18:00 today and the lead extends even more

At 12:00 today we reported JAMAICA had extended her lead.

We are delighted to report that at 18:00 she has put even greater water between herself and the second placed boats.

As the graphic above confirms JAMAICA is now 38 miles ahead of joint second placed Hull & Humber and Singapore, having recorded a further 64 miles in the past 12 hours compared to the other boats' mid forties.

It is true that at some point JAMAICA will need to head North and this will give the other boats the chance to catch up but at the moment the greater speeds she is achieving clearly ratify this course.

This is truly consistent sailing and we wish team JAMAICA good luck and safe sailing to continue their success.

Still 1st - JAMAICA opening up a bigger lead

At 12:00 today the leader board showed a strengthening of JAMAICA's 1st position. JAMAICA is 28 miles ahead of 2nd placed Hull and Humber having covered 66 miles in the last 12 hours compared to Hull's 41.

As can be seen from the graphic above, JAMAICA has taken the most easterly position of the fleet and their tactics appear to be paying off. Even Western Australia, currently in 10th place and fully 71 miles behind JAMAICA has decided to change tactics and sail more to the east.

Only Singapore in 3rd place has managed to cover 60 miles in the last 12 hours - the rest of the fleet have sailed between 39 and 50 miles so this shows what a fabulous achievement JAMAICA has made, outsailing all their rivals.

The white line above is the most direct route between Singapore and Qingdao, and you can see that JAMAICA is sailing a North Easterly parallel course.

However, as Claire Maloney, writing from on board JAMAICA, states, this is a new experience for the crew :

This really is a new experience for us: JAMAICA Clipper first in a schedule.

No, it wasn’t a misprint, but we’re not quite sure how it happened. We’d just been sailing happily along, minding our own business when an e-mail arrived informing us that we were officially the closest boat to the waypoint. Now we’ve got a reputation to uphold here. Rushing is just not our style…

Needless to say, the crew were rather excited with this apparent change in fortune. The schedule has been printed out, and there have been calls to laminate it, for posterity. Not wishing to hog the lead, we’ve let Danny take a turn, and we’ve held second place behind Hull and Humber for a couple of schedules now.

There is about to be a fair bit of movement in the positions over the next 24 hrs or so, as the fleet pick their different routes around the Indonesian Islands. We all need to be heading in a NE direction, but that is exactly where the wind is coming from. So we are all tacking our way towards Taiwan, alternating between an easterly and northerly course. The wind never stays completely constant, so sometimes one tack is more favourable than another, and we are constantly switching.

As we start to head north we’ll probably lose some of the advantage we’ve gained so far, but hopefully not all of it. We’d lost sight of the other Clippers for about 24hrs, but are expecting to sight at least one, if not more, over the next few hrs, as our courses converge. Racing with the other boats in sight is exciting and keeps everyone on their toes.

This might be unfamiliar territory for us, but we think we’ll might just try and stay at the top end of the leader board for at least a little while longer.

One love,

Claire

As can be seen from the graphic below, the fleet is sailing with the Southern coast of Vietnam to the North, passing Brunei to the South on a course taking them into the South China Sea beyond the Philippines, Macau and Hong Kong to the North, sailing close to the South of Taiwan (the island to the top right hand side of the graphic) and into the Eastern China Sea before heading North West to Qingdao. With over 2,000 miles to go and only 71 miles separating 1st from 10th there is still a long way to go but better to be looking back to the rest of the fleet than enviously to the boats ahead.

06:00 today - JAMAICA snatch back 1st place

With the first posting of this morning JAMAICA announced their return to the top of the leader board. Having covered 68 miles in the last 12 hours, the greatest distance of the whole fleet, they overturned the lead of Hull and Humber who only managed 52 miles.

The lead is slender - a mere 5 miles - and the boats in 10th place are only 21 miles adrift but this is good, consistent sailing from the team on board the Rasta Rocket.

Every 6 hours when the fleet post their positions the crew of JAMAICA are huddled around the Nav Station eagerly awaiting confirmation of their position. You can be sure that their regaining first place will have been a huge encouragement for the whole team on board.

True, there are still over 2,100 miles to go but team JAMAICA is finally having some good luck ..... and they're in the groove. Yeh man!

18:00 today - JAMAICA retains 2nd place

Having reported yesterday the fantastic news that team JAMAICA had taken the lead in this closely contested race, we are delighted to report that at 18:00 today we are still in the leading pack and currently in 2nd place.

This race is so tight that there are only 67 miles separating 1st and 10th, but JAMAICA is sitting proud only 10 miles behind the leading boat Hull & Humber.

As shown in the graphic above it is a very exciting time in the race as the boats are negotiating passage around a small cluster of islands, the largest of which is Kepulauan Riau. 6 boats have decided to pass to the west of the island, whilst 4, including JAMAICA have passed to the east.

Indeed, crew member Harry Smith has just sent this exclusive report to jamaicaclipper.com describing their joy at having taken 1st the second place but confirming there's a long way to go :

At 3am local time today the skipper stuck his head through the hatch to announce that JAMAICA had polled in the lead for the first time. It was a great feeling but presented us with an immediate problem as the plan in setting off had been to stick with the pack, having sailed right past them all we needed to find a plan B.

