Clipper Race: Pointing the right direction

(February 18, 2018; Day 19) – For the sixth day in a row, Qingdao maintains its lead over the Clipper 2017-18 Round the World Yacht Race fleet as the leading pack turns to the west for the final 700 nautical miles to Sanya. The teams are concentrating on holding their spinnakers whilst navigating the busy waters of the South China Sea.

On board Qingdao Skipper Chris Kobusch reports: “PSP Logistics is hot on our heels though and Sanya Serenity Coast plus Dare To Lead are closing in too. 640 nm to the finish and again the racing is incredibly tight. Every little mistake can cost a position, but hopefully we can stay focused and concentrated on the home stretch and, with a little bit of luck, a podium position might be in sight. Fingers crossed!”

PSP Logistics is close behind and around 50 nautical miles is all that separates the two teams after 19 days of racing. Despite reporting that the team faced some interesting conditions last night including a lumpy sea state the Skipper Matt Mitchell said Progress is good and they are pointing in more or less the right direction.

“The next few days will tell though as I don’t think any of the leading boats can sail directly to Sanya, meaning both gains and losses will be made on the gybe angles that we choose to take,”
said Matt.

Dare To Lead retains third place and a potential podium finish. Skipper Dale Smyth said: “Well a good fast night under spinnaker after the wind came through from the north east. We are currently approaching the north end of the Philippine Islands and nightfall should see us through into the China Sea and around 700 nautical miles left.

“It feels like it’s getting close now but we still need to keep concentrating and keep our focus up for the last few days.”

For Sanya Serenity Coast, currently fourth, the hope for a podium finish into its home port is still within reach.

“We are now on that final run for the finish,” notes Sanya Skipper Wendy Tuck. “We do have our work cut out for us to catch those boats in front of us, but we never give up and the team is pumped to give it their best shot. Morale is great on board, everyone is working well and the boat is sailing well.”

The steady winds from the north have meant settled conditions for the most northerly yacht, fifth placed Unicef. Only the next few days will tell whether its positioning pays off for the downwind run to Sanya compared to that of Liverpool 2018 over 100nm to the south, in sixth.

The chasing pack is still in the midst of the Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint. Visit Seattle, though leading the charge in seventh, is only just breaking free of the wind hole that hampered progress yesterday. Skipper Nikki Henderson said: “Another sprint – aka another driftathon. We have just started edging forwards after 12 hours in a hole.”

Garmin has opted to activate Stealth Mode and so is hidden its position from its competitors until 0600 UTC on tomorrow morning and means HotelPlanner.com moves into eighth on the leaderboard.

For Nasdaq (ninth) and GREAT Britain (tenth), however, the later start to the Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint has meant that they are experiencing better conditions than some of the fleet.

Nasdaq Skipper, Rob Graham, said: “We’ve been having a good run across our Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint: we started last night under Code 1 (lightweight spinnaker), then the wind filled in from the north east for us and we’re trucking along under the Code 3 (heavyweight spinnaker).”

GREAT Britain Skipper, Dave Hartshorn, is also pleased with his team’s progress and is holding hope to pick up some of the bonus points on offer, saying: “Now on an athletics track, you would not want to be last out of the blocks for a sprint, however, beginning the last boat over the start line on this occasion may have its advantages. Time will tell, as the winds look pretty consistent for the next 30 hours or so with good wind speeds and angles.”

Clipper Race Meteorologist Simon Rowell reports that the north easterlies are coming through now and over the next 24 hours they should veer and ease. For the yachts still east of the Luzon Strait, they will see this affect more so than those to the west. Then as the high-pressure system, that is driving the wind, goes further east it will leave less steady breeze for 2-3 days before the next batch fills in again.

Event details – Race facts – Race viewer – Facebook

Beginning January 30, Race 7 of the 13 stage Clipper 2017-18 Round the World Yacht Race has the fleet racing 4280nm from Whitsunday Islands in Australia to Sanya, China. From there teams will race onwards to Qingdao, also in China; across the North Pacific Ocean to Seattle, and through the Panama Canal to New York.

The course to Sanya is expected to take between 23 to 27 days, with the fleet expected to arrive into the Sanya Serenity Marina between February 21 and 25.

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 40,000nm course is divided into 13 individual races with the team having the best cumulative score winning the Clipper Race Trophy. The race concludes in Liverpool on July 28.

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.

* Twelve teams began the first leg but one yacht (Greenings) ran aground just hours after the start on October 31 of the third leg from Cape Town, South Africa to Fremantle, Australia. The crew was safely evacuated but damage to the boat was deemed too extensive for it to continue in the 2017-18 edition.

Race Route – Race Schedule and Miles

Source: Clipper Ventures