12:51 AM Sat 5 Dec 2009 GMT
Skipper of the leading team, Brendan Hall, reports champagne sailing conditions today as Spirit of Australia continues to keep their nose just ahead of Team Finland. For the last three days, every move that the Australian teams makes in to shake of their closest competitors the Nordic entry has matched, with virtually identical 12-hour runs being recorded for each boat.
'There's sunshine, a lovely beam swell, laughter on deck and albatross wheeling about above our heads,' says Brendan. 'This is the benign and peaceful mood of the Southern Ocean, though the barometer tells me that it will be changing later today, back to the harsh and indifferent mood we know so well.'
Yet to experience just what the conditions can be like is the team onboard Hull & Humber, although it won't be long before they too have a taste of the sleigh ride further south.
'The Southern Ocean beckons over on the starboard side,' says skipper Piers Dudin. 'There's a big bank of cloud like something out of Lord of the Rings, except they'd probably call it something fancy like Aqualoania.'
As Hull & Humber approaches the line of Latitude at 40 degrees south which signifies the start of Southern Ocean, Cork has officially entered and immediately got a sharp reminder of why it has such a fearsome reputation.
'We were happily trucking along under spinnaker when we saw a pressure line come across the surface,' explains Irish skipper, Richie Fearon. 'When the wind hit us it rounded us up due to the sudden increase in strength and the variation in direction. The force on the sheet meant it couldn't be held and once we got it back under control it took two people to hold it! This wasn't just a gust so it was time to get the spinnaker down and switch to a poled-out headsail.'
'As we are in stealth and the website will not be reporting our movements for 24 hours I will not need to say much,' says skipper Chris Stanmore-Major today, following Qingdao's decision to enter Stealth Mode at 1800GMT yesterday. 'Speeds are good, there are boats close by, sail repairs are coming along well and we are now rebuilding the heavy weight in such a way that it will render it stronger than the original.'
Meanwhile, Cape Breton Island has been testing the performance of their heavy weight spinnaker to the full as skipper Jan Ridd explains. 'Towards the end of the day our superstar helm Luke (Dampier, 18) did an amazing job reaching under the heavy weight kite in a building breeze which was moving forward all the time. He managed to hold the boat on the edge of being overpowered and broaching for three solid hours. A job that requires both high levels of concentration and skill. The results were some very impressive boat speeds and a lot of miles under the
keel.'
Yesterday's frustration on California has become today's delight as skipper Pete Rollason and his team start to close the gap between themselves and the boats ahead. 'It has been a fantastic 24 hours and so the mood is very upbeat,' says Pete. 'Our plan to get slightly further north ahead of the next depression and position ourselves to the
northern end of the fleet is coming together. We should pick up the next depression ahead of the others and thereby close down some more miles. As long as the gains are bigger than the losses we are a happy boat.'
Likewise, Jamaica Lightning Bolt has also had a good run, with the highest distance measure in the past 12 hours of 131 nautical miles. Skipper Pete Stirling says, 'After several frustrating days finally we seem to have found some of the wind this part of the world is famous for. It is only 20 to 25 knots in strength but is from a good direction and keeping us moving at a steady 10 knots of boat speed. Better still is that it is coming off the northern edge of a slow moving low pressure system to the south west of us and we should hopefully be able to keep it for several days to come.'
Having moved up two places, Peter and his crew now have their sights firmly set on overtaking the three boats ahead of them - a task which may be easier than they think. Emil Vartiainen, watch leader on board Team Finland, reports a slow 24 hours for the boat currently lying in second place. 'The wind dropped and so the battle to keep our speed up started. We went from medium weight spinnaker to light weight and then to our Windseeker, desperately trying to get some speed and steerage even close to the right course in the high rollers.'
Similarly, just behind Team Finland and currently lying in third place, Uniquely Singapore has also had a quiet night. 'The wind has been coming from the north east and has been consistently low,' says skipper Jim Dobie. 'It is now swinging back around to the west as the next low becomes the dominant feature. We are looking for a track that will keep us in good winds and with a favourable angle. Although still a while away it won't be long before we start looking at the weather systems and to see when we should start heading North as we approach Australia.'
Positions at 1200 UTC, Thursday 4 December
Boat DTF* DTL*
Spirit of Australia 2382nm 0nm
Team Finland 2389nm 6nm
Uniquely Singapore 2408nm 26nm
Jamaica Lightning Bolt 2468nm 86nm
Cape Breton Island 2473nm 91nm
Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 2483nm 100nm
California 2580nm 197nm
Cork 3316nm 934nm
Hull & Humber 4283nm 1901nm
Qingdao Stealth Mode
(*DTF = Distance to Finish, *DTL = Distance to Leader)
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