We currently sit in 2nd being the furthest boat east whilst other boats have taken a more northerly route. The desired course is NE but that's the direction the wind is coming from and there are a couple of islands to negotiate so it remains to be seen who is best placed.

It's early days and the fleet is so closely bunched that positions are bound to chop and change over the coming days as we all tack NE. All we can do is enjoy being at the right end of the leaderboard, keep focussing on our course and speed, and hope for that little bit of luck that can make all the difference.

Harry.x

With the inevitable headwinds associated with the north east Monsoon this time of year the boats are having to tack back and forth across each others track to try and gain a few yards of advantage. This makes the leader board a bit unstable at the moment as one boat could be on the making tack one day and take pole position, but the next day as they tack back another boat can move into the lead.

Nevertheless, let's hope the crew enjoy their moments of glory and that there are plenty more to come in the race ahead.

JAMAICA currently 1st - YES FIRST ! WE'RE IN THE LEAD ! Yeh Man !

At 18:00 the Clipper fleet posted their positions and, for the first time in the Clipper 07/08 race JAMAICA is in first place!

Having covered 58 miles in the last 12 hours, JAMAICA raced into the lead this evening.

Although this is a magnificent achievement and a credit to all on board, the whole fleet is bunched closely together with many boats in sight of each other. JAMAICA is currently 3 miles ahead of New York, closely followed by Glasgow, Durban and Liverpool.

Nevertheless, it will be a source of huge encouragement for Skipper Simon Bradley and his team who have endured some miserable luck in previous races.

Simon and his tacticians are taking the most Southerly approach of the whole fleet and their strategy appears to be paying off.

As they are sailing up-wind this means that JAMAICA is crashing through the waves and water is constantly splashing over the foredeck; as a result they are having to keep the hatches closed. With conditions on board hot and steamy due to the equatorial weather conditions, closed hatches mean that the living quarters below deck are like a sauna. The crew is getting used to living in permanently damp clothes, sleeping in wet sleeping bags and trying to catch sleep when they can.

However, being first - YES FIRST ! - will mean that their spirits are not dampened.

After such bad luck in previous races we congratulate the crew and the tacticians on board and wish them a safe and happy journey ahead.

Keep going team JAMAICA - only 2,367 miles to go !

Dan 'the baker' Monk

Dan modelled his ‘bread man’ on the ‘hoff’ (in joke), Dan’s bread making was rather good when he wasn’t being distracted making bread voodoo dolls for ‘Jamaican Voodoo night’ which was indefinitely postponed due to some rather rough and as ever un-forecasted weather we had. 5m waves breaking from the beam, often the top 3rd of the bigger waves liked to find its way onto the deck!

The most ordered Galley - Leg 2/3

You could always rely on Neil to keep a clean galley!

Jamaica in 1st!!!!

Fantastic news..Jamaica Clipper takes 1st position. As I type this the 18:00 schedule reveals that Jamaica is now in 1st position, up from 3rd. What a fantastic start to Race 6 and we are so proud of all onboard.

Simon reports from the boat: “We are currently in sight of Glasgow: Scotland with style and Nova Scotia so racing is great fun as we monitor our performance against theirs.”

Glasgow and NS are great freinds of the Jamaica team but I'm sure they'll be no love-lost as the crews all race hard against each other over the coming days and attempt to beat the other boats taking different routes around the islands. It will be fascinating to see how this unfolds over the next few days.

A great start to Race 6 for JAMAICA

JAMAICA raced into 5th place at the start of Race 6 - Singapore to Qingdao - which started at 06:10 (UK time) this morning. At 18:00 today she was keeping speed with the rest of the fleet whilst assuming a more Southerly position as the graphic above shows.

The Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht restarted at 0610 UT (1410 local time) on Sunday after a spectacular send-off from the new Marina at Keppel Bay, Singapore. The ten yachts motored to the start line off Nongsa Point, Batam, Indonesia, where Race 5 from Fremantle finished prior to the fleet’s choreographed arrival in Singapore on 19 January to coincide with the opening of the new marina. In the sweltering heat and just 5-8 knots of breeze from the east, the ten crews struggled to maintain some boat speed at the start of this 2,600-mile race north to Qingdao, China.

Less than a minute after the start, the heavens opened and the crews were afforded some temporary relief in the form of a tropical downpour. The start of Race 6 to Qingdao will prove challenging for the teams as they race in the restricted waters of the Singapore Straits. With one of the world’s busiest shipping channels penning them into a tight area, they are being forced to tack in light airs to make it to the first mark, Middle Rock, which lies approximately 30 miles east of Singapore.

The crew of JAMAICA was sent on their way having received some fabulous gifts from the Jamaica tourist board. The presents were sent by Torrance Lewis of the London office. Writing from Singapore just before the start of the race today, skipper Simon Bradley sent his thanks as follows :

Dear Torrance,

Here's a big 'Thank You' from myself and all the crew of JAMAICA Clipper for the very generous gifts that you sent us. We received them today after they caught up with us from Fremantle, and what a marvellous surprise they were too! The rum, coffee, cakes and music are fantastic gifts and very well suited to life on board a racing yacht. Of course, the rum will stay in the bottles until we get ashore again in Qingdao, but there we plan to hold a 'Rum' party, inviting Sir Robin and the other Skippers and their crews to share in the hospitality of Jamaica! Please thank everybody involved in this wonderful gift and once again I can't tell you how pleased we are to have received them.

