was gone all together, and we were running down the back of it in 30 knots of wind and clear skies at sunrise," explains Richard.

"Though the storm showed all signs of being over, I was still weary as it all just seemed too short and light compared to what was predicted. But when I was confident that the storm had actually passed, Gold Coast Australia gybed to the south to begin the next phase of the race and sail around the high pressure system to the north.

"Gold Coast Australia is now south level with Stewart Island and is making good progress reaching towards the island and should pass by in a little over two days," signs off the Australian skipper.

Meanwhile on board New York, skipper Gareth Glover, hasn't given up hope of preventing Gold Coast Australia from claiming their fifth victory of the Clipper 11-12 Race.

"Last night we saw the wind build as we put in the third reef and hoisted the storm staysail for around eight hours as the low pressure system hit us. The wind did not build as much as forecast and most of the night saw us trying to keep north away from the main wind forecast.

"Apart from Gold Coast Australia we were the most northerly yacht with the rest of the fleet around 25 nautical miles to the south, this adds a detour of over 60 miles to the north compared to our route. I am sure this would have put us in the lead as our tactic of being the most northerly yacht has work for us so far," explains Gareth.

"Looking at the rest of the race we will try to stay in front of De Lage Landen and the other yachts. It's going to be a bit of a drag race to our turning mark and then you will have to see what winds are forecast, I am sure you will see a change in the race as we head towards Tauranga," signs off Gareth.

"Quite a night of activity on Welcome to Yorkshire, as we worked our way down the sail changes in preparation for the big onslaught," reveals the Yorkshire entry's skipper, Rupert Dean.

"With full knowledge, thanks to Simon Rowell (meteorologist and winning skipper of Clipper 2002), of what was on its way, we hanked the trysail onto its track beside the main many hours early. When the big winds started to hit, the Welcome to Yorkshire crew did a great job in getting the main down, securely lashing it then hoisting the trysail.

"For a while we ran with this and the staysail alone, before substituting the latter with the storm staysail," continues Rupert, whose team will have their eyes set upon Derry-Londonderry one place ahead in fourth.

"For the rest of the night we ran with this combination, the big seas and gusts up to 60 knots apparent making helming challenging to say the least. By dawn the worst of the blow was over us, enabling us to drop the trysail, hoist the mainsail and run poled out with the Yankee 2, surfing before enormous seas and under sunny skies.

"The crew on Welcome to Yorkshire have truly done their supporters and sponsor proud these past 24 hours, working with care, commitment and good humour, long may this continue. Looking at the GRIB files, we are expecting another period of strong winds later this evening, but not on the same scale as last night."

Positions at 0900 UTC, Wednesday 16 November

Boat DTF* DTL**
1 Gold Coast Australia 1334nm 0nm
2 New York 1386nm 52nm
3 De Lage Landen 1419nm 85nm
4 Derry-Londonderry 1425nm 90nm
5 Welcome to Yorkshire 1449nm 114nm
6 Visit Finland 1494nm 160nm
7 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 1560nm 226nm
8 Geraldton Western Australia 1583nm 249nm
9 Qingdao 1708nm 374nm
10 Singapore 2237nm 903nm (Retired from Race 5)

*DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com

Attached Files

•  croppedimage723371-CV9Race5Day11723371.jpg   28.5K   5 downloads

[Ozee Adventure]

Annelise around the world
Snippets from my diary over the last few days…
http://annelisearoundtheworld.org/2011/11/17/snippets-from-my-diary-over-the-last-few-days/
Posted on November 17, 2011


Hi – So, this is some serious ocean we are in. I really want to write all about it properly but to be honest I am so SO tired and cold that I am sending you snippets from my diary instead. That way, you can follow and I can get to sleep sooner Apologies for poor spelling and sentence structure!

Sat 12
4-8 Up in deck a little earky to help change HWS to MWS. Very smooth! Dan is mother and has made porridge in 2 batches so that we don’t get gloopy porridge. Nick and I do bilges which are mostly dry – yay. MWS up and smooth sailing this morning. Did an awesome gybe at end of watch so late to bed. Getting spotty chin due to chafe from my foulies
12-4 Lunch is a disaster from Mr T and it is late – other watch get in a huff because we are late but what gives?! We have HW kite up all watch but it is getting gusty and scary and I’m not allowed on sheet or helm. We stay on late to hoist Y1 and Stay. Awesome smooth sail change. Did bilges alone. Fred made delicious apple scones. YUM!
8-12 Hot lentil curry for dinner – Lucia helped. Colder on deck but playing alphabet games to help pass the time. Nick brought out peppermint chocolate. Yum. Want to take more photos at night but never free when moon was good and crew all on high side and me free.

Sun 13
Mother watch.
4-8 Morning- Prep for kite hoist HWS but didnt happen. Made porridge but Nina was making filter coffee and I and up late. People complaining. I’m fed up with all the us vs them.
12-4 Wash up lunch – OCD cleaning floor, milton towels. Antibac everything and blitz heads. My bread with majoram and salt was tasty. At happy hour Rich called out the other watch’s lack of commitment = rift now 8-12 Wash up gazillions of pots and pans after Tim’s shepherds pie, but it was worth it. Had coleslaw too!
Then made midnight banana and honey muffins to be ready at 12 midnight. This is a treat for my watch and a peace offering for the other watch. Lots of heeling over. Quite glad to be below decks as it looks wet up there.

Mon 14
4-8 Sores on feet at little toes 3 sail changes! Y1 to Y2. Then drop SS. Then hoist HWS instead of Y2.Other watch stayed on quite late to help us. I think watches are reconciling and my muffins helps

Off – opened up Steves bag with Anna and Dan. So nice! Then started reading Game of Thrones – looks good! THEN at 10am broach in a massive gust! Let guy go (bang) we ran up. Trying to recover kite, then halyard blows. I’m in PJs and it is raining and we are all struggling with the kite. Managed to get it down with no major dramas. I think it might even not be damaged but we lost a sheet and guy overboard. All new clothes now

12-4 Very variable weather so sticking with poled out Y2. Having to gybe it back and forth with the gusts. Below, HWS being inspected – found a hole and tightening up leech cloth. Up on deck when it it settled I made spectra doughnuts for the kite. Bepanthem on feet.

20-24 Getting much colder now. Struggling to get out of bed from cold and tired. Did rotations on sheet and occasionally gybed over poled out Y2. Saw moon rise so all sang moon songs. Also have been warned of storm and use of trisail tomorrow so singing weather songs. By end of watch everyone is so sleepy we are zombies and almost fall aslep on deck – Anna even dribbled Got email from Taz. Also on 2nd half of chart – yay although mr misery guts said “so what”.

Tue 15 Nov
4-8 Calm and sunny with the HWS up. Fly by airplane! So cool! Came around 3 or 4 times. Turns out it was Gina Gourlay a crew member joining in Gold Coast. HOW COOL! She found us!
Prep for storm with food, tape, lashing down, moving things around into cubby holes. Preparing for storm is pretty exciting! Imagine what it would have been like in the old days – the sky is giving no indication of a storm! Looks like we may be on land for my Birthday!

Wayne’s watch did 5 hours and move time one, we did 5 hours and move one hour forward so now have swapped watch times. Our afternoon went from 2 to 8.I was woken during off watch (as well as Anna) to help riase Y1 and drop HWS.

2-8pm
We dropped Y1, hoisted Y3, hoisted storm jib, dropped storm jib, put in 3 reefs and rigged a new preventer and then re-ran reef one as an outhall for the trisail should we need to hoist it. Totally shattered! In this time weather is getting hairy with gusts up to 40 knots. Lots and lots of spray and big swell. I was filmed lashing the maderia bags onto the ghetto vents.

Wed 16
12-4am
Slept SO well but could do with another 12 hours! It seems the worst of the storm has passed us now. The skies are clear (a few cirrus clouds about) but the swell is still pretty big and helmming is tricky. I had a cup of tea from Dan and we all had 2 biscuits each (yum yum). We shook out reef 3 but can’t go down to reef one yet because it has to be re-run with Lisa or Tigger up the boom. So, it seems the storm was just as the weather man predicted and not any stronger as we had predicted. Good for us!

8-12pm
Clear skies. Have full main up now and HWS. No sign of the storm any more but there are a couple of freaky gusts and waves. Dan was on helm when we had a wrap – we recovered from the wrap but broached in the process so went to poled out Y2 instead. My shoulder is super sore from all the work it did yesterday. Not in the deltoid where I had the original injury but near the base of my shoulder blade..
Hmmm. Changing socks and pants again – woohoo. I am also now guardian of the lollies since Pete guzzles them all down. Ate Tigger’s storm pasta = Yum

4-8pm
Everyone feeling a bit tired and, with the full main and Y2, wanting to take it a bit easy but Rich wants Y1 up. So, I get to helm for an hour while everyone gets the Y1 up and we wait to see what the wind is doing. Turns out the wind is picking up again! Big swells and averaging 35 knots for while I am on helm – and picking up! So the last hour of our watch gets busy again! We put in two reefs and take the Y1 back below. Oh and Tim has vandalised the coffee grinder calling us Cold Toast now I also licked the brownie dough bowl clean with Dan

Thu 17
12-4am
Big dark clouds – waning gibbous moon outlines them. It looks beautiful but we have to look out for those clouds! We are doing half hour rotations on the main and playing alphabet games with countries and actors near the grinder. I make a super milky tea but drank no water to try stop myself needing the loo! Feeling super dehydrated though. And it is So cold!

8-12pm
Woke up to a hail storm. So not wanting to go on deck! but we do and it clears up and gets squally. The swell is HUGE – some of the biggest we’ve seen. Wind is still around 30-40 knots with the occassional gust rounding us up. We had to smoke the poled out yankee once when a gust caught us unawares. Most of the time we were able to gybe it across early and therefore prevent any major dramas.
Happy hour brief included importance of good winch handling.

