Clipper fleet races downwind to Panama

(April 21, 2014) – The last 24 hours has seen some very close, and tense match downwind racing amongst the 12-strong fleet with speeds reaching in excess of 26 knots as it makes its way further south towards Panama.

With just 15 miles now separating the top three teams in Race 11, with Team Garmin, Invest Africa and Mission Performance now leading respectively, positions within the fleet have been changing frequently as teams tack and gybe eager to make gains on their nearest competitor. Simon Talbot skipper of GREAT Britain explains what we can expect to see tactically develop on the Race Viewer during Race 11:

“We have spent the last 24 hours dancing the tango with the majority of the Clipper Race fleet at one point or another as we all glide to and fro down the race track playing the angles with our spinnakers flying. As anyone who has been watching race tracker will know, this plays havoc with the race standings as those who are on port gybe, the making gybe, shoot up the table as those on starboard gybe plummet down just as fast.

“This will unfortunately last for most of this race as the weather forecast has us sailing dead downwind for most of the time, so as far as I can tell at the moment, we are somewhere in the lower mid fleet and that is about the best I can tell.”

Meanwhile Matt Mitchell, skipper of Mission Performance which is currently in last place on the overall leaderboard is vying for its first podium win after battling it out with overall leaders OneDLL in the last 24 hours:

“We had a great little match with OneDLL before they gybed off to chase Derry~Londonderry~Doire while we stayed on a more easterly course to gybe about an hour after we parted company. This is mainly a downwind race and like upwind races our paths will probably cross many times as we gybe back and forth making our way downwind.”

Veteran Clipper Race skipper Jan Ridd who skippers Team Garmin but also skippered Cape Breton in the Clipper 2009-10 Race knows all too well, tactics are everything in Race 11 and will be sure to avoid making the same mistakes twice:

“In the Clipper 2009-10 Race I made the mistake of not heading east early enough and when the wind got lighter I struggled to get back towards the coast, so this time my plan is to not get too far offshore and stay as close as possible to the rhumb line which is the shortest distance.”

Report by event media.

Skipper reports: http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/skipper-reports
Race tracker: http://yb.tl/clipper2013-race10
Race website: http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com

Background:
The 40,000 mile Clipper 2013-14 Round the World Yacht Race began in London, UK on September 1 for the fleet of twelve identical Tony Castro designed Clipper 70s.

Twelve teams started the 3,350 mile leg from San Francisco, USA to Panama on April 19, and are expected to arrive by May 10.

The race route includes Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Cape Town, South Africa; Albany, Sydney, Hobart and Brisbane, Australia; Singapore; Qingdao, China; San Francisco, USA; Panama; Jamaica; New York, USA; Derry-Londonderry, Ireland; and Den Helder, Netherlands before returning to London in July.