Very best regards to you all.

One Love! Simon.

Skipper, JAMAICA Clipper.

Keppel Marina, Singapore.


A traditional Jamaican party is planned for all of the crew members of the 10 Clipper boats when they arrive in Qingdao in mid February. Amongst the beautiful gifts that will be enjoyed by the different crew members were 16 bottles of Appleton Jamaican Rum, 16 tins of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and 16 Jamaican Rum Fruit Cakes.....


..... a little piece of Jamaica for all of the crews to look forward to after their 2,600-mile race north to Qingdao, the host of the sailing events in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, where the fleet will be berthed at the Olympic Sailing Marina. The first boats are expected to finish on 15 February.

Keep visiting jamaicaclipper.com this week as we publish more pictures of the experiences of our crew during race 5.

Jamaica 6th and in a strong position

Jamaica clipper are currently in 6th position in a strong position, mid pack, as the fleet head East out of Singapore waters. I'm sure the crew will be happy to be back to sea after what sounds like an amazing stopover. Text's from several of the crew suggested that they enjoyed the signts and sounds of singapore. We look forward to their emails and messages from the boat as Race 6 begins to unfold.

Joff's race report indicates that Jamaica were 5th across the line, another good start guys, and their current position in the fleet is very strong with boats to the South and behind to the west....go Jamma go!

Crazy Mirages

During the trip the crew experienced some crazy mirages – you would be easily fooled into thinking this was the skipper holding a rope and looking like he knows what he is doing. As we all know that’s impossible it must have been a mirage.

Lucy '30°' Mayo

A very tired lucy Lucy cooking the first meal of leg 2 – the poor girl always seemed to end up in the galley when it was rough or heeling over more than 20 degrees!

Close quarters leg 2

Close quarters sailing with New York at the start of leg 2, we sailed over them, they came back, sailed over us and then we sailed over them again and out into the Bay behind Singapore – I love the close quarters stuff.

Best sandwiches on leg 3

The best sandwiches on leg 3 – made at the race start by Katie, one of the only decent meals she had on the whole leg!

Katie's Poem

I've been pretty busy since I got back but I've finally had a chance to sdit down and start going through some photo's from the race. I'll be unloading some of these and the stories behind them over the next few weeks. However, I wanted to start with a poem. Simon challenged Katie at Christmas to make a speech for her birthday, she declined but offered to read this:

Sea – Fever

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all that I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking, And a grey mist on the sea’s face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

John Masefield

For those of us who truly understand the ‘call’ of the sea I think this poem beautifully sums up how I feel when I go sailing or see a boat on the ocean waves. A love for the sea is not something that can be explained, some people just get it, it is a yearning deep inside that fills you with energy and excitement and the desire for adventure and escapism. I have been lucky enough to sail with and meet a large number of people over the last two years who understand this……

JAMAICA finishes in 9th

At 05:55 today JAMAICA succeeded in winning their "race within a race" by finishing in 9th place. Qingdao, still currently racing, is expected to finish later this morning.

The team arrived to a traditional Indonesian welcome and the praise of the other Clipper round the World crews who have already arrived in Indonesia as the boats gather before sailing en masse to open the new Keppel Marina in Singapore.

Earlier today we received the last of the exclusive crew's postings to jamaicaclipper.com as JAMAICA crossed the equator. Dinshaw Avari wrote :

Today we went through the equator's "crossing the line" ceremony. Neptune's representative, skipper Simon Bradley, started the proceedings. The Judge, Ralph, read the charges against each of us and the Executioner, John, dished out the slop on us, Naturally, after the proceedings, most of us hugged Ralph and John with the slop on us.

Up to today we had good winds and averaged 10 knots; from the morning winds have died giving us 7-8 knots speed.

We're looking forward to getting to Batam.

Dinshaw.

Earlier, as he was preparing his concoction, the Executioner himself, John Brathwaite, confirmed to us what he had put into the slops :

I've just made up the punishment : water, coffee, porridge oats, pop corn, smash, tomato soup, corn flakes, spam, powdered juice and a sprinkle of herbs, he, he, he.

We thank Dinshaw and John for taking the time to share their experiences with us and wish the whole crew a relaxing time on Batam and Singapore.

Still fighting for 9th with 100 miles to go

At 00:01 today, Wednesday 16th January and with 100 miles to the finish JAMAICA has extended her lead over Qingdao to 27 miles. Achieving a distance of 86 miles in the last 12 hours she should arrive in Nongsa Point Marina, Indonesia, this afternoon.

Let's hope that after the disasters that they experienced at the start of this race with a number of spinnaker problems which were out of their control they will manage to cling on to a well deserved 9th place.

When you consider that in the last race Qingdao finished 3rd, their confidence will have been sky high going into this leg, but still JAMAICA has managed to out-sail them for the best part of 2 weeks. If JAMAICA has a dose of good fortune in the next race, sailing from Singapore to the Chinese Olympic village of Qingdao, this crew will be well placed to rise up the leader board.

