Light airs, fog and Catherine's 30th birthday

A very happy 30th birthday to Catherine Plane

Catherine Plane, seen here helming, is 30 today. Fellow crew member, Claire Maloney, reports on life on board and birthday celebrations :

"We’ll never hesitate to let you know just how tough it is out here. How cold, wet and windy it’s been; the basic living conditions; the struggle to perform those daily tasks. As a fully committed racing machine, we’re constantly battling against the elements, fighting against adversity, striving always to eek out those extra knots of boat speed.

But it’s not our fault if it happens to be rather nice out here sometimes. If we happen to be serenaded by sea-lions at the race start, or if we have a pod of six killer whales swim in formation up to the boat. You probably don’t want to hear any more stories of dolphins bow riding in their dozens, or blowing phosphorescence in the dark.

We didn’t choose the weather, and the gentle downwind sailing we’ve been granted just happens to mean that the boat is flat and dry at the moment. Moving around the yacht is easy, cleaning is not a chore and being in the galley is (almost) a pleasant experience.

Catherine’s birthday cake managed to come out of the oven an even thickness – no bias to the downwind side this time.

Not a bad day to have your 30th birthday. It’s warm and sunny these days, and we’ve been steadily removing layers since leaving Santa Cruz. But it hasn’t reached the blistering hot stage yet. Just perfect. We’ve got fog today, though, for the first time in the race really. Visibility is 100-200 metres, and we’ve been ‘maintaining a proper lookout at all times’. It’s not exactly busy out here, but as Simon says, “it would only take one ship.”

We’re actually enjoying the spinnaker sailing at the moment. Over the last few thousand miles we’ve definitely got better at the old kite trimming. Moving the pole up, down, forwards and back isn’t quite such a trauma as it was on leg one. And, frankly, you’d hope not!

So it’s not all struggle and strife. But we’ll soon let you know when it gets tough again, don’t worry."

Skipper, Simon Bradley added :

“As it became dark this evening it was quite eerie as the fog seemed to close in from all sides. The crew are keeping ultra alert on deck maintaining lookout by sight and sound, while down below decks a radar watch is in place - so far we’ve been on our own.”

In terms of race position, JAMAICA is currently 8th and 60 miles off the lead. In these light conditions they have decided to gybe further in shore, as the race viewer below shows, as the forecasted stronger off shore winds have not materialised. Only Liverpool remains on its lonely voyage to the West.

JAMAICA boldly conservative

JAMAICA is playing a waiting game.

She has followed Liverpool - currently the furthestmost westerly clipper - to the west but not in such a bold way, as the race viewer above shows. She is clearly hoping to benefit from stronger offshore winds as the forecasted lighter winds closer to the coast limit those boats who have taken up a position there, whilst hedging her bets by not being too far removed from the pack should the tactic not pay off.

She is currently 74 miles off the lead, having sailed 74 miles in the last 12 hours - coincidentally exactly the same distance as leading boat Glasgow, so speed is clearly not an issue.

The question is simply if fortune will favour the brave.

This is going to be a very close race and as winds die it may be, just may be, that our conservatively bold move has paid off.

Wind speed reduces - will JAMAICA's tactics pay off?

At 06:00 this morning JAMAICA posted the second fastest speed of the whole fleet, continuing their great progress having posted the fastest time at 18:00 yesterday evening.

As reported yesterday JAMAICA has decided to take a more westerly position in search of stronger winds and at a time when the winds have reduced dramatically, this tactic appears to have paid off.

As the race viewer above shows, JAMAICA has followed Liverpool's example and sailed to the West. It means that currently both Liverpool (10th) and JAMAICA (9th) have the furthest distance to finish of the whole fleet but as the winds continue to drop their positionswill give them more options both in terms of winds and sailing angles than those clippers hugging the shoreline.

The graphic below illustrates this point : to the left of the picture we can see the relative positions of the fleet. As they continue to sail south they will at some point have to gybe to port (that's "turn left" to you and me) so as to continue south east down the western coast of the United States, before arriving in Panama, which can be seen in the bottom left of the picture.

There's still a long way to go but the crew can be satisfied with both their performance and their tactics thus far.

JAMAICA does not have a monopoly on spinnaker wraps!

As we head into day 3 of this 19 day race it has been confirmed that the disatrous spinnaker wraps which beset JAMAICA in previous races have also been experienced by other teams early on in this one.

The race from Santa Cruz to Panama will be a dash south with the wind behind the boats and some very fast racing - normally the perfect conditions for flying the spinnaker. However, downwind sailing also brings huge challenges for the helm and both Glasgow and Liverpool have had spinnakers wrapped around their forestays which have made them reduce speed for between 7 and 4 hours of sailing whilst they unwrap them.

And with more than 2,800 miles to go, the teams need to do everything in their power to preserve their sails. It may be the prudent approach will pay dividends later on this race.

