Clipper update: Committee identify risks to fleet
- Wed, 11 Jan 2012
- Comments (1)
RACE 7: GOLD COAST TO SINGAPORE
DAY 19
- Gold Coast Australia's northerly route takes a punishing turn
- Derry-Londonderry continues to head the leader board
Derry-Londonderry continue to make steady progress towards Singapore on their southerly route as they maintain their lead over the rest of the round the world fleet on Race 7 from Gold Coast, Australia, to Singapore. In a cruel twist of fate, the yacht sponsored by the Gold Coast slipped back to 5th position after their surge of success on the northerly route they had chosen.
Race 7 presented the Clipper Race Committee with a difficult choice of route - there were many to choose from but each offered a number of significant hazards.
Race Director Joff Bailey explains: "After significant research and discussion with regional Navy forces, including the Royal Navy and the Pirate Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur, the route we selected was north of Papua New Guinea and through the Celebes and Sulu Seas. We considered this to be the least risky of all the options, despite the cyclones we saw two weeks ago.
"The week ahead is going to be an interesting period of time as once the fleet enters the Celebes Sea in a few days' time the crews will have to cope with very light winds, navigational hazards that are poorly charted and also the potential threat of piracy. As such the Race Committee will be taking certain risk-mitigating actions to ensure that the fleet have the best chance to navigate these hazards safely.
"These might include temporarily suspending racing, Stealth Mode for certain periods, freezing the Race Viewer and permitting the skippers to use their engines if required. Don't be alarmed if some or all of the teams go into Stealth Mode for three or four days; the Race Office is still in regular contact with the fleet as well as tracking each boat every hour."
YW's Jonathon Medway joins the Clipper fleet for Race 9 onboard Qingdao. Keep checking the homepage for his blogs on the adventure.
Positions as of 1200 UTC, Wednesday 11 January)
1 Derry-Londonderry 1867nm*
2 New York 1905nm (+38nm**)
3 Geraldton Western Australia 1922nm (+55nm)
4 Qingdao 1930nm (+63nm)
5 Gold Coast Australia 1949nm (+82nm)
6 Singapore 1963nm (+96nm)
7 Visit Finland 1968nm (+101nm)
8 Welcome to Yorkshire 1982nm (+115nm)
9 De LageLanden 2034nm (+167nm)
10 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 2154nm (+287nm)
*DTF = Distance to Finish, **DTL = Distance to Leader
Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com
Elyzza,
March 01 20:52
Yeah, I keep wieonrdng if it wouldn't be cheaper to hire somebody to just pilot the boat, but I guess it would cost in human time and other consumables anyways.