Lunchtime off watch: 1304 Wayne’s watch have just ripped the spinnaker pole track off the mast during a roundup where the poled out Y2 was backed. Shit. This is bad. Luckily everyone is safe and well still, pole is still ok and there is no damage to the sail or rest of the rigging. Rich is livid especially after his brief at happy hour.

4-8pm
Movember! The girls on my watch all drew mos on our faces with my mascara and the boys trimmed their for a photo. We sailed with Y2 up for a while. Then changed to Y3 but it wasn’t really adding anything so we dropped it. We have 2 reefs in the main and are still surfing 20 knots and averaging around 14. At one point, a wave knocked us so that we nearly crash gybed. The preventer held thankfully but now we have someone ready to ease preventer in the case of a crash gybe (as well as someone on main sheet, and someone on vang, and people on headsail sheets!). The seas and skies are incredible (oh we also have a cloud watch person). The average swell reaches up to the first spreader easily and the big bad mothers are easily taller than our mast. Scary stuff. The wind was averaging about 45 knots all watch and gusting 55-60. I felt on high alert the whole time. At last minute, Rich asked us to take down the hanked on Y3 to fix the hanks that have broken so only get off watch 40 mins later. So tired. Bed time now!

[Ozee Adventure]

CLIPPER 11-12
RACE 5: GERALDTON TO TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND DAY 12

* Victory for Edinburgh Inspiring Capital in Ocean Sprint
* Vote of thanks from Singapore's crew as team heads back to sea
* Southern Ocean gives teams a parting punch

At first light this morning in Queenscliff, Australia, Singapore's crew slipped lines and headed back out through the Port Philip heads and into the Great Australian Bight after successfully repairing their steering quadrant. Happy to be helming with a wheel again and not a tiller, skipper Ben Bowley has sent a note of appreciation at today's 0600 position report.

"I would like to extend a hearty thanks to all those who presented a wonderful reception committee for us in Queenscliff yesterday afternoon," he says. "Especial thanks to Kate Parbury and family for proving such wonderful hosts. A delicious barbecue and some cool refreshing beverages were served to us almost as soon as lines hit the dock!"

Kate is the mother of round the world crew member and Singapore watch leader, Will Parbury, who lives a stone's throw from Queenscliff in Victoria and regularly sails and dives in the area.

Ben continues, "Many of Will's former colleagues, friends and ex-crewmates were on hand with an array of tools and advice. It really served to remind me how many supporters we have and how far they are willing to go out of their way to help us. Once again, we were truly grateful to see so many welcoming, supportive faces waiting for us on that small dockside. Many thanks also to Queenscliff Harbour Marina and pilot station for accommodating us at such short notice and allowing us full use of their excellent facilities."

Now back at sea and making best speed towards New Zealand, Ben and the Singapore crew are determined to turn around their run of bad luck and make the most of the time they have together on board.

"Reading the other boats' updates I fear that we are missing out on a bit of a sleigh ride down south! Much is the shame as we are having to nose our way out of the Bass Straits under iron top-sail [engine]. We did have an excellent hour's close fetching under full main and Yankee 1 after leaving Queenscliff this morning. However, as we rounded Cape Schanck, the wind veered to almost exactly our desired course, forcing us to motor at a conservative RPM for probably the first 24 hours of our training/passage sail to Tauranga. Things look a little rosier for the following 72 hours though; we should have a nice fast fetch across to New Zealand, assuming we can keep pace with the weak front sweeping across the Tasman Sea. We intend to use this period as an opportunity to ensure that the knowledge base of all members of the crew is improved by concentrated coaching sessions not just delivered by myself. We have some key (halfway round the world) crew members leaving in Gold Coast and we want to ensure that the knowledge they have gained in the last four months is passed on to new and remaining crew members. We intend to be as well trained and focused as possible for the short sprint leg back to Gold Coast. Time to gain back some cruelly snatched points I think."

Edinburgh Inspiring Capital looks set to claim the bonus point on offer for the Race 5 Ocean Sprint between the longitudes of 150 and 154 degrees east. The Ocean Sprint is a time trial rather than a first past the post contest, which means every team, no matter their position in the fleet, has the chance to pick up an extra point if they cover the distance in the quickest time.

Welcome to Yorkshire had been the yacht to beat, with a time of 21 hours and 22 minutes for the sprint of approximately 240 miles. But the team representing Scotland's capital city have declared a time of 19 hours and 10 minutes to complete the trial, meaning Qingdao needed to finish by 0820 UTC today to beat them. The results are provisional until the Race Committee verifies them in New Zealand but it looks like they'll be celebrating on the deck of the Purple Beastie at happy hour tonight.

Gordon Reid, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital's skipper, says, "The Purple Beastie is doing some fierce 12-hour runs in these strong winds she thrives and carries a lot of momentum (kinetic energy), so for now we stay the furthest south, closing on the fleet and pushing ourselves and the yacht as hard and fast as we dare, ensuring we keep a little in reserve for when it all gets fruity again.

"After our wild, crazy ride in 60 knots plus, 40 to 45 knots seems a bit pedestrian. The sea is still wild, with some of the swells as big as a two-storey building, but it is amazing how quickly you become used to conditions which are, to be fair, pretty extreme. The crew are loving it and so am I. We spent the day surfing monster wave after wave to see who could top the highest speed of 26 knots. We initiated a squall watch and a few of us took turns at seeing who could ride the wave mid-squall for the longest. A few months ago that would have seemed like a totally crazy thing to aspire to, but on Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, sailing in the beautiful fury of the Southern Ocean, it's just another day at the office.

"With New Zealand approaching fast I've got a feeling we are about to face our biggest challenge yet with the forecast predicting up to 60 knots as we surf all the way on to the continental shelf of New Zealand."

The conditions are certainly challenging all of the teams - they are further south than on the previous leg and the Southern Ocean is making sure they have something to remember her by.

Mark Light, Derry-Londonderry's skipper describes the "fantastic sailing conditions" his team has been experiencing.

"We are flying along with some really excellent boat speeds: averaging 12 knots and surfing between 15 and 23 knots," he explains. "The swells are huge with a lot of power behind them; things are very physically demanding and it takes a lot of skill and nerve to helm one of these Clipper 68s powered up in these conditions. My crew have done exceptionally well. We have managed to look after our boat and equipment very well."

Just the second and third reefing lines have broken. These are the ropes attached to the mainsail which allow the sail area to be reduced or increased according to the conditions.

Describing how it happened, Mark says, "We were reefing down the main just before a series of dark clouds arrived over us and unfortunately one of the mainsail cars jammed on the mast track between the first and second spreaders. While we tried numerous ways to free it, the second and third reefing lines managed to flog, snap and tangle with each other and the existing first reefing line. This resulted in a huge bundle of very tightly knotted line right at the end of the boom which prevented us from grinding in reef one - the whole purpose of the operation in the first place!"

A heave-to and 25 minutes of hard work later and the team was back on track, holding on to third place. Could Tauranga be where the 'LegenDerrys' claim their first podium place?

While the Northern Ireland team has been lucky to avoid any worse breakages than a few snapped and tangled lines, second placed New York has not escaped so lightly.

"Just over 12 hours ago, I was thinking it was 'race over' for New York," reveals the US team's skipper, Gareth Glover.

"While we were putting a second reef in the main as the wind was building and an unseen squall hit us with gusts of over 50 knots, the mainsail got pushed though the rig, breaking three battens and putting three rips along the batten reinforcements.

"The first was about half a metre above the second reef and the two others about 30cm above the third reef. We quickly went to three reefs to make sure the biggest rip did not get bigger and called all hands on deck. As we do on New York, we got on with the job of taking down the Yankee 3 and putting up the Yankee 2, taking the mainsail down on the deck and our storm sail went up in its place. We have been racing under this sail plan now for over 12 hours and have only lost a few miles to De Lage Landen and Derry-Londonderry.

"We have had all the crew working in teams on different parts of the mainsail. The hard bit is that you're hand sewing though four pieces of sail cloth in 30-knot winds and breaking seas. We've got about four more hours of work to be done, taking the full repair to about 13 hours. And then we will put the main back up and chase down Gold Coast Australia."

With New York in second place, De Lage Landen is running neck and neck with Derry-Londonderry, jostling for third place. After two and a half thousand miles of racing, just a couple of miles separate them but although the racing is red hot, the weather is decidedly not.

"It doesn't look like the weather is going to give us any reprieve until we are past the southern point of New Zealand," comments De Lage Landen's skipper, Stuart Jackson, this morning. "It has also got a lot colder with the south westerly winds bringing cold air up from the Antarctic, so everyone is looking forward to the conditions improving as we make our way up the New Zealand coastline. It's just all a bit repetitive, putting reefs in and out as the squalls come through."

Rupert Dean, skipper of Welcome to Yorkshire, echoes Stuart's comments about the cold, explaining, "These 30-knot winds have been accompanied by enormous, vicious squalls, demanding rapid evolutions to shorten sail and/or bear away. Consequently the crew are working hard in some arduous sailing conditions.

"Race 4 has, for us, been a far truer reflection of what the Southern Ocean should be than Leg 3. Since leaving Geraldton there has hardly been a day when we haven't been sailing in gale force conditions. To perform day in, day out in winds ranging from Force 8 to 10, in mountainous seas under racing conditions, is no small feat. It demands courage, determination and teamwork of the highest order and I thank my crew for it. In particular, I wish to praise my watch leaders, Hannah Richards (Management Consultant) and Jim Stamp (Plant Operator), along with their deputies, James Charlesworth (farmer) and Richard Williams (accountant), for their sterling efforts in keeping our boat and crew motivated, happy and safe.

