Clipper Race: Tackling the Bay of Biscay

Published on August 23rd, 2017

(August 23, 2017; Day 3) – As the fleet makes steady progress south past the UK and towards Northern France, Skippers and crew are focusing on the next challenge; the Bay of Biscay, notorious for violent storms and heavy seas.

Skipper of second placed Sanya Serenity Coast, Wendy Tuck, reports: “This morning we wake to a breeze still on the nose and we are about to start our passage across the Bay of Biscay.

“At the moment, it is being kind to us, but it does have a bit of a reputation of not being very nice.”

Ahead of the fleet, the weather is changing somewhat. A new low moving southeast across the race track should reach the Portuguese coast by the weekend. Whilst it does not look particularly strong, it will provide several tactical options for the twelve teams.

Over the last 24 hours, positions continued to change on the leader board and 98 nautical miles now separates first placed Unicef from Greenings, in twelfth place, who selected a more westerly route as it entered the Celtic Sea yesterday.

The front four leaders, who broke away with the strong flowing tides in the Irish Sea, remain close, with 18 nautical miles separating Unicef, Sanya Serenity Coast, Visit Seattle and Dare To Lead.

Skipper Nikki Henderson, on third placed Visit Seattle, said: “Well, the conclusion of the last 24 hours is that Wendo and Bob are really, really good at making their boats move approximately 1 knot faster than us.

“Definitely a frustrating night, but that’s racing for you!”

Not taking his lead for granted, Unicef Skipper, Bob Beggs, reports: “On the AIS we have a constant reminder of the competition with Visit Seattle, Sanya Serenity Coast and Dare To Lead helping to keep our competitive juices flowing.”

And the competitive spirit is very much present further down the fleet.

HotelPlanner.com and Liverpool 2018, in tenth and eleventh place respectively, are jostling for position and are “currently yo-yoing” according to the latter’s Skipper, Lance Shepherd.

Gaëtan Thomas, Skipper of Garmin, currently in seventh place said: “We are trying to catch up boat by boat, now we are nearly up with Qingdao and Nasdaq.”

Meanwhile, Rob Graham, Skipper of Nasdaq, says: “Our focus is on chasing down Dare To Lead, Visit Seattle, and Sanya Serenity Coast, whilst staying ahead of the group chasing us.”

The 12 teams started the 6,400 nm leg from Liverpool, UK to Punta del Este, Uruguay on August 20, which is expected to take approximately 35 days to complete, making it the longest ever in the race’s 21-year history.

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Background: Held biennially, the Clipper 2017-18 Round the World Yacht Race got underway August 20 for the fleet of twelve identical Tony Castro designed Clipper 70s. The 40,000 nm course is divided into 13 individual races with the team having the best cumulative score winning the Clipper Race Trophy. Each team is led by a professional skipper with an all-amateur crew that signs up for one, some, or all the races. The 2017-18 race, expected to take 11 months, has attracted 712 people representing 41 nationalities, making it the largest to date.

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