2005-09-21
A Frustrating Night in the Western Approaches
After the initial thrash down the Irish Sea and Saint George's Channel the fleet has been through a period of light and flukey winds as they leave UK waters. In many ways this is much harder sailing than the strong wind conditions, as the crews have far more options open to them, and the sail changes will be coming thick and fast. One thing that will have improved life on board, however, is the chance to clean up and tidy up after the first two hectic days. Those who suffered from seasickness on the way down should be recovered now, and they will be fine for the rest of the trip.
Another aspect to light weather sailing is that the positions of the yachts change quite dramatically with respect to each other, and this has been illustrated by the wide spread of distances run over the last 12 hours. Victoria and Cardiff have had the soggy end of the stick here, but Ewan and Conor will be using their experience to make the most of the light winds and will be back in the running soon.
The three current front runners, Western Australia, Liverpool and Durban Clippers, are very close, both geographically and in terms of distance to finish. This means that they will be experiencing very similar conditions, and so the major difference in boat speed will be down to the way the skippers and crews work their boats. One thing we know for sure is that they will all be working as hard as they can!
Western Australia has problems with her satellite telephone, and so cannot send or receive emails via the usual route. The equipment manufacturers are coming out to Portugal, so until then if there is anything important to send please pass it to info@clipper-ventures.com and we will send it out using the Inmarsat-C system, which is a low-bandwith data only link.
Looking at the synoptic chart (kindly provided by the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Centre in the US) there is a depression coming in over the top of the North Atlantic high pressure system. This is already having an effect, as Craig Millar on Durban Clipper (the duty boat this week) reports Force 4 winds from the south west. The yachts will have to neotiate the transition from this depression driven weather to the high pressure driven conditions across the Bay of Biscay and down the Iberian peninsula, which will give many more opportunities for position changes over the second half of the race.
PHOTOGRAPH CREDIT: USDOD 106
Clipper Ventures plc, Shamrock Quay, William Street, Northam, Southampton SO14 5QL
Tel: +44 (0)23 8023 7088. Fax: +44 (0)23 8023 7081.
e-mail: info@clipper-ventures.com
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