"As we near the southernmost point in our round the world adventure, we look forward to turning north again, towards warmer climes (and cold beer). The crew has come a long way since their training days in the English Channel, in more ways than one. They are doing themselves proud."

Clipper 11-12 is raced by people like you - people from all walks of life who put their everyday lives on hold to fulfil a long-held ambition or take on the challenge of a lifetime. Hannah, a management consultant, Jim, a plant operator, James, a farmer, and Richard, an accountant will have completed the sailing equivalent of climbing Mount Everest when they return to the UK in July 2012 - a circumnavigation under sail. There are presentations taking place in New Zealand and Australia in the next few weeks - go to www.clipperroundtheworld.com for more details.

Geraldton Western Australia's having a pretty good day as well, according to skipper, Juan Coetzer, whose team will be more refreshed after being allowed to shower instead of the standard wet wipe wash during the rough weather of the last two days.

"For the first time since leaving Geraldton, we have got our Yankee 2 up and a first reef in the mainsail. Being short numbered one has to take seamanship into consideration and choose the best sail plan for the long term."

The team does appear to have an extra body on board - but not a helpful one, says Juan. "It looks like the electrical gremlin is back again, as our instruments have gone bonkers. Even our deep water anchor alarm has been going off."

On board mid-fleet Visit Finland, Olly Osborne is in reflective mood as they prepare to head north and begin the first stage of their climb back towards the northern hemisphere.

"With a little more than two days to run to the Stewart Island waypoint our time in the Southern Ocean is drawing to a close. It has not been without its adventures and over the last few days we have seen some of the most challenging conditions yet. Indeed for the first time this year we made good use of our storm trysail which allowed us to weather gusts of up to 60 knots through the night, and the sea state would at times certainly be referred to as 'high' if it were given over the shipping forecast," he says.

"But we are making good speeds none the less and, despite the frustrations of living in a constantly pitching environment, everyone is well rested and in good spirits. The sun shines between towering cumulus clouds and when the boat is lifted onto the crest of a wave you can see for what seems like miles over the surf streaked glittering surface."

While the rest of the fleet has been experiencing winds of up to 60 knots and more of the same is predicted in the next 72 hours, Qingdao has been slowed down by the high pressure system that they were hoping to avoid.

"It is amazing to watch the barometer down here," says Ian Conchie, 'down here' being right below 'Down Under'. "In the UK it is rare to get a change of more than one millibar per hour unless there is a strong weather system around. But here, due to the stream of low pressure systems that revolve around the bottom of the globe the pressure goes up and down all the time like a yoyo!"

Currently racing at between seven and eight knots, the team is hoping to stay ahead of the weather to avoid being becalmed as they were on the way in to Geraldton. The crew is anxious to push as hard as they can to arrive in Tauranga in time to enjoy a longer than expected stopover and fully recharge their batteries.

"In the meantime we have been using the gentler conditions today to inspect and repair sails, do our routine maintenance and tidy and clean up the boat," says Ian. "In rough weather it is hard to keep everything spick and span due to the motion of the boat, so we have to use these days when we can to keep our beloved purple dragon in top shape."

At the head of the fleet Gold Coast Australia is having a wild and windy ride.

"Some would say it is a bit breezy down here," comments skipper Richard Hewson. "Yesterday conditions were nearly perfect as we ran downwind towards Stewart Island. Today we have throttled back a bit as the wind has increased to a steady 32 knots, gusting 50 knots. This may sound a little extreme to some, however to make it even more interesting the gusts sometimes last for up to an hour. Gold Coast Australia is handling like an absolute dream and there is not a day that goes by that I don't acknowledge these yachts as being the most seaworthy I have ever sailed."

If you think the conditions are hairy, you should see the faces of the crew - the men, at any rate.
They are growing moustaches for Movember - the charity movement that raises funds and awareness for male cancers and mental health issues - and there are some fine sets of whiskers being cultivated on board many of the boats. Styles range from Errol Flynn to Tom Selleck as well as hommages to the facial stylings of Chopper Read and Merv Hughes on the Australian yachts.

"Today we took our half time photos for Movember. No doubt it will be one of the most extreme Movember photos in history as at the time it was blowing over 50 knots and with five-metre swells and two-metre seas," writes Richard.

As the teams approach the waypoint to the south of New Zealand, all ten are preparing for a change in conditions - and perhaps a shake-up in the rankings. Meteorologist, Simon Rowell, a former winning Clipper Race skipper and Assistant Race Director who sends wind and weather forecasts to the yachts each day, has been looking ahead and has today told the skippers and navigators, "There's a big spread in wind strength locally as you get further north."

The depth of the ocean floor will also have an impact on the sea state.

"What is going to be very interesting is the increase in sea and swell in the shallow water to the south of Stewart Island where the depth decreases from 1,000 to 140 metres as we go over the continental shelf," explains Richard. "I gather that the sea is going to be quite treacherous and we will be battened down and ready to rumble when we go over the shelf."

Positions at 1200 UTC, Thursday 17 November

Boat DTF*
1 Gold Coast Australia 1,052nm
2 New York 1,130nm (+78nm DTL*)
3 Derry-Londonderry 1,153nm (+102nm)
4 De Lage Landen 1,161nm (+109nm)
5 Welcome to Yorkshire 1,179nm (+127nm)
6 Visit Finland 1,238nm (+186nm)
7 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 1,305nm (+254nm)
8 Geraldton Western Australia 1,330nm (+278nm)
9 Qingdao 1,507nm (+455nm)
10 Singapore 1,975nm (Retired)

*DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.

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[Ozee Adventure]

RACE 5 - DAY 11 - by Jim Stamp and Sarah Williams (Welcome to Yorkshire)

Over the past 36 hours our Southern Ocean adventure has become somewhat more dramatic.

It started will the arrival of the meteorological files from Clipper Race HQ on Monday evening. The files predicted relatively high gusty winds of up to 60 plus knots (easily Force 10) for the early part of our Tasman Sea passage. Whichever route we took, we knew it was going to be impossible to avoid the predicted stormy conditions.

Team Welcome to Yorkshire was thrown into what seemed to be 'hurricane /survival preparation mode', with race mode, quickly taking a back seat.

Welcome to Yorkshire Storm Plan involved:

Securely packaging away everything on board that had the potential to turn into a domestic missile given a bit (more than 'normal') wind and bounce behind it. We re-organised the storage of our tools, spare parts and anything remotely heavy and/or sharp, like cans of food, fresh fruit, batteries, plates, jars and cutlery.

We set up additional roping in our cabin area that we could use to grab onto to make it easier to move around in the expected turbulent conditions.

We gathered together all the spare bits of rope from our 'Gimp' locker to make a 'warp line' to run behind the back of our yacht if we lost stability and needed to reduce our speed.

On deck we lashed down everything with intrinsically important nautical value like our spinnaker poles and life rafts.

The Mothers and Victuallers were set to work, baking additional loafs of bread and ensuring that we had sufficient high energy food to the ready that would require minimal cooking.

The Navigators continued to closely study and analyse all the weather information that became available to chart the safest possible route.

In terms of weather conditions, Monday night continued to be relatively calm and clear, with all the stars that can be seen in the Southern Hemisphere on full view. It was not until late Tuesday morning that the wind started to pick up. As the wind picked up, we gradually started to change our sail configuration, all the time reducing the size and number of sails flying. It is a considerable task to change just one sail configuration in calm conditions, let alone many changes in treacherous weather conditions. Even the most basic communication can be difficult, even hard to see where you are at times. By Tuesday afternoon, the Southern Ocean had become an expanse of mountainous seas, towering around our Clipper 68 and making steering almost impossible. The only option left was to take down the already reefed main sail, lash the boom to the deck and hoist the one remaining sail from our sail locker, the tiny 'storm sail' with the big orange blob. Even with the 'storm sail', we continued to hurtle through the sea in a slightly hairy scary fashion.

Fortunately, the wind conditions eased during the early hours of Wednesday morning and we have put away the 'storm sail' for now, re-hoisted our main and Yankee sails. We have been able to take a bit of a breather from the heavy winds, carry out a few repairs to our steering, topping lift and sail hanks and plan for the second surge of high winds expected tonight.

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[Ozee Adventure]

CLIPPER 11-12
RACE 5: GERALDTON TO TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND DAY 13

* Edinburgh Inspiring Capital celebrates with a 'wee dance on deck' and a message from their namesake
* Welcome to Yorkshire's skipper describes a Southern Ocean battering
* New York and De Lage Landen overcome mainsail problems

"Yesterday after pushing ourselves and the Purple Beastie right to the edge, we were rewarded by becoming the fastest boat in the Race 5 Ocean Sprint. We are totally stoked that all of our hard work paid dividends and we had a wee dance on the deck in the moonlight to celebrate," reports a jubilant Gordon Reid from on board Edinburgh Inspiring Capital.

News of the team's victory in the Ocean Sprint reached the crew of her Royal Navy namesake and last night HMS Edinburgh's Commanding Officer, Commander Paul Russell, sent a message of congratulations to the yacht. During Race 3 HMS Edinburgh sprang a surprise visit on the 'Purple Beastie' in the South Atlantic.

Gordon said, "I hope to meet up with Paul on the Gold Coast and share a few drams and swap stories of our respective adventures on the ocean waves."

Meanwhile the team is taking advantage of the lighter conditions they are experiencing after the latest storm and using the opportunity to do some routine maintenance and dry out kit in the warmer, sunny conditions.

