Oceanracing - Clipper 05-06 Round the World Yacht Race

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

Tuesday, 25th July 2006
Clippers depart Jersey for penultimate nail biter

After a windless morning when thoughts throughout the fleet were on whether there would be enough wind to start, the yachts’ battle flags began to flutter and high-level cloud started to creep across the sky. So it was that after a blisteringly hot few days in Jersey, the fleet left St. Helier with overcast skies and a hint of rain.

Durban passes Corbiere Lighthouse
Photo by: Ingrid Abery

The start line was off Noirmont Point, a couple of miles west of St. Helier harbour and after a brief procession around St. Aubin’s Bay the fleet began their pre-start preparations where they were joined by a pod of dolphins who played around the boats on cue. The hint of rain turned into a full scale downpour and the starting committee, gunnery crew and spectators lining the cliffs muttered about bad timing, but with the rain came wind and the boats began to heel as they jockeyed for position. This was just as well as there was about a knot or so of tide against them and too little wind would have meant a struggle to cross. As it was by the time of the 10-minute gun they were able to make good progress and when the Lieutenant Governor fired the starting gun Durban Clipper was able to surge across the line closely followed by Victoria, Glasgow, westernaustralia.com, New York, Cardiff, Jersey, Uniquely Singapore, Qingdao and Liverpool. And as an added bonus the rain stopped. The fleet will now head towards the western tip of the island before turning to the northwest to head towards Lands End. The forecast shows a steady westerly airflow as a weak low pressure system drifts in from the Atlantic so progress should reindex reasonable and we expect them to arrive in Holyhead sometime on Thursday evening. As well as the winds the crews will also have to contend with strong tidal streams. These will have a major effect on the fleet’s progress and will offer both help and hindrance as the fleet head north. Boats that get it right will reap big rewards but for those that get it wrong the penalties could be high as they fight against the adverse flow. This may well lead to big splits in the fleet and the finishes in Holyhead could well be separated by hours rather than minutes. As the teams headed off to the west Liverpool were already making up for their poor start by keeping close inshore, out of the tide, and seemed to be steadily creeping up the fleet. Cardiff seemed to be faring less well as their position further out to sea meant they had stronger tide to sail against. But the tide will turn in about an hour and they will then benefit from a full 6 hours of flow pushing them towards the west. The first positions will be posted shortly after 0500UT tomorrow morning and then again at 1100 and 1700.