With eight yachts now moored in Nongsa Point Marina, 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.”

A game of cat and mouse as JAMAICA retains 9th place

The last few days have seen mixed emotions from the crew of JAMAICA. First, they had the most memorable day of the leg as RTW crew member Claire Maloney describes below :



It’s a unanimous decision: today has definitely been the best day of the leg so far, by a long way.

We arrived at the Sunda Straits in daylight this morning, and have had all day to enjoy the spectacular scenery around us, and enjoy the increase in wind that means we are finally sailing ‘properly’ again. Up until this morning we hadn’t seen a single vessel or sighted land since leaving Fremantle. Funnily enough, it was the trees that first got people excited. Sailing past rainforest-covered islands with little or no signs of habitation was amazing. We could make out the white sandy beaches, and spotted a shipwreck on a reef, but it was Krakatoa (or Rakata, as it’s now called) that everyone really wanted to see. And we weren’t disappointed. ‘

Son of Krakatoa’ is an active volcano and performed beautifully for us today. Every 20 mins or so there would be another billowing cloud of dark grey smoke produced from the top of the cone, which would then spread out across the neighbouring islands, making room for the next set of smoke signals. It was really spectacular.

We’ve also had to share the ocean with other traffic for the first time in many weeks. Not only have there been a number of ferries crossing our paths, but there are fishing boats everywhere. Traditional pointed ended junks that pop up out of nowhere and seem to dart about at random. A total nightmare, particularly at night.

The sun has now set, and on deck all eyes are drawn to the lightening storm to the west, where forked lightening is highlighting the clouds and the last of the beautiful red sky. Of course what they should be looking at are the flashing red lights dotted about that apparently mark fishing nets, various random white lights that may form some part of a fishing vessel, the myriad of lights that accompany the ferries and whatever illumination the large number of oil rigs decide to have…

It promises to be a busy night!

One love
Claire

Then Katie Hearsum described the anguish of seeing Qingdao catch up their lead :

Yesterday was full of geography lessons sailing past an active volcano - best day of the race so far. Today has been one of the worst though with Qindao sailing faster than us.

I was on Mohter watch too and life is back to the 45 degree angle; the brownies suffered in the oven. Nice to have some wind though.

Katie

And now Dinshaw Avari in this typically optimistic posting just received has confirmed today, 15th December :

Clear night, lovely stars, orange moon dipping below the horizon - just some of the sights and sounds (or silence) in the South China seas since we hit the Sunder Straights.

We've had good winds, lovely weather, and generally cloudy skies - making up for our hot, windless days. We saw Rikatu Volcano spew its ashes and gases (no lava) and got ff some great shots.

We have bee duellig Qingdao since last 24 hours. All looking forward to Batam island and onwards to Singapore.

Dinshaw

Our sincere thanks to Claire, Katie and Dinshaw for taking the time out of their busy days to send us their experiences

At 00:01 on 15th January, JAMAICA was stil maintaining a slender 9 miles lead over Qingdao with some 240 miles to go.

Good luck to you all.

John Braithwaite describes life on board

Although currently in 9th place, crew member John Braithwaite describes good spirits on board :

We've had an awesome day. We passed through the first gate at the entrance to the Sundra Straight and saw land for the 1st time since Oz.

Java to starboard and Sumatra to port and Krakatoa ahead in the middle of the straight.

The wind moved forward so we were able to pick up speed which cooled the temperature down - such a relief.

As we passed Krakatoa and were working out where the old volcano was, Son of Krakatoa, the new volcano, erupted, and let out a tower of smoke into the sky. An amazing sight.

Claire and Mick served up a delicious lunch which we all enjoyed on deck as we continued past the volcano.

We're now nearing the end of the straight and are ready to pass through the next gate. We haven't had a schedule as Joff and Lizzy are in transit so fingers crossed Qingdao haven't made any ground.

One love,

John

JAMAICA passes through the Java Sea

Having been at sea for two weeks, JAMAICA is currently sailing through the Java Sea as the graphic above shows

After the misfortune of several problems at the start of the race, the crew of JAMAICA is focusing on the battle for 9th and 10th place as the rest of the fleet, enjoying much more favourable conditions compete 300 - 400 miles ahead.

It must be so frustrating for the team on board. All of the Clipper boats are very evenly matched. The leading pack, who were not bedeviled by the same problems that JAMAICA and Qingdao experienced, are closely bunched and the leading positions are changing on a daily basis.

Equally, at the back, JAMAICA and Qingdao experiencing similar wind speeds and sea conditions, are posting very similar times.

At this stage it's all down to pride and to that extra point that can be gained by finishing in 9th.

Furthermore, as the next placed boat is some 300 miles ahead, it means that the crew of JAMAICA will have to be at sea for longer - in current conditions for as much as 2-3 days longer than the leading boats. Hence they will enjoy less recuperation time at the next stage.

Keep your heads up guys, proudly bring JAMAICA home in 9th, and let's hope we have better luck in the next race.

JAMAICA clinging on to 9th as light winds prevail

JAMAICA and Qingdao are battling for 9th and 10th place with JAMAICA holding on to a 15 mile lead as they approach the Sunda straight which dissects the islands of Indonesia.