JAMAICA is one of 2 teams to be assuming a more offshore approach, hoping to benefit from stronger winds. It means that, for the moment, they appear to have fallen down the rankings - Liverpool in 10th and JAMAICA in 9th as the finishing line is to the South East - but a similar tactic paid off for both Singapore and Nova Scotia who finished 1st and 2nd in the last race.

You need one large spoonfull of great tactics and several buckets full of luck if you are to move up the leader board. Well, of course, we know that our expert tacticians on board JAMAICA are amongst the best in the World so here's hoping Lady luck is Jamaican!

Memoirs of Santa Cruz by John Braithwaite, aged 33 and a bit

The penultimate leg of the 2008 Clipper round the World yacht race has started. First up, race 9, a 3,000 mile dash down the West Coast of the United States from Santa Cruz to Panama, before a non racing transit through the Panama Canal, followed by race 10 to Jamaica. Then it's leg 7 when they're homeward bound to Liverpool via New York, Nova Scotia and Cork.


As the race began Joff Bailey, Race Director, outlined the task ahead :


“The teams have a wild downwind ride for the first half of this race which will see them achieving some great speeds and they will make rapid progress south. They will all try to make as direct a route possible, parallel to the coast, but at the same time trying not to get too close as the effect of the land my reduce wind strength. The trick along this initial part of the race is to try not to damage too many of the downwind sails. Several boats have recently been penalised for damaging sails and once the Race Committee considers the repairs and replacements in Santa Cruz further penalty points may be awarded."

Joff continues, “As the fleet approaches the southern tip of Baja California, the winds will start to reduce and become much less stable in direction. At this point the direct route along the coast is heavily favoured in terms of the least miles. However, fickle and inconsistent winds closer in may see some teams opting to sail further offshore in order to benefit from better wind speeds and direction.”


Sail damage will indeed be something team JAMAICA will be very wary of as they were docked 3 points by the Race committee for those disastrous spinnaker wraps and with this race being mainly downwind those spinnies will be up a lot.


There's certainly a very long way to go in this race so as the boats are so tightly packed we asked team JAMAICA round the Worlder John Braithwaite to share his memories of the Santa Cruz stopover just before the start of the race 9 :

"Hi,

Race 8 was a great race. Despite sailing into the wind for all but 2 days, this race was the most pleasant so far for a lot of reasons:

1. Our new watch system. We had 3 hours sailing and then 6 hours off watch, followed by 3 hours sailing then 3 hours mother watch then 6 hours off. And repeat. So this means we get bigger chuncks of sleep and do a short mother watch each day rather than a mother watch every 8 days or so.


2. We were able to sail in the right direction - it makes such a pleasant change from the last time we were sailing into the wind going to China. When you are sailing accross the largest ocean of the world at 8 miles an hour its nice to know you are doing it in the right direction rather than having to go at 45 degrees and in reality only be making 4 miles an hour in the direction you want to go.


3. We had a good race with Liverpool and beat them - get in! In the middle of the race we had a good spell where Liverpool were in sight for about 3 days and we had a bit of a tactical battle as the wind changed from the the south to the north.


4. The weather was just about perfect for sailing, if maybe a little cold. It was more cold than I expected but I would rather that than too hot.


5. We had lots of food and we knew what it was. Nothing like buying your food in a werstern speaking country for making sure you don't end up with random bits bits of meat.
   

The Santa Cruz stopover has been good too. Santa Cruz has an unofficial slogan 'keep Santa Cruz weird' and its doing a good job. We had a lovely meal at a vegan restaurant this evening, the local bar is straight out of the movies and has a good supply of interesting locals.

The people from the yacht club have been most welcoming. A trip up to San Francisco over the weekend was a lovely break away from the yachts. We spent time looking round Alctraz, the Golden Gate Bridge and Downtown, then ran back down for the Clipper Prize giving. At which we succeeded in winning the most important prize of the evening...the Hull & Humber organised charity Gurning Competition - nice one Claire.

Well its the night before we leave to sail to the Panama Cannal. I'm really looking forward to seeing the Cannal and sailing back into the Atlantic, and on to Jamaica for a bit of a party.

One love JB"

Only 10 hours into this race and team tactics have already split the fleet with JAMAICA heading a break away pack to the West, closely followed by Durban and Liverpool, as the race viewer below shows. These three teams are clearly hoping to capitalise on the stronger winds further away from the coast, whilst the other teams, led by Singapore and Nova Scotia, remain further in-land.

It means that JAMAICA appears to be further down the rankings in 7th place, but as wind speeds develop, it could prove a similar masterstroke to the one which saw Qingdao and Singapore shoot up the leaderboard in the last race. Here's hoping ....

Skipper Simon Bradley looking forward to Race 9

Following the arrival of the last 2 clippers - Durban and Western Australia - into Santa Cruz, the race committee has confirmed that the race will restart tomorrow, Thursday 24 April at 1300 hours local time (2000 GMT). The next race is the longest of all the races remaining in the Clipper 07-08 series and will test the teams with strong downwind conditions to begin with followed by light and fickle winds as the fleet approaches Panama.