In reflective mood as he and his team prepare to leave the Southern Ocean, Gordon concludes, "As we fast approach New Zealand, it is time to reflect on what we have done: 'Far better it is to dare mighty things, than to rank with those timid spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.' I will be saddened to leave this beautiful, furious ocean but take with me memories of how we battled with Mother Nature in all her glory and we how did something to inspire and make us feel proud."

The conditions have taken their toll on Welcome to Yorkshire whose crew are chasing down De Lage Landen in fourth place and Derry-Londonderry in third. Skipper Rupert Dean's graphic description of life on board the 68-foot yacht in the last 24 hours, where the winds they encountered were far in excess of the predicted 45 knots, gives some idea of the extreme nature of ocean racing in Clipper 11-12.

"As the blow approached late yesterday afternoon, we were pushing Welcome to Yorkshire hard under a reefed main, staysail and Yankee 3, having worked our way down the sail plan in the hours before. Powering along with the wind just behind the beam, the boat was absolutely flying on the edge of control, surfing down some of the biggest waves we have seen since leaving Southampton.

"The surfing speeds were incredible, regularly peaking in the 20s. Indeed a close succession of three waves enabled Beulah Steele (taking time out of her regular job as airline cabin crew) to helm Welcome to Yorkshire to 18, 23 through to 25.9 knots as the waves overtook us.

"Helming a yacht in those conditions is a truly exhilarating experience. As the wave picks up the stern, it's like looking down a 40-foot cliff, before the yacht surges forward down the face. As it does so it leaps around like a bucking bronco, sending great walls of spray 20 feet up either side of the bow. What a rush! Below decks is almost as exciting, for when the yacht surfs you feel the hull shaking, hear the white water turbulence against the hull and the whoops of joy from outside. When you're going really fast even the cutlery in the galley makes a noise through being tossed around, in an environment more akin to an earthquake!

"As darkness advanced, so too did the strongest winds and biggest waves, requiring our best available helms to steer through the night. Helming in these conditions is particularly challenging, for one can't see the size or direction of the advancing waves, only hear their menacing hiss as they break nearby. Several large waves slammed into us and it is testimony to the design of these Clipper 68s that they handle the abuse so well.

"One wave in particular broke on the quarter, its 'soup' of white water approaching at boom height, 20 feet above sea level. When it hit the yacht, the impact and noise was like being hit by a sledgehammer! For a couple of seconds all the crew in the cockpit were buried underwater, thrown to the limit of their safety lines. Below decks it was even more dramatic. I was in the galley at the time, and remember dozens of cups, plates, cutlery and condiments raining on top of me. Kyle Gardner (a property developer), next to me, found himself thrown onto the draining board! Others fared less well, taking nasty tumbles or being completely thrown out of their bunks. In all, several minor injuries were sustained. Two strained shoulders, a cut head, two burns, bruising and some shock. It's taken a few people out of our watch system for a while but, thanks to the efforts of Steve Reid, Welcome to Yorkshire's paramedic, they're recovering well and should be back with us soon.

"In all then, a memorable night and, one where the crew yet again looked out for each other, as members of a proficient and happy team."

Teamwork is an essential element of the Clipper Race, whether that is lugging sails across deck, developing effortless communication between helm and trimmers, or supporting each other through the tough times. Qingdao's crew have pulled together to do just that as they make their way through winds at the other end of the spectrum in the high pressure that is plaguing them.

"We spent most of yesterday and last night drifting along with the sails flogging as we tried to keep Qingdao moving," explains Ian Conchie, the skipper of the Chinese entry. "Then in the early hours of this morning the breeze picked up and we were off again and in the right direction.

"In this leg already the crew have dealt with all sorts of issues from heavy weather to crew injuries and pretty much everything else and have managed to come out of it with a laugh and a smile. They even managed to lift my mood when we were stuck in the listless wind. This may not be our best leg in terms of results but it has shown the depth of character the crew has developed."

Teamwork is also very much in evidence on board Geraldton Western Australia. A combination of injuries and illness has conspired to leave the team with reduced watches but nevertheless they have come through, developing the skills required to quickly adapt to the situation.

"What a day," says skipper, Juan Coetzer. "We managed to get our Yankee 1 up this morning. Now we are pushing the boundaries: we went for a kite hoist not too long after with four crew members on deck. The crew spirits are high and they having the time of their lives. Man puts up spinnakers for enjoyment and the wind gods get a kick by knocking them down, offering the remains to Davy Jones!" he jokes, explaining the off-watch crew remain in a state of alert in case they are required to help drop the kite quickly.

Derry-Londonderry's skipper, Mark Light, reports his team has come through the latest low pressure system and things are starting to settle down. He, too, is full of praise for his crew and their yacht.

"This LegenDerry crew have had a really fantastic last 48 hours with some great distances covered and some decent gains made on the boats around us. We were brave and held a good amount of sail in the heavy weather in order to keep our boat moving fast. The all-round helming was excellent and any evolutions carried out were done with massive effort and huge levels of endurance in some very arduous conditions. The Southern Ocean has certainly lived up to its reputation and I feel very privileged to have been able to sail it with a fantastic team of people and on board a boat well capable of handling the situation and the elements. These Clipper 68s are well found, proven boats and I am very proud of our Derry-Londonderry!"

Now focused on maintaining their podium position in the final 1,000 miles of the race, Mark and his team are looking forward to reaching Tauranga to enjoy some well-deserved time off in New Zealand.

De Lage Landen and New York have both been struggling with mainsail issues and both have had to drop them on deck to carry out the necessary repairs.

"The whole crew is enjoying a welcome break from being battered by waves and using the blue skies and lighter winds to dry out a bit from the past few days of battling the elements," Stuart Jackson, skipper of De Lage Landen, tells the Race Office this morning.

"Yesterday we had a bit of a fight on our hands when one of the last squalls from the most recent low pressure system hit whilst we were sailing under a full main and ripped the top cars out of the track, leaving us with a relentless four hours of dropping the whole sail to the deck and re-threading the cars one by one. This was all done whilst gusts of 45 knots were battering the tired crew," he continues.

In simple terms, imagine a curtain has fallen down and you need to feed each runner back on to the curtain rail to put it back up again. Now imagine the curtain weighs half a tonne. And you're in a wind tunnel. With the ground underneath you constantly moving. And someone is throwing buckets of freezing salty water over you while you try to fix it.

Full of admiration for his team, Stuart says, "It has been great to see the whole crew working so well through the tough conditions and stay positive and driven throughout the tough weather. The crew and I are now looking ahead to the sail up the coast of New Zealand and to claw back some places."

They're up to speed again on New York after carrying out repairs to three rips in their mainsail.

"New York is racing again, after sailing for over 24 hours under storm jib we have now have our main back up with over 20 hours of work going into the repair. We have managed - just - to hang on to second place and now have Derry-Londonderry only ten miles behind us. This was only possible with the hard work of the team which they have shown time after time when things just don't go our way.

"Now is the time for us to get back a few more miles away from Mark and Derry-Londonderry and the rest of the racing fleet and there is no way we are going to give up our place that easily. Just under 1,000 miles to go and the top three places are still up for anyone."

Knowing how easily a lead can slip away as coastal currents and local winds affect boat speed, Gold Coast Australia is going into Stealth Mode until 0600 UTC tomorrow.

"As we navigate some of the currents up the east coast of New Zealand, hopefully we will put ourselves into a good strategic position to make the most of the light winds ahead to further extend our lead," says skipper, Richard Hewson. "With New York fully repaired and nipping at our heels, if we are complacent our lead could disappear overnight, particularly with the forecasted light wind, so we want to stay on the ball, stay vigilant and stay in front."

This morning Gold Coast Australia rounded the most southerly of the New Zealand turning marks and altered course to the north towards Tauranga. Not before they enjoyed one last wild spell of surfing in the darkness of the Southern Ocean night though.

"At one stage when I was helming the bow just dropped into a black hole. I was not sure what way she was going to accelerate or if she was just going to broach and roll down the wave sideways," describes Richard. "I said to Tim Burgess (a researcher), who was on the mainsail trim next to me, that things could get interesting and suddenly she accelerated straight down the wave and hit 24 knots.

"Helming in such treacherous yet enthralling conditions was made even more exciting by the blackness of the night and the absence of any stars or moonlight due to the overcast sky. Due to the blackness of the surroundings you cannot see anything until a wave suddenly crashes next to you or on top of you and releases a mound of phosphorescent light. Last night our top adrenaline-pumping speed was 26 knots through the water."

The confused sea state Richard was expecting as they reached the New Zealand continental shelf didn't materialise, something of a relief after the rough and tiring night the team had experienced.

"It is very nice to finally have New Zealand soil only 140 miles away and know that we are once again nearing the completion of another race in the lead," he continues.

That first glimpse of New Zealand is something Olly Osborne and his Visit Finland team are looking forward to.

"With our heavyweight spinnaker set and a fair forecast we're looking good to round Stewart Island early tomorrow morning," reports the Chichester-based yachtsman. "Everyone is looking forward to a first glimpse of New Zealand after a very testing couple of weeks in the Southern Ocean, and I think we will all have some amazing memories to take away from this place.

"The skies have cleared and the sea state has moderated a good deal from the serious surfing we have been doing over the last couple of days. This spell of relatively settled weather has come at the right time as we approach the continental shelf and the great change in depth. Some of the crew have taken the opportunity to dry out some wet gear on deck and we have a washing line strung between the back stays today! Life is pretty basic on board and these small opportunities to make things more comfortable are rare."

Singapore's crew are also enjoying an opportunity to catch up on some rest as they clear the Bass Strait.

