Derry-Londonderry Cape Town bound in Clipper 11-12

Third stage of world’s longest ocean race gets underway in Brazil

10 September 2011

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Derry-Londonderry and the rest of the ten-strong Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race fleet have left one mountain-dominated skyline for another. The yachts and their non-professional crews have set sail from Rio de Janeiro at the start of Race 3 of the 40,000-mile circumnavigation, the world’s longest ocean race. As Sugar Loaf Mountain and Corcovado fade into the distance on the west coast of the South Atlantic, three weeks and 3,300 miles later, Table Mountain will appear over the horizon on the east coast as the teams race towards Cape Town, South Africa.

In a lively south easterly breeze, the race started in Guanabara Bay at 1400 local time (1700 UTC). It was a case of last in first out as Derry-Londonderry, who finished Race 2 in tenth place, were fastest out of the starting blocks, closely followed by New York, Qingdao, Gold Coast Australia, De Lage Landen and Singapore, all of whom had timed their run to the start line impeccably and, after a bit of jostling, turned across it within seconds of each other. Edinburgh Inspiring Capital approached the line from the far end moments later, followed at the other by Geraldton Western Australia and Visit Finland.

Welcome to Yorkshire was slightly delayed as they dropped their sails half an hour before the start and returned to the marina to drop off one of their crew members, Keith Pickering, who had fallen ill and required medical attention
ashore.

The Race Committee held the start line open and the 15-and-a-half minute delay has not damaged the English boat’s chances in the 3,300-mile race as the rest of the fleet had to alter their course to avoid a tanker coming into the harbour – enough of a delay to allow Welcome to Yorkshire to catch up with them.

At the first mark Gold Coast Australia was in the lead with New York, Singapore and Visit Finland on their heels. An hour after the start of the race the fleet was still visible on the horizon from Copacabana beach.

The Rio stopover is one of the crew changeover points in the race and Derry-Londonderry’s skipper, Mark Light, said, “Crew morale is always good on our boat, we’ve never had a problem with that. We had a great result in Race 1 and we’ll be fighting hard on Race 3. We know our tactics; we’ll be doing the right things and everyone’s well up for Race 3. We’ve got a good team; we’ve lost a few strong people but we’ve gained some strong people as well. We all know each other from our pre-race team building events so it’s going to be a good one for us, I think.”

One of those joining the yacht in Rio is one of the five Derry City Clipper Bursary winners, Shauna O’Neill. The bursary is a project designed to help unemployed people in the city learn the skills to get them back into work. The five will also carry out ambassadorial roles to help promote Derry-Londonderry as the City of Culture, each focussing on an area including, digital, young people and enterprise.

“I just want to get going now,” said 22-year-old Shauna. “I’ve been in Rio for a week and the anxiety is building up a bit so I’m just dying to get out there, get on the sea and get stuck in. I think it’s going to be big waves and downwind surfing, so it’ll be exciting and we’ll get some high speeds from the boat.

Taking over from Niall Boyle, who sailed the first two races from the UK to Rio, Shauna said, “I’m proud to be representing the city on board and I think it will be great when the race comes into the city to be part of it.”

The route will take the non-professional crews racing on board the 68-foot stripped down yachts south into the fringes of the Southern Ocean and the edge of the Roaring Forties before approaching the Cape of Good Hope at the end of the course.

The race promises to be an exhilarating one, with plenty of fast, downwind sailing to thrill the teams. There will be another Scoring Gate at which the first three boats to cross can win three, two and one bonus points, and an Ocean Sprint between the latitudes of five degrees west and two degrees east – approximately 420 miles as the albatross flies – and another bonus point available to the fastest crew to cover the distance. Albatross will become familiar sights, as will the huge South Atlantic swells.

The weather systems are dominated by the ever-shifting South Atlantic high pressure system, an area of light winds. Skippers, their tacticians and weather routers will be kept busy, making a call on the age-old decision: whether to take the shortest route through the middle of the high, or sail further, while maintaining higher speeds. Those who judge it correctly will catch the breeze on the bottom edge of the high pressure system and use it to slingshot them around and out on the easterly limit.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to sail solo and non-stop around the world and the founder and chairman of the Clipper Race, says, “The secret is to avoid the centre all together and get sufficiently far south to the stronger, westerly winds and use them to push you around. The temptation is always to cut the corner and that’s when you lose the wind. It means you cannot take the direct route to Cape Town – you have to go around the South Atlantic high.”

During the stopover in Rio Shauna and some of the Derry-Londonderry crew got into the spirit of the city with a visit to one of the warehouses where the Samba Schools prepare their costumes and floats for the carnivals that Rio is famous for. Feathers and sequins featured strongly as they tried on costumes and gathered material to make their own on board.

After deep cleaning their boats, shopping for food for the next leg of the race and carrying out all the routine maintenance required to keep the racing yachts at the top of their performance, the crews have been enjoying the sights and sounds of Rio de Janeiro. Many have taken tours to Sugar Loaf Mountain and Corcovado where the statue of Christ the Redeemer, arms outstretched, towers over the city. Copacabana and Ipanema beaches and the vibrant nightlife of the city have all been on the itinerary.

The fleet is expected to arrive in Cape Town between 26 and 29 September and the yachts will be berthed in the famous Victoria & Alfred Waterfront until 5 October.

ENDS