Having received the confirmation, skipper of JAMAICA clipper Simon Bradley (a.k.a. Clint Eastwood) sent this exclusive message to jamaicaclipper.com :

"All is going well here in Santa Cruz, the yacht is in good condition (apart from a few deck leaks!) and the crew are in good spirits (mostly rum!).

The 'new' crew are all here and we'll all be at the prize giving tonight.

Hope everything is ok with you and we're all looking forward to our arrival in Jamaica even though the stopover is being cut short.

Best regards,

Simon."

Simon and his team will be sending us regular exclusive articles about their journey down to Panama so log onto jamaicaclipper.com for daily updates of their progress.

Good luck Simon and your team and have a safe and enjoyable voyage.

Race 9 due to start on Thursday

With Durban and Western Australia now expected to arrive in Santa Cruz tomorrow, 22nd April, the Race organisers are estimating the restart of the Clipper round the World yacht race to take place on Thursday 24th April.

Race 9 was originally scheduled to start on 19th April, however, following the dismasting of Durban and WA, they are currently traversing the Pacific by both sail and motor. At 06:00 they are just under 350 miles away from Santa Cruz. It will be a quick turn around for both teams.

Meanwhile the gallant crew of the good ship JAMAICA have had a little time to explore California before heading back to prepare her for the restart.

Keep visiting www.jamaicaclipper.com for news of the restart and daily updates of her position and life on board as she sails downwind to Panama. Good luck guys!

JAMAICA arrives in Santa Cruz in 6th place

After 2,000 miles of racing JAMAICA arrived in Santa Cruz at 01:47 (07:47 GMT) this morning, at the end of race 8, having crossed the finishing line in 6th place.

Skipper of JAMAICA, Simon Bradley, said, “It’s been a good race, the weather was quite varied, quite wet and cold and the thermal underwear was brought out again, which we didn’t expect. It certainly wasn’t balmy pacific sailing with grass skirts! The last few hours have been entertaining because there’s been no wind and I’ve really enjoyed it.”

The team can now look forward to a well earned rest before the start of race 9, a downwind dash down the West Coast of the USA to the entrance of the Panama Canal. Originally due to start on 19th April, the race will be delayed until some time after 21st April due to the late arrival of Durban and Western Australia who are still crossing the Pacific having had their masts replaced. Both yachts are still over 1,000 miles away from Santa Cruz. The Race Committee is still to confirm the reschedule race start as it will depend upon their progress which is hampered due to light winds but best estimate at this stage is next Thursday, 24th April.

It means a longer stop and well earned break in Santa Cruz for team JAMAICA.

Congratulations guys and enjoy the sights of Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Hollywood, the wines of the Napa Valley; well it's a tough job ...........

JAMAICA sweepstake as Singapore takes 1st

At 12:26 (GMT) today Singapore snatched victory just passing Nova Scotia at the 11th hour ..... literally. Having taken the most northerly approach, and therefore benefitting from the stronger winds, Singapore managed to just pass Nova Scotia, which had been leading for most of the latter part of the race. Nova Scotia crossed the line just over half an hour later; 2,080 miles after leaving Honolulu it just shows how close this race was.

Currently sitting in 6th position JAMAICA should cross the finishing line at approximately 06:00 BST tomorrow. Indeed their arrival time is the source of much discussion as the crew have a lot riding on the confirmation of their arrival time as this posting from the boat confirmed:

With less than 500 miles to go, talk has already turned to the finish. The jobs list has been rubbed off the white board and replaced with ‘The Santa Cruz Arrival Sweepstake’. A serious business and, with a $5 entry fee and a possible 15 players taking part, a reasonable prize at stake. (Although the rules of entry do state ‘winner buys the first round’.)

There was a long debate this morning as to which time zone we would be working in. There is boat time, Santa Cruz time and UTC. Boat time went forward an hour last night but we are still an hour behind Santa Cruz time. The skipper hasn’t decided yet whether to move on another hour before or after reaching the finish. So boat time, we decided, was too ambiguous. UTC was just too complicated, so Santa Cruz time got the final vote of approval. That brought on a sudden rush to change the predictions already made in boat time. There’s still bound to be someone at the finish who claims ignorance to the decision.

With the northerly boats still pulling away, we’re having our own little battle with Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper and Liverpool 08 at the moment. After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing with Liverpool 08 we seem (somehow) to have overtaken them and held them off for a few schedules now. Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper are ever allusive, and just as we seemed to have narrowed the gap, Hannah decided to go up a gear and has pulled a few more miles ahead. They’re not that far away, though. Still within catching distance.

The wind is so changeable. In any one watch there is such a wide variation in wind strength that it’s really quite tricky choosing a sail plan. There is a choice between being mostly ok but sometimes underpowered and slow, or mostly ok and often clinging onto the helm while frantically dumping the mainsheet to get back under control. As we heeled right over just now, someone commented that the driver had clearly picked Tuesday morning in the sweepstake…

JAMAICA expected to cross the line tomorrow

The end of race 8 is nigh.

