 To the strains of their boat song sung by rival team westernaustralia2011.com, Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper arrived in Nongsa Point Marina after finishing sixth in Race 5, the latest stage of the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race. It could easily have been a place higher but for a costly mistake that saw the Scottish team miss one of the marks, forcing them to double back and round it correctly to avoid penalty.
The slip up allowed Durban 2010 and Beyond to sneak in and claim fifth place, crossing the line just two minutes and four seconds ahead of the Glasgow-sponsored yacht. The South African entry finished Race 5 20 miles off the coast of Singapore at 2332 GMT on Monday 14 January (0632 local time, Tuesday 15 January); Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper finished at 2334 GMT on 14 January (0634 local time, 15 January).
A visibly disappointed Hannah Jenner, skipper of Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper said, “It’s really annoying.”
Her opposite number on Durban 2010 and Beyond, Ricky Chalmers, said, “I really feel for Hannah. If they’d managed to turn around just before us and get in in front of us, we would never have caught them.”
The Glasgow team can take some solace in the recovery of the round the world crew member Dafydd Hughes. He dislocated his shoulder two days after leaving Fremantle, but treatment from the onboard medic Emma Holden repaired the damage and after four days he was back to light duties on deck. “There’s no way I was getting off that boat,” he said. “The thought of that made me feel worse than the pain in my shoulder. I’ve broken my leg before and I’d rather have ten broken legs than one dislocated shoulder. It was excruciating.”
In a scorching race from Fremantle to Singapore – both in terms of extremely close racing and the heat the crews have had to deal with – New York scored their second victory of the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race. Beating off fierce competition from the rest of the fleet, the team, led by Scottish skipper Duggie Gillespie maintained their narrow lead over Liverpool 08 to cross the finish line off Singapore at 2112 local time (1412 GMT). Liverpool 08 finished four hours and ten minutes later at 1822 GMT (0122 Tuesday 15 January local time) to secure their third podium position of the Clipper 07-08 Race.
The lead in the 2430-mile race, which started in Fremantle on New Year’s Day, changed numerous times as the skippers and crews of the ten internationally-backed yachts battled it out on arguably the most tactically challenging of the 14 individual contests that make up Clipper 07-08 Race. Several of the yachts have been within sight of each other during the race, adding to the tension and forcing the crews to maintain their concentration.
A delighted Duggie, 41, said “I’m relieved and very, very pleased. The team has worked really hard for this and everyone is very happy. You always hear skippers say that at the end of races but in this case it’s true – it just went so well, everything just slotted into place and now we’re going to sit back for a few days and enjoy the victory.”
Coping with the soaring heat and wringing as much boat speed as they could from the light winds that have dogged them for the last half of the race has been exhausting for those on board.
Race Director Joff Bailey said, “This is perhaps the most difficult race for the Clipper crews. The weather conditions mean there are lots of tactical decisions to be made, particularly transiting the Monsoon trough where, like the Doldrums, very light airs combine with tropical squalls. The number of sail changes this entails in temperatures in the forties and high levels of humidity is physically exhausting and the rate of progress mentally draining for everyone.”
With six yachts now moored in Nongsa Point Marina and Uniquely Singapore and Nova Scotia due to arrive this afternoon, the crews have begun the task of deep cleaning their yacht, beginning routine maintenance and enjoying some well-earned rest. The marina on Batam, one of the Riau Islands of Indonesia, is where the whole Clipper fleet will muster ahead of the coordinated arrival in Singapore on Saturday 19 January.
The fleet’s arrival in Singapore will be part of the glittering opening ceremony for the new Marina at Keppel Bay. During the stopover in Singapore they will be berthed at the new multi-million dollar facility, the centre-piece of Keppel Bay’s premier waterfront precinct – the only residential development in Singapore to have its own world-class marina on its own private five-hectare island. It is owned by Keppel Corporation which sponsors Uniquely Singapore with Singapore Tourism Board as Race Partner.
Keppel Corporation’s Group Corporate Communications General Manager, Ms Look Fung Wang said, “When the Clippers make their Singapore stopover they will be hosted at the spanking new Marina at Keppel Bay.
“The Clipper yachts will add colour and vibrance to this new premier waterfront lifestyle hub, fast taking shape in Singapore’s southern coast of which Keppel Bay is an integral part. We believe this will help showcase Singapore as the Asian destination in which to live, work and play and promote Singapore as a leading boating destination in Asia.”
New York’s victory, which is subject to confirmation once all the skippers have made their declarations, is likely to push them up the leaderboard and open up the competition. With another nine races to contest in Clipper 07-08 there is no runaway leader at this stage. Followers of the Clipper Races will remember the final podium positions of Clipper 05-06 were only settled on the very last sprint into Liverpool after 35,000 miles of ocean racing.
Berths for the next race, Clipper 09-10, are now available. For more information on applying to become a crew member, contact Clipper Ventures on +44 (0)2392 526000 or email oceanracer@clipperroundtheworld.com.
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