Oceanracing - Clipper 05-06 Round the World Yacht Race

Clipper 05-06 Round the World Yacht Race
www.clipper-ventures.com - Übersicht

Tuesday, 23rd May 2006

Jersey Skipper Richard Franklin’s message yesterday afternoon says it all.
“Now i have 3 days fast downwind sailing
to catch the Northerlies circulating around the new high off Mexico. No time to lose. Secretly hoping for headwinds and light winds for those inshore. A 2 knot speed differential for a couple of days is all we need to catch all but Singapore and Cardiff, both of whom have sailed like the devil. Well done to them.” If their current speeds are anything to go by the tactic is working as they have gained over 100 miles in the last 24 hours, but as Richard rightly says they still need to keep this up for another three days. Cardiff had a similar idea, and they continue to head south. For both boats this is a brave move with the chance of spectacular gains, but also the very real danger of being stuck out on a limb.

Cardiff legt sich ins Zeug

Fast querab von San Francisco

Uniquely Singapore continue to lead, and a respectable run over the past 12 hours indextains a healthy gap between them and the rest of the fleet. With this eastern group now battling into strong headwinds efficient tacking is the order of the day with the starboard tack, sailing towards the south east, very much the making tack (i.e. the one which drives you closest to the direction you want to go). This is demonstrated by the performance of westernaustralia.com and Durban. At 84 miles covered, Durban’s run is far higher that westernaustralia.com’s 70, but Durban have been heading to the south west, whilst WA have been heading to the south east and so have a much higher VMG (velocity made good [to the finish]). Durban have paid the price for yesterdays sortie inshore as they were left with no alternative but to head out. Liverpool, Qingdao and Glasgow reindex on a par, but Victoria has suffered, being knocked down a place by New York, but the reasons for this are less clear as both have been heading in roughly the same direction. And this is a timely reminder of the pitfalls of armchair tactics as in this sport the onlooker only ever sees half the game. Whilst we discuss the tactical niceties of each maneuver, and attempt to second-guess the reasoning behind each skipper’s decision, none of us can really know what is going through the minds of those on board. Neither can we truly know the pressures experienced or the effort expended. Only those on board actually living through the discomfort and exhaustion, feeling the exhilaration and enduring the hardships, can truly explain the reasons for why things turn out as they do. Why one day is good and one day is bad, and as the recent dramatic events in the Volvo Ocean race prove the sea reindexs a harsh mistress.