Boat speeds for the 5 clippers at the back of the fleet are down to 40 - 60 miles in the 12 hours to 06:00 this morning whereas the front runners are enjoying 80 - 100 miles distances.

It just rubs further salt into the wounds and proves how much time JAMAICA lost with the acts of God which were the 4 spinnaker problems.

However, as recent reports from crew members published here over the past few days have confirmed all 14 crew members on board are remaining resolute and committed. It just proves that it is only when you have taken part in a race of such proportions that you realise what an achievement it is just to be taking part.

Sure they want more than anything else to be winning the race but racing is just one part of the magnificent life experience this and, win or lose a leg or the whole race, they know more than anyone that they are all winners.

Yet another spinnaker problem for JAMAICA

When is lady luck going to change for JAMAICA ? As devilishly hard as the crew on board is working one unavoidable problem after another besets them, as crew member Dinshaw Avari, writing exclusively for jamaicaclipper.com explains :

Slow but sure progress - very light winds and extremely hot. All enjoying it though and all 14 of us clicking very well. Another spinnaker incident - lazy sheet snap shackle went so Simon went on pole and fixed it.

We're eating some great meals with each mother watch trying to outdo the other.

Dolphins swam along side yacht yesterday. Harry and I did our first solo successful bow duties when putting up the kite yesterday.

Regards,

DINSHAW

Fellow crew member Katie Hearsum nobally accepts responsability :

So guess what muppet was on the helm and blew the top off the medium weight ? Poor old Bernard had only been on deck for 4hrs after spending 2 days sewing the heavy weight back together; the heavyweight we wrapped round the inner stay & took 20hrs to get down.

Very gallant of you Katie but these are things that happen during yacht races. Nevertheless it does show the strains they must be under and the character the crew must have to endure these difficulties. We're behind you all the way guys!


As the leading boats exchange positions with every new posting due to the steady winds they are enjoying, JAMAICA in 9th place, and Qingdao in 10th can realistically only finish in those positions. With just under 900 miles for them remaining to the finish they have to put behind them their incredible bad luck and focus on the race for 9th and 10th.


They are all the more disadvantaged as at the back of the fleet they are both experiencing lighter winds than the leading boats which have passed through the Sundra Straights as the graphic above shows.



The area the fleet is racing through at the moment has many natural and manmade hazards. These range from shallow areas, reefs and volcanoes to a multitude of oil and gas drilling platforms. They are also keeping watch on Krakatoa which is providing a firework display to light up the night sky. As long as that's all it does, the fleet will be happy!



To ensure the safety of the fleet the Clipper Race Committee has included within the sailing instructions several safety gates that each boat must pass through to guide them around the various dangers and hazards. Clipper 07-08 Race Director, Joff Bailey, says, “There are seven gates between the Sunda Straits and the finish. For the leading pack the next gate is well over to the east so in the next day we should see them move in that direction rather than directly to Singapore as may have been expected.”

Joff says, “The winds are dropping further across the fleet but we do not need to make a decision on shortening the course until the weekend at the earliest. We are all keeping our fingers crossed that the winds are kind to all the boats and the whole fleet can sail to the finish line in the Singapore Straits.”

The fleet is due to muster in Batam, Indonesia, on approximately 17 January, with a coordinated arrival at the new Marina at Keppel Bay in Singapore on Saturday 19 January.

Life on board is no cruise

With JAMAICA sitting in 9th position the skipper and crew are doing everything in their power to try to retrieve the hours lost at the start of the race to 3 disastrous spinnaker problems which together totalled some 24 hours of non racing.

Putting that into perspective, the fleet has been covering nearly 100 miles every 12 hours. In a 24 hour period that makes on average 200 miles. How far behind is JAMAICA currently ? Just over 200 miles. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the maths. No spinnaker problems and they would be right up there and enjoying the stronger winds at the front of the race.

Writing from on board JAMAICA Claire Maloney gives the crew's perspective :

When you look at the little dot on your computer screen that is JAMAICA, you could be forgiven for thinking we’d been having a jolly nice time just pootling along in the sunshine, watching the dolphins play around us. Mmm. Let me give you a little more detail…

Over the last 12 hours we have lowered the kite, put it up again, lowered the kite, put it up again, lowered the kite- wait for it- put up the yankee 2 and the staysail, lowered the yankee and put up the windseeker, dropped the staysail, lowered the windseeker and raised the yankee 1, then given up on the white sails and gone back to the kite again. Still think we’ve been doing nothing? Of course the dolphins showed up in the middle of all of this, and were totally ignored as we were all far too busy.

And it’s hot. ‘Damn hot’, I think you’ll find. The thermometer on Harry’s watch reckons it was 44C today. It certainly felt like it. It’s been one of those rare days when it was actually cooler in the galley than it was up on deck. At least the galley has some shelter from the sun and a fan.

There is no shade to speak of on deck. There was a tiny patch from the radar at one stage, and a wee bit of shadow from the mainsail towards the end of the day. Queue the comedy hats. Tim takes first prize with his ‘sailor boy’ outfit…

The off-watch people have been trying anything to get some sleep. There are people lying under the fan in the saloon, sprawled on the sails under the open hatch or just braving their bunks. And anyone who has managed some sleep has woken up in a pool of their own sweat. Nice.