"With the wind blowing straight out of the north east we have been forced to use the engine for longer than I would have liked," reports skipper, Ben Bowley. "This morning, however, the wind backed a little and allowed us to hoist the Yankee 2 and staysail. Our course has a little more south in it than I would like but we are making good speed in the right direction and the silence is bliss! We still seem to be suffering from a bit of dirty fuel as this morning, just before shutting down the engine, she started hunting up and down the rev range again. Changing the primary fuel filter seems to have cured the problem and since we only did it about a month ago, Will Ilife (on board engineer - and one in real life, too) had the job done with a minimum amount of fuss. For now though it is good to be sailing properly again and to not require three people just to keep the boat going in a vaguely straight line! Our thoughts go out to the other nine yachts deep into the Southern Ocean battling what I envisage to be rather fruity conditions. It is hard to empathise as we glide along in flat seas with 20 knots from the warm north east. Enjoy the sleigh ride chaps; rare experience, sail safe and hold on!"

Positions at 0600 UTC, Friday 18 November

Boat DTF*
1 Gold Coast Australia 877nm
2 New York 955nm (+78nm DTL*)
3 Derry-Londonderry 966nm (+89nm)
4 De Lage Landen 986nm (+109nm)
5 Welcome to Yorkshire 995nm (+118nm)
6 Visit Finland 1,066nm (+189nm)
7 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 1,170nm (+293nm)
8 Geraldton Western Australia 1,195nm (+317nm)
9 Qingdao 1,386nm (+509nm)
10 Singapore 1,909nm (Retired)

*DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.

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[Ozee Adventure]

http://www.youtube.c...u/2/87nfr7xjxJc

[3 Days Left]

2nd time this has been posted

[Ozee Adventure]

“The Storm” and Rounding the Southern Tip of New Zealand

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Lisa Blair


Week two of the 5th race in the Clipper 11/12 Round the World Yacht Race has offered many challenging sailing conditions for the crew on board Gold Coast Australia. Sailing just outside the Australian Bight after 8 days at sea the weather offered gusting winds that resulted in a broach while we were flying the Heavy Weight Spinnaker.

I was warm and snug in my bunk trying to get some rest in our 4 hours off watch when the boat healed violently over. Stopping short against my lee cloth just as the shouting started, I could not remain in bed any longer. There was no all hands call this time but help was none the less needed as the off watch arrived on deck in varying states of dress to retrieve a flogging spinnaker.

Both the Sheet and Guy rope’s were thrown off the winch allowing them to fly free releasing the Spinnaker from the pole just in time to stop it from flogging it’s self to death, unfortunately during this time the sheet and guy snapped free and flew into the Southern Ocean never to be seen again. During all of this the crew were madly scrambling around the decks trying to retrieve the Spinnaker when the halyard (the rope that we use to hoist the sail up the mast) jammed preventing us from dropping the kite so the shout went out ‘cut the line’ which Dan Oliver (aka Tigger) duly did. Finally the Spinnaker was safely retrieved and the Yankee 2 sail was hoisted.

Broaches aside we are still holding first place with a 40 nautical mile lead on our nearest rival ‘I love New York’ with 30 knot winds and moderate sea state. The pleasant weather was all about to change the next day as a Low Pressure system was moving through at 40 nautical miles an hour and quickly catching up to us.


Water Across the Deck as we Round New Zealand

The weather system was dubbed ‘The Storm’ and the crew of Gold Coast Australia went into storm mode. Preparing the boat by removing any projectile objects from the shelves in the Galley in case we are knocked down by a wave, bringing the jockey pole down below, lashing any loose items, bringing the emergency steering tiller on deck so that it would be at hand should the steering fail. My task was to climb out the main sheet to the end of the Boom and attach a new Preventer Line. This is a very important rope as it’s main purpose is to ‘prevent’ the boom from crashing across the deck in a crash Gybe, it was twilight by the time I was harnessed up and ready to go.

During the day the winds had increased to 30 knots gusting 40 knots hitting us just forward of the beam. Our 68 foot yacht was healed over crashing through the swell with endless waves crashing over the deck wetting everyone in sight throwing spray meters above our heads.

Sitting out on the boom dangling meters above speeding water I tried to balance as the boom was bucking like a bronco at a rodeo beneath me. Skipper Richard Hewson was at the helm trying his best to give me a steady ride but with building winds and gusts exceeding 40 knots it is a challenging task. Job completed and I was able to climb down and go and enjoy some warm dinner as the on-watch put in the third reef.

During the night the winds continued to build until it was gusting 57 knots but by the time I came on deck again for my next watch at midnight the winds and sea state had abated at ‘The Storm’ had passed over leaving a large and confused sea state to challenge my helming skills on.

Richard was up all night to monitor ‘The Storm’ so decided to sleep most of the following day, unfortunately when he woke up it had become apparent that we had sailed too far south past the southern tip of New Zealand and deep into the Southern Ocean. Everyone failed to realise that the barometer was rapidly falling just as another Low Pressure System was passing. The winds once again begin to build as the sea state increased. Looking at the Gib files this was to be one heck of a storm, far worse than ‘The Storm’ ever was and due to reach it’s peak in two days time.

Sailing on day 11 we were flying a poled out Yankee 2. Out of nowhere the boat lurched and rounded up on a wave causing the head sail to back. Amongst the fleet this has resulted in other yachts having there spinnaker track ripped off and we were no luckier. An almighty bang sounded through the hull. Once again the shouting started as the on-watch transferred the Yankee sail to the leeward side and set about repairs. The following evening all thoughts of the spinnaker track were forgotten as we battled with huge swell and winds over 55 knots.

The Low pressure system was upon us and it was big. The sea state increased in size as the winds blew in the fifties offering the helmsman the challenge and exhilaration of a life time. Imagine looking at a wave that is the size of a two to three story house, it is Gray and frothing; every other wave is breaking with white bubbling foam, the winds are in the fifties ripping the tops of the waves, our 68 foot yacht is sheltered from the wind in the troughs as we sail down wind surfing waves at incredible speeds. As a helmsman my concentration was total as I tried to keep control, my arms would fatigue quickly so 30 min was all you could do in one session. We hunkered down with two reefs in the main and no head sail but that did not stop the boat as I surfed a wave at an incredible 20 knots.

Exhausted as I was the sea at dawn took my breath away as this ocean turned into a mountainous landscape with peaks and valleys all around. As the winds abated so did the swell only to rear up once again as we crossed a shelf just of Stuart Island, the most southerly point of New Zealand.

It was here that I experienced my first broach whilst I was helming. We were happily surfing at 18 knots down a wave when out of know where a short wave crested up on my starboard striking the hull near the quarter, in a second I was pushed 40 degrees off course only to have the boat continue to round up. The wave that struck us broke across the deck engulfing everyone as our angle of heal increased beyond 45 degrees. ‘Hold on’ was all I had the opportunity to shout as I dangled off the helm trying to use all of my body weight to re-gain control as the boat was sliding sideways down the face of the wave.

This could get very bad very quickly if we are caught beam on to the next wave. We would be at risk of rolling completely around. Luck for us the helm started to respond to my efforts and we were able to pull off the wave and straighten out. I shouted ‘is everybody okay?’ As I took a quick head count with shaking hands, everyone was still on board, phew.

We have now cleared Stuart Island and altered our course to the north where we hope for some warmer weather to defrost our freezing fingers. There is only 600 nautical Miles to run to Tauranga so hopefully we can still maintain our 100 nautical mile lead to the finish line.

[Ozee Adventure]

CLIPPER 11-12
RACE 5: GERALDTON TO TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND DAY 14

* Gold Coast Australia emerges from Stealth Mode with triple-digit lead

* Welcome to Yorkshire sustains major damage to medium weight spinnaker

* Thick fog hampers Qingdao's efforts to hunt down fleet

Gold Coast Australia has emerged from 24 hours in Stealth Mode with an extended lead as the team prepares to face strong headwinds en route to the finish of Race 5 off Tauranga in New Zealand.

Skipper Richard Hewson reports that the Gold Coast Australia team has experienced wildly varying wind conditions ranging from 45 knots from the south west to just five knots from the north east whilst racing under the invisibility shield that each team is permitted to don for one 24-hour period in each race.

Meteorologist Simon Rowell, who provides the ten teams with detailed weather information on a daily basis, has warned the fleet to expect a "messy and wet low" by approximately 1800 UTC tomorrow. "The synoptic chart for then shows a mess of slow moving fronts," he advised the skippers this morning.

The varied conditions forecasted for the next few days as the Gold Coast Australia team progresses up the coast of New Zealand's South Island look set to pose some "very challenging tactical situations", according to Richard.

"We're making good progress towards Taraunga and placing ourselves in a promising position for the new wind that is expected to arrive tomorrow," he said.

"Whilst conditions are very pleasant at the moment, allowing the crew some much earned and needed respite and drying time, the conditions forecasted for tomorrow evening are not so pleasant and we will be gearing up for 40-knot headwinds as we make our way north," Richard added.

The latest team to go into Stealth Mode is Edinburgh Inspiring Capital and skipper, Gordon Reid, is hoping to improve on his team's current standing of eighth place. On Thursday, the team proudly representing the Scottish capital bagged an extra point for being the fastest team to complete the Ocean Sprint.

"With a bit of luck as we continue to close on the fleet, they will hit the high first and we may yet close the gap. With less than 900 miles still to go and the dominating high pressure system in our path, it's all about to get very interesting," Gordon said.

After a day of Champagne sailing under "countless shooting stars", Gordon said that the Southern Ocean and Mother Nature gave his team "one last taste of their beautiful, glorious fury".

As Edinburgh Inspiring Capital crossed the Campbell Plateau, a continental oceanic plateau, the team was overtaken by a warm front and then caught by the cold front behind it.

Gordon reports that the barometer fell by eight millibars in around ten hours and on the shallow 200-metre plateau the sea was very confused with 15 to 20-foot surf. "After quickly downsizing the sail plan, we are like giddy children, loving the last blast of fury!" he said.