As we write this article (08:00 BST), the battle for 1st place should just be coming to an end. The 06:00 schedules confirmed Nova Scotia to still be a whisker ahead of Singapore with just 4 miles separating the 2 yachts. If Nova Scotia do manage to hold off the persistent attempts of Singapore it will be a major turnaround for the team currently sitting in 9th place in the overall rankings and will propell them half way up the table. And with Singapore currently 7th in the overall results it shows how quickly fortunes can change.

JAMAICA has consolidated her 6th place in this race; with Glasgow, JAMAICA and Liverpool evenly matched it does appear that these will be the positions when JAMAICA is due to cross the finishing line at early tomorrow. 6th will be a credible result for the crew after a hard race of constant beating into the wind. The boat has been on a pretty consistent tack as this picture of Lisa Gill helming shows.

The bonus will be that all of the teams are ahead of their (rearranged) schedule which should give a little more recovery time in port. Leg 6 / Race 9 is due to start soon after the new crews arrive on 21st April.

All depends on the progress of Durban and Western Australia who did not manage to join this race due to their mast replacement work. They are roughly half way through their journey under a mixture of sail and motor as the graphic shows. Sadly for them they are not enjoying the strong winds which have propelled the leading boats to achieve speeds in excess of 120 miles for a 12 hour run and are currently only managing some 60 miles per 12 hours.

With some 1,200 miles still to go theirs will be a very quick turnaround when they arrive in Santa Cruz.

400 miles to the finish

With the finishing line in Santa Cruz getting ever nearer, the crew on board JAMAICA can almost smell the aroma of freshly baked pancakes and maple syrup blowing to them from the coast of California. But there'll be a lot of sailing before their estimated arrival on Thursday as they battle their way through a strong North Atlantic high.

It's back to life on an angle as they beat into strong headwinds and have no option but to keep sailing hard on the wind on port tack at the moment. The weather front has also brough some chilly North winds as JAMAICA skipper Simon Bradley reported :

“Boots, socks, fleeces, mid-layers are all appearing again as we beat our way towards Santa Cruz. These are all items of clothing that crew were not expecting to wear for some time!”

It's a big change from the temperature they experienced over the weekend during Simon's birthday when hawaiian skirts and bikini tops were the de rigeur clothing ...... if only for the skipper.

With JAMAICA currently lying in 6th place, some 30 miles behind Glasgow and a similar distance ahead of Liverpool, it's now a dash for the coast. Realistically, 6th is the best JAMAICA can hope for and if they do manage to fend off the persistent challenge of Liverpool they will have achieved a lot. Nevertheless they will be nipping at the heels of Glasgow in the hope that the big black ship gives way.

Some 150 miles ahead Nova Scotia is still managing to cling on to 1st with a 10 mile advantage over Singapore, with New York and Hull in their own private battle for 3rd and 4th.

Happy Birthday Simon from the Jamaica Tourist Board

On Saturday we reported it was skipper Simon Bradley's 51st birthday - yes only 51!

Elizabeth Fox, Regional Director UK / N Europe of the Jamaica Tourist Board, our principle sponsor, seen here at the start of the race in Liverpool with both Simon and her colleague Torrance Lewis sent the following message :

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND BEST WISHES FROM JAMAICA TOURIST BOARD,

Now put the rum down and get back to the lead......!

Sound advice, Elizabeth, and your message has clearly got to Simon and his crew as they turn up the heat in race 8, slowly but surely moving up the leader board.

Indeed, it would appear that Simon's birthday has been the perfect spur for the whole team as the following message, just received from the boat, confirmed :

We’ve spent the last 24-hours neck and neck with Liverpool 08. All day yesterday we were chasing them, working hard to turn the tiny white triangle on the horizon into a recognisable clipper off the starboard quarter.

Everyone’s been really up for it. Funnily enough, it seems to have helped the concentration on the helm a wee bit and prompted a flurry of sail trim activity.

But no one’s been more excited than the skipper. He’s been loving it. There’s been a total obsession with the compass bearing Liverpool 08 has been on –‘Are they gaining? Are we pulling away?’ - and the distance they are from us. We were tracking them on the radar at one stage so we could monitor how many hundreds of metres away they were.

You wouldn’t expect a man of his age to be so excitable. After all, he was 51 yesterday. Unable to take him out for a few beers, the crew did their best to make it a special day. Dragging him up on deck at first light to show him we’ d finally overtaken Liverpool 08 was the start. An outsized cup of ‘skipper’s coffee was then thrust into his hand followed by a plate of French toast.

We saved the cake and the presents until after lunch, when we made the most of the sunshine on deck to hold a Hawaiian themed party. With Hawaiian music in the background, the crew dressed up in their lays, put flowers in their hair (well, the girls did anyway) and presented Simon with a chocolate cake which had his age written on it in M&Ms. There was then an assortment of presents including a new shirt, some coffee and a game of ‘nun bowling’, and an attempt to get a nice photo for Simon’s Mum which didn’t show him wildly brandishing a sharp knife. All with the spinnaker still flying.