On the plus side, it has been very sociable on deck, as people are reluctant to venture into the sauna down below. There have been people queuing for buckets of water thrown over them, and Lisa has been helming with her feet in a bucket for most of the day. We were all wilting in the midday sun, but David summed it up beautifully with his comment: “Even Britney Spears couldn’t tempt me now. And I don’t even know who she is, but she must be good: everyone talks about her.”

It’s cooler now at last, and there is a faint possibility of getting some sleep, before coming back on watch at midnight. So I’ll just say ‘Happy Birthday’ to my brother, Neil, and sign off for the evening.

One love, Claire

Good luck Claire and the rest of the crew and rest assured that we are supporting your magnificent efforts.

JAMAICA storms past Qingdao

Overnight JAMAICA has raced past team Qingdao to claim 9th place as the leading boats pass Christmas island.

JAMAICA is currently 10 miles ahead of Qingdao but with 8th placed Singapore 100 miles in the distance and the leading boats over 200 miles away there is still a lot of work the crew needs to do to be able to move further up the leader board after their unfortunate spinnaker wrap on day which stopped them racing for 20 hours.

As the graphic to the left shows the leading boats Nova Scotia, Durban, Liverpool and New York are all passing to the east of Christmas island but Glasgow and Hull appear to be taking a course to the west. On their current course, JAMAICA appears to be able to pass to the west of the island and the tacticians on board will be watching the performance of the leading boats to see whether there is a benefit passing one side of the other. This should allow JAMAICA to make up some distance :

Christmas Island, which lies directly between them and the Sunda Straits, is where the fleet will round the first waypoint of Race 5. It is only eleven miles in diameter however its peak stands at 348 metres. This will form a major obstacle and no doubt all of the skippers and tacticians will be wondering how to deal with it.

With the boats so close together and the weather pattern stabilising for the time being, all ten of the 68-foot ocean racing yachts will be experiencing identical conditions. The wind has now settled in the southeast and decreased to 10 knots. These conditions look set to continue for the next 24 hours before the breeze drops to five knots or less and swings around to the West. With such fickle winds a 348 metre-high island will cause a significant wind shadow.

The obvious answer for the tacticians is to pass on the westerly side of the island. However, with the fleet so tightly packed and the light airs this will not be as easy for the more easterly yachts as they will have to sail closer to the wind than those to the west. This situation will be further exacerbated as the wind swings to the west and it could be costly in the current conditions; if they do choose to sail to the east of Christmas Island they could very easily become totally becalmed, a situation they faced in the Canaries during Leg 1 and one none of the skippers or the crew wants to repeat.

Thereafter, the boats continue North to pass through "the gate" of Indonesia - as the white line on the graphic show - before heading north-east past the Indonesia capital Jakarta, then north-west past the island of Pulao Belitung and a straight course to Singapore in time for the grand opening of Keppel Bay on 19th January.

JAMAICA changes course as light winds and extreme heat hits the fleet

With some 1,400 miles still to go, JAMAICA posted her latest position at 06:00 this morning to reveal a change in course. Having looked to take a more westerly approach following the 3 spinnaker problems over the first few days of this race she is now sailing to the North in an attempt to catch up with the rest of the fleet as our graphic above shows. She is still lying in 10th place and is some 197 miles off the lead, chsing down Qingdao 30 miles ahead.

Add to that the difficult conditions of extreme heat and lightening winds and it makes for really challenging sailing. Remarkably, however, spirits remain high as skipper Simon Bradley reported earlier :

“Very hot and sunny on deck, very hot and sweaty below decks! We’ve got sun hats, sun glasses, sun cream and two buckets of water for the helmsman - one for each foot to stand in. What will it be like when it really gets hot?”

Race Director Joff Bailey said: “With the heat still forecast to increase and the winds to drop it will be very hard for the skippers and crews to stay focused. The team that manages to continue concentrating despite the heat will walk away with the prizes in this very challenging race.”

Spirits high but no end of bad luck for JAMAICA

With JAMAICA currently lying in 10th position, we bring you two reports from crew members on board explaining the poor luck they have had since leaving Western Australia.


You will remember that just after the start of the race JAMAICA effectively had to stop racing for 20 hours as the Spinnaker wrapped around the forestay. They have just experienced another Spinnaker problem as Dinshaw Avari, writing from on board JAMAICA, explained :


December 5th.


We're having a good time. Sailing at night is fun and exciting but a little intimidating when helming in heavy seas.


Last night we passed high seas of up to 3 metres and are now back to normal 1.5 - 2 metre waves.


The mid weight spinnaker just blew into 2 pieces. We recovered it in less than 1 hour with John Braithwaite going up the mast and now sailing again with a poled out Yankee 2.


So far 2 ripped kites and 2 blown in half ..... no luck but spirits high and all crew healthy and happy.


Dinshaw and Harry.


Earlier today before the spinnaker blew Claire Maloney posted this report :

It’s day four of leg 4 of the race, and the skipper and crew of JAMAICA are getting used to being back at sea. The Fremantle stopover was a real hit with everyone, but we were spoilt with the hot showers, comfortable beds, restaurants and bars. No sooner had we removed the smell of boat from our clothes, skin and hair then it was back on the water once more. Just as well most of us enjoy being at sea!