The team has also dealt with a jammed halyard during a headsail drop after the rope stripped its sheath and got trapped in the jammer.

Despite taking the jammer apart in an effort to save the halyard, it got stuck again so Gordon proceeded to cut the halyard and they all grabbed the sail and wrestled it on board still intact.

"I was soaked to the skin, feet numb and freezing but it was a great team effort by my excellent crew," Gordon said.

On Welcome to Yorkshire, skipper Rupert Dean is reflecting on what a difference a day can make. After sharing his evocative account of how it feels to be battered by the Southern Ocean yesterday, today's conditions provide a stark contrast.

"Yesterday we were surfing down enormous seas, running before the wind and clocking enormous boat speeds towards the finish line. Today we find ourselves on flat seas, nearly becalmed in headwinds, going very slow indeed but such is ocean racing," Rupert explains.

The skipper of the only English entry in Clipper 11-12 admits that he is kicking himself after misjudging the drop of his team's repaired medium weight spinnaker. After spotting a tiny hole in the sail, Rupert called for a drop to prevent further damage and opted to drop it on the foredeck, a technique used in light airs, in the hope of undertaking the repairs on the foredeck and re-hoisting without the lengthy process of repacking.

"Unfortunately, the winds were stronger than I had thought, making this light airs drop the wrong option. The result was a drop from hell where everything that could go wrong did, ending with the kite in the water shredded under the boat," he said.

"Ocean racing, like life, is all about making the right choices and I'm gutted for the crew and myself that I made such a howler today. We now have an extensive repair to make that will take several days.
Fortunately, my crew has absorbed this like the great team that they are and are not apportioning blame. We'll overcome it and move on, like we can, and always do," Rupert added.

Derry-Londonderry has moved up into second place ahead of New York, and Mark Light and his team are working hard to maintain their position.
Round the world crew member, Barry O'Mahony, a retired factory manager, said that sailing conditions have been "great if very demanding" with the wind on or aft of the beam and seldom less than 25 knots.

Barry reflected that 48 degrees south will the most southerly latitude reached during the year-long circumnavigation and he said that personally he "will not intentionally pass this way again".

"We wonder at the mental state of the first Dutch sailors in the 1640s who sailed down here to New Zealand knowing that there was no going home the way they had come and uncertainty on what lay ahead," he said.

Barry said that the dampness on board is all pervasive. "Even my watch which is supposed to be waterproof to 30 metres has condensation in it,"
he said, adding that a lot of the moisture is coming from within the boat as 17 mammals eat and sleep in an un-insulated fiberglass structure immersed in cold water combined with the presence of wet sails down below.

Despite their current position, Barry said that the Derry-Londonderry team was not counting any chickens with almost 750 miles to go.

New York is sandwiched between Derry-Londonderry and De Lage Landen in third place as the battle for the podium positions in Race 5 continues unabated.

New York's skipper, Gareth Glover, said he was focused on the long term goal and knew his team might drop a place as their tactics took them off the direct line to the finish.

"We are hoping that our plan will see us get the new wind first and get us back in front," Gareth said, adding that the wind is likely to be unsettled for the next 12 hours until it fills in more consistently.
"Only time will tell," he added.

On De Lage Landen, skipper Stuart Jackson reports that things have gone from the "ridiculous to the sublime" as huge swells, breaking waves and 50-plus knot squalls have been replaced by calm seas and 15 knots of wind as they race in the lee of New Zealand's land mass.

"Although it's slightly frustrating having light and fickle winds, everyone has enjoyed the warmer weather and the opportunity to have a bit of a breather," Stuart said.

"It looks like we are in for some interesting sailing over the next few days and with five of us being so close together, the race for the podium positions is on," he said, adding that being within sight of land is a big motivator for his crew.

Visit Finland is one of the five boats within 68 miles of each other all gunning for a podium place. With less than 70 miles separating his team from New York and second place, skipper Olly Osborne will know that a podium place is still within reach for the fifth race in the 40,000-mile series that is Clipper 11-12.

Sail changes have been the order of the day on Geraldton Western Australia as Juan Coetzer and his team deal with the changing conditions.

"Yesterday was amazing with clear blue skies, the heavyweight kite up and we were sailing in the right direction. In the evening we noticed small dark grey clouds come whizzing by and we knew this was a sign that things were about to change. Just before sunrise, the kite came down and the Yankee 1 went up," Juan said.

"Thus far we have worked through the whole headsail wardrobe and we are currently hoisting the storm staysail," he added, referring to the smallest sail on Clipper 68s used in extremely high winds.

Although the weather is glum and overcast with rain, the Geraldton Western Australia team has reported a sighting of an Orca whale as they sail towards the southerly tip of New Zealand's South Island.

Taking a northerly route to New Zealand following their retirement from Race 5, Ben Bowley reports that the team on Singapore has been treated to a spectacular lightning show.

"With some peculiar looking cloud formations sweeping in from astern and bolts of lightning jutting out the bottom, we decided to get the headsails down and shut down all non-essential electronics on board," he said.

Ben said he was a little slow on the uptake and before they could get the sails down Singapore was struck by a very prolonged 60-knot gust.
"You know things have started to go a little awry when you find yourself standing upright on what was once a vertical surface," he said.

By the time the team had the headsails on the deck and the main was under control, the wind had dropped to nothing, Ben reports.

"We motored in oily calm water for about half an hour whilst re-stowing spuds in their hanging hammocks but sure enough the wind came back with a vengeance and shortly after dark we were flying along under a double-reefed main and staysail," he said.

Although the Singapore is permitted to use its auxiliary engine to make best speed to New Zealand following their retirement after a pit stop to deal with steering issues, Ben is hoping to fly a spinnaker in the next
24 hours if the sea state settles down.

"It'll be good to see the kite up again and the longer we keep the engine off, the greater semblance of sanity on board," Ben said.

Qingdao has been sailing through thick fog as they endeavour to hunt down the rest of the fleet following their own diversion to Hobart in Tasmania to drop off crew member Jo Sandford, who was injured following a fall on deck.

"We are making reasonable progress towards New Zealand and everyone is looking forward to heading north again, hopefully to warmer waters.
We've managed to make some small gains on the fleet, not fast enough to catch them yet, but we keep pushing to try and close the gap," skipper, Ian Conchie, said.

There is no shortage of sail change action on Qingdao, as the team focuses on reeling in the boats ahead in the erratic conditions and the full wardrobe of Yankee headsails has been getting an outing.

"Yesterday we started with the Yankee 1 headsail and by the evening we were down to Yankee 3 and two reefs in the main, then this morning we are back to full main and a poled-out Yankee 2," Ian said

With a sweepstake underway on board for Qingdao's arrival time, the crew has been busy making calculations upon which to base their guesses. "I went for an early time trying to be optimistic but it is all in the hands of the weather gods now," Ian concedes.

The fleet is expected to arrive in Tauranga between 25 and 29 November.
More detailed estimated arrival times for individual teams will be posted in due course.

ENDS//

Positions at 0900 UTC, Saturday 19 November

Boat DTF*
1 Gold Coast Australia 659nm
2 Derry-Londonderry 774nm (+115nm DTL*)
3 New York 788nm (+128nm)
4 De Lage Landen 796nm (+137nm)
5 Welcome to Yorkshire 826nm (+167nm)
6 Visit Finland 842nm (+183nm)
7 Geraldton Western Australia 945nm (+285nm)
8 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 962nm (+302nm) Stealth Mode until
0600 20/11
9 Qingdao 1,135nm (+476nm)
10 Singapore 1,799nm (Retired)

*DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.

Attached Files

•  croppedimage723371-day-15-for-web.jpg   27.33K   0 downloads

[Ozee Adventure]

CLIPPER 11-12
RACE 5: GERALDTON TO TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND DAY 15

* Auckland retail assistant reflects on fulfilling lifetime ambition

* Derry-Londonderry opts for Stealth Mode as fierce battle for podiums unfolds

* Local wildlife welcomes Gold Coast Australia to New Zealand

"The sense of achievement in fulfilling such a lifelong goal is amazing and at the moment I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," New Zealander and Gold Coast Australia crew member, Fred Tooley said as his team continued the charge for the finish of Race 5 with a commanding lead.

The retail assistant from Auckland said that the sight of New Zealand's South Island heralding the end of the Southern Ocean phase of the race bought a tear to his eye yesterday morning.

The 72-year-old's participation in this race marks the realisation of an ambition held for 35 years, and seeing an advert in Yachting World magazine prompted Fred to apply to take part in Leg 4 of Clipper 11-12 from Geraldton in Western Australia to Gold Coast in Queensland via his homeland of New Zealand.

"All I can say is that if you are thinking about fulfilling a dream or taking on the challenge of a lifetime, don't think about it, just do it.
You won't regret it," Fred said.

"My two main heroes in life are Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Sir Peter Blake and I have watched many videos from the comfort of my couch about their adventures, but after watching them for years I decided that I thought I should give it a go. My theory is that I do what I enjoy and enjoy what I do," he said.

"I am living the dream and truly believe that you're never too old to learn new tricks and take on new challenges. When this is over, it doesn't mean I have stopped looking for challenges, it just means I need to decide on the next one," he added.

Throughout December Clipper will be holding a series of crew recruitment presentations and interviews in Auckland, Wellington and Tauranga in New Zealand and Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland in Australia for people interested in participating in Clipper 13-14.

Clipper's Crew Recruitment Manager, David Cusworth, said, "Berths are filling up fast for Clipper 13-14 so now is the time to act if you want to get on board for the next edition of the race. With a programme of crew recruitment presentations and interviews lined up in New Zealand and Australia next month, I'm looking forward to meeting some of the Australasians who will take up the challenge of a lifetime on our new fleet of Clipper 70s."