Perfect timing for a birthday, as since then the wind had totally died on us, Liverpool 08 has crept back up again and the more northerly boats are flying along. But that’s sailing. Apparently…

JAMAICA deducted points for sail damage

The Race Committee giveth but they also taketh away.

This really is a cruel sport; JAMAICA has been making great progress in race 8 and the past 48 hours has seen her overtake both Liverpool and Glasgow to assume 5th place which, oridinarily, would mean increasing their tally by an extra 2 points.

Yet it will be heartbraking for the crew on board to learn that even if they do maintain this rise in the rankings it will have been to no avail with the announcement today that they are one of the teams to be awarded penalty points for sail damage.

Following compilation of all the sail repair data, the Clipper Race Committee, chaired by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, has reached a decision on sail repair penalty points that are to be awarded following the Hawaii stopover. The penalty points awarded are for either replacement sails or for professional sail repairs costs, which are cumulative over the whole race.

JAMAICA has been deducted 3 penalty points (2 points for a replacement sail and 1 point for repair costs). Ours is the second largest penalty behind Glasgow's 4. Nova Scotia have been deducted 1 point whilst Liverpool had already been deducted 1 point in the previous race.


On board the crew can only try to focus on the job in hand. As can be seen by the race viewer below they are part of the chasing pack of 3 yachts which also includes Liverpool and Glasgow. With 4th placed Hull over 80 miles ahead it is unlikely that they will be able to haul them in so the battle for 5th needs to be their main preoccupation.

The Rasta Rocket moves up the rankings

There have been big gains over the past 24 hours, mainly for the yachts who had taken the gamble to sail further North as the stronger winds hit them first.

Nova Scotia and Singapore have benefited the most as their tactics took them the furthest North. They have taken full advantage and have raced up the leader board to claim first and second place and relegate yesterday's leader New York to third. It has led to a mad dash North for the whole of the fleet as the race viewer above shows.

But of course things could have been very different had the winds come from the South - this ocean racing lark really is a game of tactics, determination and perhaps not a little luck.

JAMAICA has clearly decided in this race to take a watching brief and to assume a "middle ground"; don't be the first to go too early, don't try something which may cause big gains but may also lead to big losses. Slowly, slowly catch a Clipper.

And that's exactly what they have done in the past 12 hours overhauling Liverpool to claim 6th place and putting 24 miles of clear water between them. With over 700 miles until the finish line in Santa Cruz, JAMAICA now has the much fancied Glasgow firmly in her sights just 15 miles ahead.

SIMON BRADLEY 51 TODAY!

Skipper Simon Bradley is celebrating his 51st birthday today. From all at jamaicaclipper.com we wish you a very happy birthday, and where better to spend your day than in the middle of the Pacific ocean, doing what you enjoy and amidst your fantastic crew?

What's more JAMAICA is making excellent progress in this very tight race with only with only 42 miles separating 1st and 7th and just under 1,000 miles to the finish line. Positions are changing at every schedule but JAMAICA is sensibly retaining the middle ground, keeping other yachts closely in sight to monitor their own progress; Liverpool is just 5 miles ahead and provides an excellent marker to track comparative speed.

As Simon said reporting conditions on board :

“Another nice sailing day, lots of sunshine and a good breeze for most of the time, although it did go light for a while this afternoon. We have another Clipper yacht in sight ahead of us, so now we have a target to overtake. We think it’s Liverpool 08 but at the moment they are too far in front to tell for sure.”

Ben Galloway, skipper of Liverpool, who is also celebrating his birthday today (though a few years fewer than Simon) confirmed:

“JAMAICA just slipped out of sight behind us as the sun set but we know they aren’t far behind. Shifty winds for the last few watches have kept us busy which makes the time go faster.”

The proximity of the boats can be seen by the race viewer below :

So on this day, 12th April, 2008, Happy Birthday Simon and happy sailing.

A race of intrigue

This time yesterday we were reporting that Glasgow was extending her lead in Race 8. Indeed the main Clipper web site this morning reported that Glasgow was still ahead. Yet the 06:00 schedules which have just been published place Glasgow in 6th place and JAMAICA behind her in 7th.

The reason for this ? In the middle of the World's largest ocean communications are not always perfect and neither Glasgow or JAMAICA have had their positions updated since midnight last night.

What we can say, however, is that JAMAICA is slowly moving up the field and it could be to do with the recovery from the seasickness that affected many of the crew across the fleet from the outset of Race 8.

As skipper Simon Bradley reported :

“They now hold conversations as opposed to sitting there with a face like grim death wondering if they will survive the watch without making an offering to Neptune.

Yet every watch they are there doing their stuff. Now that is something to be proud of; they feel terrible but they still turn up for duty. Back in the real world I bet they would have phoned in sick…”

In a telephone call to his parents overnight John Braithwaite confirmed spirits on board are high :

"All is well on the boat. The crew are enjoying having 3 watch system.

We now have 14 on board but it means that we can get more rest; I've even read a book for the first time since leaving Liverpool!