This leg sees the biggest crew change for us yet. We lost six people (yes, there were tears involved), and gained six more. We tried to stow Lucy away to bring her with us – she’s only little – but at least she’ll be back for Leg 7. Dinshaw has rejoined us, on top form, after his accident on Leg 1, and was properly initiated once more into the crew by receiving a flying fish in his face whilst helming last night.

In true JAMAICA style we had a mini-drama within the first 24 hours. We thought we’d been getting better at avoiding spinnaker wraps. Clearly not. The ‘spinnaker wrap from hell’ took a record 20 hours to sort out, during which time we were sailing with just a mainsail. It took teamwork, ingenuity, multiple trips up the mast and a whole lot of chocolate to get the sail down. At least the new crew members have now experienced the full range of spinnaker sailing…

Consequently, we don’t appear to be leading this race at present. But, as we aren’t as far behind as we were anticipating, we’re quite pleased. Today’s sailing has been fantastic. My favourite conditions: sunny, shorts and t-shirt weather, with rolling surf building steadily behind us. There are blue skies with a bit of cloud and the sea is a beautiful ‘inky-blue’ colour, as Sara described it. We are making good speeds in pretty much the right direction, and it’s nearly supper time. What more could we possibly ask for?

One love, Claire


Our sincere thanks to Claire, Dinshaw and Harry for taking time out of their very busy days to keep us informed of life on board the Rasta Rocket.


As the graphic above shows, JAMAICA is continuing its westerly course. Having lost so much time through the 3 spinnaker problems which have occurred and currently sailing in 10th place the tacticians can afford to take some chances to try to push them up the rankings.


Over the next few days the whole fleet will be entering an area of lighter and more unpredictable winds as they get closer and closer to the Monsoon trough which lies in the path of the fleet between Australia and Indonesia. It is an area of low pressure and is effectively an ITCZ (Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone) similar to the Doldrums in the Atlantic Ocean.


By keeping west there is a chance that they can retain these strong winds they are currently enjoying longer and gain an advantage on the rest of the fleet to the east.

Let's hope that God is a Jamaican.

JAMAICA continuing to take a westerly course

JAMAICA, Uniquely Singapore, Qingdao and, to a certain extent, Hull & Humber have continued to make further progress west. This has meant that they have lost some miles by not making as good progress towards the finish as the leading yachts.

Race Director Joff Bailey explains why. “This move west is not an attempt to get stronger winds but to try to retain the wind they have for longer as they get closer to the area of lighter winds ahead of them. This is a longer-term strategy that could pay off over the next four or five days.”

Simon Bradley, JAMAICA’s skipper said this morning, “Another busy night of trying to make the boat go faster and in the right direction. We’ve lost some miles to the rest of the fleet so we’re not too happy about that, but we’re working hard to try and regain lost ground. Crew morale is high and there is much laughter to be heard in between the mantra of ‘Trim-Ease’. This is a relatively short race but a lot can happen between here and Singapore, the area is notorious for light and fickle winds.”

Over the next few days the whole fleet will be entering an area of lighter and more unpredictable winds as they get closer and closer to the Monsoon trough which lies in the path of the fleet between Australia and Indonesia. It is an area of low pressure and is effectively an ITCZ (Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone) similar to the Doldrums in the Atlantic Ocean.

JAMAICA plots the most westerly course as the boats leave the west coast of Australia

As the fleet heads north the temperature rises with midday temperatures on deck close to 40C and even hotter below decks. The humidity is hardest to cope with and this will soon be climbing towards 90 percent as they head north towards the Tropics.

After having lost some 20 hours of racing due to the wrapped spinnaker JAMAICA has clearly decided to take a more westerly route than the rest of the fleet in order seek stronger winds to try to make up some of the lost ground. The tacticians on board will have been closely watching the other boats and will have seen westernaustralia2011.com making a tactical move by staying further inshore after the start, relying on local knowledge to try to give them an advantage. This has backfired and they have now moved further offshore in hot pursuit of the boats ahead.

The remains of the tropical cyclone Melanie will be causing the navigators some headaches over the next few days as there are areas of very disturbed air and lumpy seas. The three options are to go west, go east or straight on through the middle.

Currently lying in 9th place, JAMAICA appears to have taken the decision to skirt around the lighter air in the middle of the wake of the storm and seek stronger winds to the west.

Keep logging on to jamaicaclipper.com to get first hand news from the crew on board about the progress they are making.

JAMAICA gains a place after yesterday's spinnaker wrap

You read it here first ! The spinnaker wrap which took JAMAICA 20 hours to resolve and which we reported yesterday on these pages has today been reported on the official Clipper web site.

Readers will remember that crew members Harry Smith and Dinshaw Avari reported the incident to us soon after "all hands on deck" had managed to unravel the offending kite. This morning the clipper site confirmed skipper Simon Bradley's report to them :

JAMAICA lost several miles during the 12 hours to 0600 GMT as they battled with a massive spinnaker wrap that occurred overnight. Skipper Simon Bradley explained the challenge they faced in his morning email to the Race Office. “We’ve just finished clearing up the spinnaker wrap from hell. It’s taken us 20 hours to get the spinnaker down from its wrap around the inner forestay. I’ve never seen a wrap like it in 80,000 miles of sailing. The whole crew have been involved in this interesting and challenging task.”