Derry-Londonderry is the latest team to go into Stealth Mode as they close in on Tauranga. Mark Light and his team will be racing under the invisibility cloak until 1800 UTC today, giving the crew representing the UK City of Culture 2013 an opportunity to hide their tactics for a 24-hour period as they battle to secure a podium position.

However, Mark reveals that frustration is the order of the day as they race up the east coast of New Zealand's South Island. "After flying across the Southern Ocean with great boat speeds taking a few batterings from the usual storms, we now find ourselves crawling rather than flying towards the finish," he said.

The Derry-Londonderry team knows that they will have a close battle on their hands "to outrun or outfox" their opponents for second place.
"After over 3,000 miles of ocean racing it has come down to a very subtle and tactical challenge to keep our boat moving fast and in the right direction," he said.

Mark said his team had worked incredibly hard to get into their current position and to win two valuable bonus points for being the second boat through the Race 5 Scoring Gate. "Now we are all very determined not to give our position away cheaply. This ocean race may well be a marathon not a sprint, but right now it is very definitely a match race to the finish," he said.

One of the players in that match race is set to be New York. Gareth Glover reports that his team has also been slowed down over the last 24 hours by light winds making for slow progress towards Tauranga.

"There are still five yachts that can take any of the podium spots and we are still looking for one of them," he said.

Gareth is hoping that his move to place New York in what he believes will be the best position to benefit from the filling wind will pay off.

"After all the hard work the crew of New York has put in over this race it will be tough if one [podium position] doesn't go to us but I know the other yachts feel the same," he added.

On Welcome to Yorkshire, Rupert Dean's team is not only racing against the rest of the fleet but also against time. The crew is battling to make as much progress as possible with repairs to their medium weight spinnaker which is strewn out below decks before the forecasted high winds and rough seas hit them tomorrow morning (local time).

"The crew involved are working very hard to ensure it all goes together properly with no twists in the repair, which is very difficult to do in such a cramped and confined space," Rupert said.

He added that overcast skies and continuous rainfall are indicative of the complex slow-moving fronts over the area.

Meteorologist Simon Rowell continues to provide the teams with the latest weather information on a daily basis. This morning he informed the fleet that as they head north, or continue north in Singapore's case, they will encounter low pressure weather modified by the land masses of the North and South Islands, in particular the gap between them, the Cook Strait.

"From about 2000 UTC today until 0600 UTC tomorrow, they will get a funnelling effect through there with gusts up to about 60 knots at times," Simon said.

For now the wind is conspicuous by its absence and Stuart Jackson on De Lage Landen reports that his team has been getting a wet welcome to New Zealand with around 12 hours of rain and very little wind.

Conditions don't look to get markedly better for another 24 hours. "This is due to a couple of little complex low pressure systems that have decided to go through our path, so we are looking forward to the south westerlies that are due to come in," Stuart said.

With just over 600 miles left to run to the finish and land within sight, minds on the Dutch entry are turning to reaching Tauranga.
"Everyone is keen to have some time to do a few activities in New Zealand from relaxing to adrenaline-fuelled pursuits for those who haven't had enough in the last couple of weeks!" he said.

On Visit Finland, the focus is on pulling back a couple of places before rounding East Cape at the top of the North Island. "Having fallen back from second into sixth during the run for the Scoring Gate earlier in the race, it would be fantastic to climb back up the leader board,"
skipper, Olly Osborne, said, adding that the opportunity might present itself as the fleet encounters more variable upwind conditions.

Olly said that after rounding the bottom of Stewart Island at dawn yesterday, the Visit Finland team is now heading northward through a very different seascape towards the "much-awaited" North Island.

"The big swell of the deep water that we have become used to is gone and it seems eerily quiet at times when the wind drops. The weather is keeping us on our toes too with the speed and direction changing rapidly. Last night we found ourselves beating into a gale and we are now ghosting along at barely four knots with our biggest sail plan up,"
Olly said.

Edinburgh Inspiring Capital has emerged from Stealth Mode in seventh place and skipper, Gordon Reid, reports that the Purple Beastie is taking chunks from the rest of the fleet.

"We are chasing the breeze and seeking to maximise our sail plan at every opportunity. The crew is working harder than ever with all requests for sail changes being executed with perfect precision," Gordon said.

"The cold front has caught up with a warm front and occluded bringing with it drizzle, rain, sea fog and light variable winds. There is wind out there and we are still moving and giving chase, whilst flying our spinnaker in a less conventional upwind configuration," he added.

The flatter conditions have made life a little easier below decks and the Edinburgh Inspiring Capital team has been busy working through the list of the routine jobs ahead of their arrival in Tauranga.

On Geraldton Western Australia, Juan Coetzer and his team have had a "crazy yet exciting" 24 hours with a plethora of sail changes and reefs.

"In that period we approached the continental shelf and saw the biggest rollers thus far creating some interesting surfing conditions," Juan said.

"Close reaching in 40 knots and riding the swell at 10 to 14 knots just shows you how seaworthy and entertaining these boats can be," he said, referring to the performance of the Clipper 68s which will be replaced by a brand new fleet of 12 Clipper 70s for Clipper 13-14.

Despite the wind disappearing forcing the team to switch to their medium weight kite in order to ghost along in light airs, spirits were boosted as the clouds lifted a little to give the Geraldton Western Australia crew a first glimpse of New Zealand.

Following their retirement from Race 5 after a pit stop at Port Phillip Bay near Melbourne, Singapore has been taking a northerly route towards Tauranga.

"The last 24 hours has been much like sailing the English Channel or North Sea in autumn time with grey, humid, overcast skies laced with perpetual drizzle and occasional heavy rain showers," skipper, Ben Bowley, reports.

"Instead of the wind being dead on the nose, it is dead astern, light and the confused sea state rules out the option of a spinnaker," Ben said, adding that the gusty winds associated with cold fronts had demanded vigilance for rapidly shifting wind directions throughout the night.

Ben said that he hoped that tomorrow will bring more consistent breeze and a more ordered wave set to enable his team to hoist their newly-repaired medium spinnaker. An attempt today was aborted when a hole was spotted and the sloppy conditions raised the prospect further damage if the sail wrapped in the rigging.

The team on Qingdao has enjoyed a "glorious sunrise and a nice 20 knot westerly" after a night spent in fog and drizzle. This gave Ian Conchie and his crew the opportunity to hoist their medium weight kite to make some good boat speed towards the finish.

"We spent the day conducting kite drills and we ended up this afternoon under our heavyweight kite. Hopefully this breeze will hold to see us past the bottom of New Zealand and on up the coast," Ian said.

"Despite our lowly position [following medevac of injured crew member Jo Sandford] we have been receiving lots of support from our friends and family back home which continues to spur us on to the finish," he said.

Looking ahead to their stopover in New Zealand, Ian said that although his crew accepted that it was unlikely to be their "best rest", they deserved to be very proud of themselves given what they have dealt with on this leg in terms of wind, injuries and other challenges.

On Gold Coast Australia, Richard Hewson and his team have been experiencing the lull before the storm as they endeavour to protect their lead from the chasing pack.

"Very light winds have made sailing up the coast of New Zealand very interesting but also very peaceful and relaxing, but we must not become too complacent as a rather large blow is imminent tonight," Richard said.

In addition to the weather information provided by Simon Rowell, the skippers are also picking up local inshore forecasts over the VHF radio.
Richard said that today the announcer read out a forecast for winds of
45 knots increasing to 55 knots in the evening and 65 knots tomorrow morning.

"This is definitely the most extreme inshore forecast I have heard over VHF radio," Richard said, adding that the winds were forecast for a location 150 miles ahead of their current position and just 50 miles off their track.

"The crew is now getting used to stowing gear ready for a storm as in these waters the drill seems to occur twice a week," he added.

The local wildlife has been welcoming the frontrunner to New Zealand's shores. In addition to inquisitive seals poking their heads up around the boat, Richard reports that Gold Coast Australia has been surrounded by no less than 20 albatross flying together, a rare sight for an animal known for its solitary behaviour.

With the albatross varying in size and species, Richard said his team suspects that they witnessed a gliding class in full swing as the young learn the fundamentals prior to heading down to the Southern Ocean.

ENDS//

Positions at 0900 UTC, Sunday 20 November

Boat DTF*
1 Gold Coast Australia 532nm
2 New York 604nm (+72nm DTL*)
3 Welcome to Yorkshire 636nm (+104nm)
4 De Lage Landen 643nm (+111nm)
5 Visit F 666nm (+135nm)
6 Derry-Londonderry 702nm (+170nm) Stealth Mode until 1800
20/11
7 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 780nm (+248nm)
8 Geraldton Western Australia 812nm (+280nm)
9 Qingdao 992nm (+460nm)
10 Singapore 1,670nm (Retired) Position at 0600

*DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.

Attached Files

•  croppedimage723371-Sunday-for-web.jpg   34.79K   3 downloads

[Ozee Adventure]

2nd time this has been posted

thanks m8 wrong email - my bad

[lydia]

http://video.uk.msn....:facebook:uuids

[lydia]

CLIPPER 11-12
RACE 5: GERALDTON TO TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND
DAY 16

* Intense battle underway for podium positions as teams brace for
erratic winds

* Gold Coast Australia crew maintains lead but exhausted after "wild
ride"

* Bioluminescent sea creatures light a path for Visit Finland

An intense battle is underway for the coveted podium positions for Race
5 from Geraldton, Western Australia to Tauranga, New Zealand with just
32 miles separating the five boats vying for the second and third spots.

De Lage Landen, currently in fourth place, is one of the teams gunning
for a top-three finish and skipper, Stuart Jackson, acknowledges that it
is set to be close call with so many of the boats bunched together in
the closing stages of this 3,800-mile race.