We picked up new crew member in Hawaii who is from Santa Cruz so we're hoping local knowledge will help in the run into port.

Expecting light winds for next 24 hours affecting all fleet as wind veers to north then good winds for 3/4 days and should make good progress. Got Liverpool in sight."

By that we believe he means the Clipper Liverpool and not the European Capital of Culture - if not, there's something seriously wrong with their navigational aids.

JAMAICA outsails the fleet

When the 12:00 schedules arrived today they showed that JAMAICA had sailed farther in the previous 12 hours than any other yacht in the fleet - a total of 105 miles.

We have now adjusted our position within the fleet from our previous most northerly position to be right in the middle of the chasing pack. This has allowed us to review the progress of all of the lead boats and adjust our course accordingly. It is surely this that has led to such an improvement.

Although technically we lie in 7th place, we are only 40 miles behind the lead yacht Glasgow and, in a race of this length, there really is nothing in it.

Today, reporting from on board JAMAICA Chris Parkinson, pictured here pretending to look busy on the winch (!) looks back to their extended stay in Hawaii and reports of difficult conditions on board :

After our lovely long stopover in Hawaii, it’s been a bit like going back to work after a summer holiday.

We’d all got very used to sunshine and nice hotels with clean linen and showers. We’d feasted on fresh food that required the use of knives and forks, and found McDonalds and Starbucks a welcome change. After so many months at sea you might think that material goods would have lost their attraction as we become one with nature, but you would be wrong. There was a shopping mall right next to the Waikiki Yacht Club that had both male and female crew in raptures. And there was even an Aveda hair salon!

But now we’re back beating to windward. Life is once more on a 300 angle. We’ve just finished dinner of tuna pasta eaten out of blue, plastic bowels and I’m sitting on the floor propped up against the generator writing this blog. The watch on deck are in full oilskins and every so often there is a shout of ‘wave’ as water comes crashing over the deck to soak the unwary. Mother watch is in the galley dealing with the washing up, and the bilges are being pumped dry of water for the third or fourth time today.

There are people sleeping – or trying to sleep- in their damp, bouncy bunks. No worries about loud music keeping anyone awake at the moment as the stereo got flooded on the last leg and the replacement hasn’t been wired in yet. The volunteer electrician has unfortunately been too busy throwing up over the side to contemplate the job.

But we seem to have almost seen the last of the seasickness for this race. There are a couple of people still a bit queasy below decks, but I don’t think anyone’s been sick for a whole 24 hrs. With the new three watch system we all get much more time off watch, and people are correspondingly more lively and enthusiastic. Sail changes are much less of a chore when you know it’s not taking up precious sleep time. The mood has lifted noticeably now that people are feeling well again.

And we’re not doing too badly race wise. Lets face it, we’re often a lot further behind by this stage in the game. We’re sailing well and enjoying the sailing. Now lets see if we can start pulling a few miles back from the boats ahead. We’re more than capable of it!!

Meanwhile, news today that the 2 dismasted boats Durban and Western Australia have finally left Hawaii and are making their way to Santa Cruz where they will rendez-vous with the rest of the fleet at the end of race 8.

Happy Birthday Mrs Doris Bradley

Happy Birthday Mum!


That's the message from JAMAICA's skipper Simon Bradley as his Mother, Doris, celebrates her 82nd birthday today.

And as the good ship JAMAICA continues to sail across the Pacific Ocean en route to Santa Cruz, Simon's thoughts are with his Mum many 1,000s of miles away.

As Race 7 moves into its 4th day with an estimated further 10 days ahead, it's at times like this that the crew starts to leave the excitement of the Hawaii stopover behind, is beginning to get tired through the punishing schedule they are experiencing and realising that there's still a very big ocean to cross before land fall on mainland USA. That, combined with heavy conditions and seasickness, means thoughts do go to loved ones back home.

Here at jamaicaclipper.com we add our best wishes for Mrs Doris Bradley to those of Simon.

Meanwhile, back at the race ......

As the race viewer shows the fleet is spanning out in like the wings of a Stealth bomber as they make their journey across the Pacific. At the nose and in the most central position is Glasgow, whilst JAMAICA is continuing its policy of staying North and is still sailing close by Nova Scotia; her position can be seen in the top left hand corner of the graphic.

There have been changeable conditions over the past 12 hours as the fleet first entered into a no wind zone and all possible sail combinations were attempted to move the boat in the right direction.

After few hours of hectic sail changes easterly wind arrived and the boats could start to achieve good boat speed again.

Life continues on an angle

As the fleet enter their 3rd day of racing on leg 8, Hawaii to Santa Cruz, life on board JAMAICA remains at 40 degrees - that's the angle of pitch not the temperature.

It's a 40 degree angle to boil the water in the kettle, 40 degrees tempting you to fall out of your bunk as you try to sleep, 40 degrees as you try to - erm - take a tinkle, in the desperate hope that that is not the moment when the boat drops 20 feet off the next wave.

It has led to very choppy conditions and not a little sea sickness.