Writing separately and exclusively for jamaicaclipper.com crew member John Brathwaite explained his account of yesterday's "challenge" :

The race out of the harbour was spectacular with loads of support for JAMAICA clipper from departing crew and FAFs (Family and Friends). We headed up the coast to round the Lewin and found a rip in our spinnaker so had to do a drop and fix. Once past the next mark we hoisted the H/W kite heading for Singapore. A few mile on the kite wrapped on the innerstay...that lead to 19hrs of going up the mast to pull it and cut it down. It's now down and we are sailing under spinnaker again. All of the crew were involved in getting the kite down & many went up the mast numerous times, an awesome job. We've now got to catch the fleet, with the strong wind that is forecast for the next few days.

And catch the fleet they are doing. Their posting at 06:00 GMT this morning showed that they had already caught and passed Singapore, as the graphic shows, and are gaining on the other boats, a remarkable achievement when you consider they lost 20 hours of competitive racing. With Western Australia clipper firmly in their sights and just 11 miles ahead keep watching these pages as we hope to report continuing progress.

Meanwhile regular readers will be aware that the crew of JAMAICA have adopted the RNLI as our chosen charity and are holding an Immersion Suit Challenge in each of the stopover ports to raise money.

In Fremantle the challenge raised AUS$575.20 (approx £256.00 sterling), half of which will go to the RNLI and the other half to Fremantle Volunteer Sea Rescue.

Direct from on board JAMAICA speak of an unlucky spinnaker wrap

Readers of jamaicaclipper.com will have seen that since race start yesterday JAMAICA has slipped to 10th place.

We have just received an exclusive report directly from the boat which explains the reason for her moving down the leader board.

Crew members Dinshaw Avari and Harry Smith explain the events of the last 24 hours :

After a good race start in the harbour where we managed at one point to overtake 3 boats and move into 5th place, we had an unlucky spinnaker wrap around the inner forestay at 8pm.

It took 20 hours to finally remove AFTER cutting it in ½!

Simon called it the worst wrap he's ever seen in 80,000 miles of sailing.

Good news is it only cost us 56 miles on the leader & we're racing again making 11 knots with medium weight up...could have been much worse!

Cheers,

Harry & Dinshaw

We are pleased to confirm that JAMAICA is already making up some of that lost time having reduced the distance to lead boat Hull & Humber to 48 miles when they last posted their position at 12:00 GMT today.

Our thanks to Harry and Dinshaw for updating us. Having now restored the communications system which had broken during the last leg we hope to be able to bring you daily and exclusive updates throughout the whole of the race to Singapore.

JAMAICA takes a course to the West of the fleet

On day 2 of race 5, JAMAICA is taking a different tactical course to the rest of the fleet. As we can see from the graphic above she has decided to sail the furthest West of all of the Clippers.

As light winds becalm the fleet these are frustrating times for the crew on board which is looking to eek every millimetre of advantage from the sails and the wind conditions.

Their course will take them North up the Western coast of Australia, back across the Equator, to Singapore and on to the new Marina at Keppel Bay where the arrival of the Clipper fleet will coincide with the much-anticipated grand opening of this magnificent facility.

With more than 2,200 miles of racing to go their scheduled arrival time is 19th January.

Here's hoping for a JAMAICA podium to welcome them to Singapore.

And they're off - race 5 from Fremantle to Singapore

This New Year's day at 05:00 GMT -14:00 local time - Race 5 from Fremantle, Western Australia to Singapore began.


Pictured here before the start of the race JAMAICA skipper Simon Bradley said how much his crew is looking forward to the two week race ahead of them which is one of the most complex courses within the whole round the world race.


With strong winds predicted as they race up the WA coast these will be followed by lighter winds and squalls as they approach the monsoon trough and the Indonesian islands. Added to this there is the ever-present danger of a Tropical Cyclone and the crews have to remain alert. The yachts will then enter the confines of the Java Sea through the Sunda Straits before crossing the finish line off the coast of Indonesia.

The boats are due to arrive in Singapore on 19 January after a short stopover in Batam, Indonesia to ensure the fleet arrives together for the grand opening of the Marina at Keppel Bay where they will be hosted for the duration of the Singapore stopover.


Huge crowds turned out to see the event and were entertained with some close tactical light wind racing in Fremantle’s Inner Harbour.

The local sea breeze known as the Fremantle ‘Doctor’ failed to blow as predicted and the light winds played havoc with the whole fleet as they concertina-ed at the far end of the harbour and positions changed as each mark was rounded.

With some of the closest racing seen so far in the Clipper 07-08 Race, the excitement built as the boats raced back out of the harbour and past Fremantle’s iconic Maritime Museum before hoisting their spinnakers and heading North up the coast of Western Australia as the graphic above shows.


All of the boats are closely bunched within 5 miles of each other but with some 2,400 miles to go before there will be plenty of changes as this race progresses.


Keep watching jamaicaclipper.com for all of the latest information coming directly from the good ship JAMAICA.