Cape Breton Island currently leads a duel with Spirit of Australia, with Team Finland keeping pressure on their heals. The battle at the front of the fleet is proving to be edge of the seat viewing. One can only imagine the amount of focus and mental energy it takes for the crews to maintain the best boat speed - never mind the physical effort of racing across the Southern Ocean.Cape Breton Island ~ Nova Scotia’s Masterpiece and Spirit of Australia have been almost neck and neck for the last two days - five miles separating them at most in terms of distance to finish and they're now getting a taste of what the Southern Ocean is really like. And, according to Jan Ridd, the skipper of Cape Breton Island, the crew are revelling in the conditions.
"The 'Fickle Forties' are now definitely the Roaring Forties! Yesterday afternoon we were running comfortably under spinnaker in a Force 4 and, as the sun set, I made the decision to drop and go with poled out number 2 which, at the time, seemed a conservative choice but I explained to the crew that a wrap could set us back hours. We carried on with poled out Yankee 2 and full main as the wind built to a steady Force 5 gusting Force 6 to 7. So, with another uneasy feeling I called for the first reef to be put in, which the crew did flawlessly, and soon after I told them we were going to change down to the Yankee 3, even though the wind had not built substantially and we were still well within the Yankee 2's range. Again the crew did a flawless evolution and managed to drop the Yankee 2 without damaging a hank. We then gybed with just the staysail flying and one reef in the main and, as we were going through the gybe, the wind jumped from 20 knots to more than 40 knots which made helming very difficult as the boat was very unbalanced. I quickly grabbed the helm and got the crew to go about setting up the boat.
“There was a lot to do with the pressure of having to work quickly, knowing I was struggling to keep the boat on course. First of all, we hoisted the Yankee 3 to help balance the power of the mainsail then we reduced the main to the second reef, which made the helm manageable. They then had to flake and pack the number 2 in over 40 knots. Once the sail was safely down below they had to drop the staysail and pole out the number 3 to balance the power of the mainsail and make the boat easier to helm. All this they achieved very professionally and quickly which would have been a credit to any team racing in the Solent and all the more impressive in the Southern Ocean. It was easily the busiest watch of the race so far and I cannot praise Rob and his team enough for their work last night.
"At watch change, it had calmed down a bit to Force 6 gusting 7, so I decided to grab some sleep, knowing if the wind built I would not be sleeping until this system passed! Well, I woke up three hours later and popped my head up through the hatch to be met by grinning faces and a four-metre swell rising behind the stern of the boat and the watch proudly telling me they had seen 48 knots on the instruments! It's another testament to Cape Breton Island's crew that after their South Atlantic experience in the last leg they feel comfortable handling the Big Blue Canoe in these conditions. They are all awesome!
“We are now nicely set up, holding a reasonable boat speed, the sun is shining and it looks like it is going to be a glorious day's sailing. All the crew are eager to get on the helm as the swells get larger making the surfs that much longer and faster!
“Everyone is in very good spirits onboard and loving the adrenaline rush and the Southern Ocean is delivering the experience they all expected. I am fairly relaxed. The way the crew are handling the boat is inspiring me with confidence, although I am very aware how quickly things could go wrong and am continuously running 'what if' scenarios through my mind! It occurs to me that for some of the crew on all the boats who have never sailed before joining the Clipper Race, and with only four weeks training, they are sailing across the Southern Ocean in a Force 9, which is truly awesome. I remember when I was training the first time I crossed the English Channel it was an enormous achievement! This truly brings into focus what an amazing challenge they have taken on."
Team Finland is piling the pressure on Cape Breton Island and Spirit of Australia, pulling back six miles in three hours to match the Aussie's distance to finish at the latest position report on the Race Viewer.
Photo by Clipper Ventures
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