The whole fleet is currently experiencing moderate headwinds but a weak ridge in the Pacific high pressure system should give all the teams a slightly better wind angle over the next 24 hours which will see their progress towards Santa Cruz improve. This will, however, push them all further north with the risk of sailing into the centre of the high with its associated light and variable winds.


JAMAICA has managed to sail a fantastic 82 miles in the last 12 hours, a speed only bettered by Liverpool. The team are clearly back in the groove. This has pushed her up the rankings to 5th place, although, at this early stage in the race where the boats are sorting out their different strategies, relative positions are less important.

JAMAICA is still continuing her strategy of assuming the most northerly position of the fleet as can be seen at the top of the race viewer. She has been joined by Nova Scotia - the two yachts are sailing so close to each other, they can almost smell what each other has had for breakfast ..... but enough of the sea sickness!

The question is "is this a strategy that both teams agreed before the start?" Unlikely, however it is a great incentive when crossing an ocean to see another boat, to gauge one's progress against it, to review their sail settings and see if you are gaining or falling back, proof of which is the fact that both teams covered exactly the same distance over water in the last 12 hours.

It's either spurring each other on or they've decided to lash the two yachts together and sail catamaran style across the Pacific. Our Spies on board are due to report soon so watch this space for the latest information.

Headwinds now and for the next 5 days mean hot bunking and disturbed sleep

36 hours into Race 8 and there is nothing in it as the different teams develop differing tactics.

As can be seen from the race viewer above JAMAICA, Liverpool and Nova Scotia were the first 3 yachts to tack North as they left the islands of Hawaii, and they occupy the most northerly positions of the fleet. In taking this approach, these 3 yachts are following the shortest distance between Hawaii and Santa Cruz, represented by the white lines on the graphic.

Singapore and Qingdao left it late to tack north and having adjusted their position west towards Santa Cruz remain the furthest south.

In the middle, and playing cat and mouse, are the leading boats Glasgow, New York and Hull, all sailing within view of each other, waiting to see which of them changes tactics first.

Headwinds being produced on the south side of the North Pacific high pressure system means the yachts in the Clipper fleet are tacking their way towards Santa Cruz. The centre of the North Pacific High has moved further north and it looks like the whole fleet will continue to experience headwinds for the next five days or so.

It means there will be some pretty uncomfortable days ahead for the fleet as the crew experience living and working conditions some 30 to 40 degrees to the perpendicular before a tack sends the boat in the opposite direction.

Like many yachts in the fleet, the crew of JAMAICA have decided to operate a "hot bunking" system which means that when the boat is tacked (or turned into the wind) crew members attempting to sleep are woken to be asked to move from what was the high side of the boat to the new high side. Weight distribution is all important in a race and keeping the weight to the high side can make several miles difference to a race of this length.

On a watch system which allows 4 hours on and 4 hours off, the maximum sleep the crew can have at any one time is, say, 3 hours (after changeover, eating and preparation). When these precious hours are disturbed through hot bunking it can quickly take its toll.

Only eight of the ten yachts managed to make the start line yesterday as Durban and Western Australia were unable to start the race due to the work being undertaken on their mast. The Race Committee has decided that, this being outside the control of the crew, they will award both teams the points (to the nearest whole number) associated with their average position in the previous seven races.

And they're off! Race 8 begins

On the day the Grand National was run in Liverpool, the City hosting the start and finish of the Clipper Round the World yacht race, Race 8 from Hawaii to Santa Cruz began. It brought to an end an extended stay in Hawaii, due to the 8 out of the 10 boats needing replacement rigging and 2 yachts, Durban and Western Australia, requiring mast replacements. With their repairs still ongoing the race started with just 8 boats.

As the picture shows, JAMAICA had a cracking start of the 2,080 mile race to Santa Cruz and at 06:00 this morning the fleet were passing North of the island of Molokai. Hugging the coastline, JAMAICA was overshadowed by the tallest sea cliffs in the World at over 3,000 feet.

Ahead of them the race is due to take some 14 days with ETA in Santa Cruz on 19th April. After such a long stopover the crew are keen to get back to racing duties. Reflecting on the extended stopover and writing exclusively for jamaicaclipper.com just before the start of the race, crew member John Braithwaite says "aloha and Mahalo" to Hawaii :

Aloha,

Stranded in paradise; well not far off anyway. This has been a much needed break in the race schedule for all of the crews. It was a terrific shame that WA and then Durban lost their masts, however, with no one injured and the crews now safely in Hawaii the consensus is that this break has just been what was needed.

Hawaii met our expectations as we made the final approach to the harbor through a narrow channel cut through the corral reef. The backdrop was of the volcanic mountains covered in rain forest. Waikiki beach was to starboard; where there were surfers riding the waves into the white sand beach. Ahead traditional polynesian canoes were being paddled out from the harbor for an evening race. To port, the sun was setting on the skyline of Honolulu's skyscrapers. Then as we moored along the 'Magic Island' Fuel Dock we were greeted with beer and a warm Aloha from the locals. Perfect.