"As there is going to be some fairly unpredictable weather we could well
see positions change in the next few days. It never ceases to amaze me
that after nearly 4,000 miles, there is the possibility of half the
fleet finishing within a few hours of each other," Stuart said.

Although frustrating at times, the close racing helps to motivate the
crew to keep getting the best they can out of the boat, Stuart added.

"It is also testament to their hardy resolve that they keep smiling and
joking in the dismal conditions," he said.

More unsettled weather is on the way, according to meteorologist Simon
Rowell, who is providing the ten teams with daily weather updates. The
conditions over the next couple of days will be "a bit messy and patchy"
as the weather systems generally move eastwards, Simon said.

"There will be some localised strong winds through the Cook Strait and
around Table Cape and East Cape over the next two to three days," he
added. Simon has advised the skippers to pay close attention the local
weather broadcasts on VHF radio as they make their way up the coast.

"The strong stuff won't be anything that the teams haven't already seen
at this stage in the race, but the change in the weather will be rather
quick and so it will probably be harder work overall," Simon said,
noting that the teams are likely to make numerous sail changes to cope
with the erratic conditions.

Derry-Londonderry has emerged from Stealth Mode in second place, nine
miles ahead of Welcome to Yorkshire and skipper, Mark Light, said that
the close battle for the podium spots had got even closer.

He conceded that Gold Coast Australia had a "healthy lead" and said that
barring any mishaps the Australian team was unlikely to be caught.

"This leaves five boats all going for second and third spots, and
although my maths is not great, even I know that five into two does not
go so three boats will miss out on the podium," Mark said.

"Our aim is to make sure that we are not one of the three boats who will
finish just outside the top places," he added.

At current speeds the distance separating Derry-Londonderry from
sixth-placed Visit Finland equates to only three hours sailing, so Mark
is all too aware of the need to trim well and sail fast and to preserve
equipment in the adverse conditions to avoid having to deal with a time
consuming situation on board.

"The excitement must be building for the people watching the action
unfold on the Race Viewer but for all of us on board the tensions are
rising and the finish line cannot come soon enough!" Mark said.

Rupert Dean and his team on Welcome to Yorkshire are capitalising on
their newfound wind and remain hot on the heels of Derry-Londonderry.

"After struggling to keep Welcome to Yorkshire moving in light winds,
rain and cloudy skies, we are now reaching along nicely under main,
staysail and Yankee 1 in about 27 knots of wind from the south east.
Quite where this wind is coming from is anyone's guess as, it tells a
totally different story to what we would expect from the weather
charts," Rupert said.

The heavy north westerly winds funnelling down the Cook Strait appear to
have passed ahead of the English team, and Rupert said he was relieved
to be "spared the discomfort of hardcore upwind sailing".

The sail repair team on Welcome to Yorkshire has finished taping
together their medium weight spinnaker which was damaged after being
dragged under the boat last week.

Rupert praised Ann Finch, Richard Simons, Kate Prior, Keith Pickering
and Steve Reid for their efforts and said they were now stitching the
repair with the sewing machine. They hope to finish the extensive
repairs by the time they reach Tauranga.

Meanwhile, an abundance of wildlife is greeting the teams as they sail
in close proximity to New Zealand's shores for the first time in the
history of the Clipper Race.

Rupert said his team had spotted large quantities of kelp, various
birdlife including three albatross and a huge school of bottlenose
dolphins. "These and the rising air and sea temperatures are all welcome
signs as we make our way north towards Tauranga," he said.

New York's skipper, Gareth Glover, admits that he was disappointed to
slip back from second into fourth place as his team failed to benefit
from his move offshore allowing the inshore teams to pull ahead.

"We've been unable to fly a spinnaker or poled-out a headsail due to the
sea state as the waves have been coming from all angles making it hard
to helm," Gareth said.

"We're now waiting on the next set of weather information and time will
tell if our route is going to pay off in the end," he added.

It has been another day of extremes on Visit Finland with the changeable
weather and sea state challenging the crew, according to skipper, Olly
Osborne.

"The watches are working very hard to keep pace with the demands of the
elements and we have nearly been caught out by squally showers a couple
of times," he said.

This presents a stark contrast to last night's weather when there was "a
glassy sea and barely a breath of breeze". But every cloud has its
silver lining and the calm conditions allowed the Visit Finland crew to
witness a show of phosphorescent sea creatures of all shapes and sizes.

"When we shone a torch at the sea, it was thick with squid and worm-like
creatures. It was a fascinating sight but everyone made double sure that
they were clipped on!" Olly said.

As the most westerly boat, the Visit Finland team is working on a "least
miles and best boat speed theory". However, Olly said that he was
watching the teams to the east carefully to see if they were able to
remain in the stronger winds for longer as the low pressure cell receded
to the east.

After regaining their triple-digit lead overnight, Richard Hewson and
his team on Gold Coast Australia are feeling the burn after a "wild
ride" crossing the approaches to the Cook Strait.

Richard reports that his team ploughed to windward into large seas and
swells with a solid 50 knots of wind from the north west. "With the
storm sails up Gold Coast Australia handled like a dream and powered to
windward like a freight train on rails," he said.

Richard said that his crew was "completely exhausted" after carrying out
at least one sail change per watch as the wind increased over the first
16 hours of the storm with each one taking up to two hours to complete.

"Even flaking the sail once it is down is an absolute mission and the
crew worked hard to keep the yacht shipshape. Not only is it physically
strenuous whilst on deck, but also when trying to rest or, dare I say,
to sleep as the inside of the hull is being bounced around like a
rollercoaster, and nobody sleeps well on a rollercoaster, particularly
in the rain!" he said.

Richard anticipates that the approach to Tauranga will continue to be
"extremely challenging" and now that the storm has abated the team is
trying to get some rest to prepare for the demanding conditions ahead.

After making miles on the fleet in record speeds yesterday, it has been
a slow and frustrating 24 hours on board Edinburgh Inspiring Capital as
the team experiences light variable winds and drizzle. Skipper, Gordon
Reid, considers the challenging dynamics of ocean racing.

"The Ocean Racing Team on Edinburgh Inspiring Capital is working hard to
keep us moving, with countless sail changes as the wind fills then eases
and changes direction 30 degrees at a time.

"From riding on the edge of the Southern Ocean's fury to a much more
sedate and calm coastal cruise, this is a lot like typical sailing
weather off the west coast of Scotland where I learned to sail as a wee
lad with rain, drizzle and fog, so just like being at home for me," he
said.

"Someone asked me what it was like living life to the max, well some
days are better than others, for now we are staying focused and are
keeping the faith," he added.

With the weather due to bring strong winds over the next two to three
days Edinburgh Inspiring Capital is hoping to regain speed and once
again take chunks from the rest of the fleet in their race to the finish
line in Tauranga .

"There is wind ahead and the ocean isn't finished with us yet, she is
about to blow and once more we will be riding on the edge, bring it on
say the crew. It's all good!" said Gordon.

Despite the light winds, the team on board Geraldton Western Australia
has been working hard to maintain their current position. Skipper Juan
Coetzer is pleased with the team's hard work. "Quite a bit of
maintenance has been done today, keeping the boat in tip top condition,"
he said.

As Geraldton Western Australia continued to drift up the coastline last
night giving them a first glimpse at New Zealand, the team looked to the
finish in Tauranga.

"Now that the day has come, the breeze has filled in a little, and we
are off," he added.

On board Qingdao the frustration continues for Ian Conchie and his team
as they sail downwind in light airs reducing their apparent wind. The
team is all too familiar with light airs from an unfavourable angle
after their experience on Leg 3 from Cape Town to Geraldton.

"We are doing everything we can to maximise our boat speed with the
spinnaker up but it requires constant trimming to try and keep it full
in these light airs. All we can do is wait and pray that the next
forecast has something more promising in it to allow us to make good
progress towards the finish," Ian said.

As the team feel the frustration of racing due to the weather, they have
taken the opportunity to use the warm air to get ahead of the chores
that await them in Tauranga and have started cleaning, washing and
drying everything that has got damp on board.

As the team on board Singapore continues to head north, last night
provided what skipper Ben Bowley describes as "some much needed
stimulation" as they experienced high winds which saw a plethora of sail
changes and miles gained.

With the team retired from the current race, Singapore has been
experiencing slightly different weather patterns to the rest of the
fleet as they take a shorter northerly route. As they approach Tauranga,
Ben Bowley and his team are looking forward to rejoining the rest of the
fleet to prepare for Race 6 to Gold Coast in Queensland.

"It looks like we may have another 24 hours motoring ahead as the breeze
dies in the centre of this expanding high pressure but once on the other
side there should be a nice fetch up to Cape Regina and hopefully a fast
flat kite blast in the lee of the north island to Tauranga. It will be
superb to be back with the fleet again preparing for the next sprint to
Gold Coast," he said.

Race 6 from Tauranga to Gold Coast starts on 4 December.


ENDS//

Positions at 0900 UTC, Monday 21 November

Boat DTF*

1 Gold Coast Australia 331nm

2 Derry-Londonderry 443nm (+112nm DTL*)

3 Welcome to Yorkshire 452nm (+121nm)

4 De Lage Landen 455nm (+124nm)

5 New York 458nm (+127nm)

6 Visit Finland 474nm (+144nm)

7 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 649nm (+318nm)

8 Geraldton Western Australia 675nm (+344nm)

9 Qingdao 864nm (+534nm)

10 Singapore 1535nm (Retired) Position at
0600

*DTF = Distance to Finish, DTL = Distance to Leader Full positions are
updated every three hours and can be found at
www.clipperroundtheworld.com.

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