Clipper fleet participates in Summer Sailstice 2008

The fleet’s recent progress has been respectable as the teams benefit from Force five southerly winds and most teams have managed to cover over 200 nautical miles in the past 24 hours.

Joff Bailey, Race Director, says, “The winds for the next 24 hours are forecasted to back to the east and then north as a small low pressure cell travels south of the fleet. Other than Uniquely Singapore, there have been no dramatic tactical changes made by the teams however, the changing wind directions that this low pressure system will bring will allow the tacticians onboard to make a decision on when to tack from starboard onto port. This will be a critical decision because tacking too early or too late will cost miles. This is particularly vital for the overall Clipper 07-08 Race front-runners, New York, Hull & Humber and Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper, as this decision could be the make or break decision of the race, Loosing or gaining one or two points now makes such a big difference with only one race left. It promises to be exciting viewing over the next few days.

Deciding when to change course can prove costly but so can deciding when to change sails as Durban 2010 and Beyond discovered to the determent of the team’s position amongst the fleet. Skipper of the South African team, Ricky Chalmers, says, “We lost miles again by doing a sail change too early. We were hard pressed with the Yankee one, and with the GRIB files showing the wind increasing marginally and, more importantly, coming forward, I made the decision to change to the Yankee two early. Initially it looked like the right decision with the boat speed being the same if not better than before but, over the next hours the wind progressively eased and when I was woken at watch change we were floundering at six knots. The Yankee one is back up again with the Yankee two ready to go.”

Uniquely Singapore has stayed further south which has initially kept the team below the great circle route and requires them to sail more miles to the finish line in Cork. However, as the low pressure system moves past the fleet there is a chance they will benefit from better wind angles then their competitors further north.

Following westernaustralia2011.com’s decision yesterday to head north and join the rest of the pack, a match race has now broken out between the big blue boat and Nova Scotia. Martin Silk, skipper of westernaustralia2011.com, says, “Nova Scotia by default now has a match race on their hands since coming to greet us this afternoon. To us this makes sense, providing they do not stray too far from our intended track, allowing a performance measure as we try to claw back some miles on the leaders.”

The whole fleet is now clear of the Grand Banks and, other than Uniquely Singapore, they are north of the Flemish Cap, infamous from the film ‘The Perfect Storm’.Fortunately the wind will be much kinder to the Clipper fleet than the fishing fleet featured in the film as they continue their progress to Cork, Ireland, in this penultimate race.

Today on the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the Clipper fleet is taking part in the Summer Sailstice 2008. They are amongst 3,000 boats signed up in 20 countries and it is estimated that at least 10,000 sailors are participating worldwide. John Arndt, Summer Sailstice organiser, says, “It’s great that the Clipper fleet is taking part in the Summer Sailstice. It’s a day to remember all the miles sailed by sailors everywhere and celebrate what sailing has made possible. The first sailors signed up and planning to hoist their sails for Summer Sailstice will do so at sunrise in Shanghai, China. As the earth turns sails will be hoisted around the world until finally sailors in California and Hawaii become the last to sail on Summer Solstice.” For more information log on to https://www.summersailstice.com

Each of the Clipper teams are lead by an experienced professional skipper and Sir Robin recently launched his search for skippers for the 09-10 Clipper Race. If you have what it takes to lead a team of novice sailors on a ten-month race around the world then please contact him on [email protected] Berths are now available for the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race. Those interested in participating in the world’s only round the yacht race for non-professionals can find out more by contacting Clipper Ventures on +44 (0) 2392 526000 or email [email protected].

Visit Clipper Round The World Yacht Race for more exciting updates.