The race itself was a strange one. The start was tough with light winds, then becalmed so we spent the night at anchor, during which it snowed and we were able to build a snowman on deck - complete with Rasta hat and outfit. We then had a good sail as the winds built. However, during the second night we managed to do our usual trick and wrap a spinnaker round the innerstay. This time it took 12 hours to cut down and we lost part of it in the process. Not a great start. This put us at the back of the fleet and with one of our spinnakers needing serious repair. Bernard spent the next 12 days fixing that spinnaker, an awesome effort. We showed the sail makers here the repair job to check it was ok, as Bernard had had to make new panels, and they offered him a job it was that good. Well after that we had some of the best sailing of the race, set a new boat speed record of 24.8 knots and hooned along until the race was cut short for the rig failures. The last week motoring in was rather tedious but good to get a few of the jobs done, leaving more time for fun in port.

It has been a bit of a holiday to remember in the middle of the race. We have dived with Manta Rays, dolphins, turtles and octopus. Visited Pearl Harbor, went on the US Bowfin Submarine, the US Missouri Battleship on which the Japanese surrendered at the end of WWII and visited the US Arizona memorial where 1000 soldiers were drowned when the Battleship was sunk in the raid. This was a vivid history lesson.

We then went further afield and flew to the 'Big Island' - Hawaii. We kayaked to where Captain Cook was murdered, a beautiful unchanged cove with volcanic beaches and dolphins playing in the shallows. The dolphins here are unlike any we have seen before on the voyage. They are called Hawaiian Spinners, and as the name suggests, they leap out of the water like salmon and spin (up to 7 times) in the air. The highlight of the stopover was definitely taking a helicopter ride around the island as seeing the volcano that is still active with underground lava flows going into the sea.

Its back on the yachts now and preparing them for the race to Santa Cruz.

Mahalo and One Love,

JB

Our thanks to John and best wishes to all our crew for a safe and enjoyable voayge across the Pacific.

Race 8 likely to start tomorrow

Work has now been completed on the replacement rigging for JAMAICA and 7 other Clippers which means the teams can go out for test sails tomorrow and all being well we are looking at starting Race 8 at 1100 local time (2200 GMT) on Saturday.

As can be seen in the photograph the boats have been pulling up alongside the swaging machine which has been set up on an A-frame on the dock to remove the need for the rigging wires to be completely detached and allow the work to be carried out quickly. After the two fittings on the first side of the yacht have been replaced, the skipper turns the boat around for those on the other side to be changed. Adjustments to the rig tension are made back on the yacht’s berth so the next one can be accommodated.


On the opposite side of the harbour in the Ala Wai Marine boat yard, the mast builder from Atlantic Spars has been getting to work on the two masts of Durban 2010 and Beyond and westernaustralia2011.com. He has made great progress today and has already the two sections of Durban 2010 and Beyond’s mast and is getting ready for the arrival of the spreaders in a shipment tomorrow morning.

It is envisaged that Race 8 will restart without Durban and WA as the mast replacements will require such extensive work. We are still waiting to hear from the race organisers as to how they will be re-entered into the race at a later date.

Decision on start date of race 8 "imminent" as Dan Garnett visits schools

The start of Race 8 has been delayed by the dismasting of both Western Australia and Durban as new masts and replacement sections have had to be sourced from around the World. Theirs are the most visible and serious signs of fatigue to the fleet of 10 Clippers and replacement of their mast sections will require several days for completion.

However, the 8 other Clippers, including JAMAICA, will also be undergoing rigorous maintenance checks and replacing sections of their rigging. Joff Bailey, Race Director, expects to be able to make an announcement over the next few days about the revised start time of the race from Hawaii to Santa Cruz.

Meanwhile, back in Blighty, JAMAICA crew member Dan Garnett has been visiting schools to spread the word of JAMAICA clipper and also our nominated charity the RNLI for which Dan is a volunteer crew member. He spoke of his experiences exclusively to jamaicaclipper.com :

I am pleased to announce that Holsworthy Primary School, in Devon, is now my adopted primary school, following my progress in the Clipper 07-08 gobal race. At 2.45pm, 50 plus schoolchildren, 10 and 11 year olds, were ready to ask questions about the challenge.

I took lots of ocean equipment: charts, a compass, RNLI lifeboat media stuff, lifejacket etc. I really enjoyed the enquiring questions - Will you see any Pirates? No shark questions this time.

After seeing a short video of rough weather action, racing up wind, they begin to get a taste for it - How old do you have to be to join?

Chart work and Navigation questions can be challenging from school children. Looking at my weather routing Atlantic charts togehter there were real questions of wonder, about the world outside.

As the race gets nearer for me , I am still amazed at the increasing interest from all, especially the connection with the lifeboat "train one, save many" campaign. I am proud that our yacht JAMAICA Clipper is raising funds for our volunteer RNLI Lifeboat crews. Fellow racing crewman Andy from the Isle of Man, has raised over £1000 for his local lifeboat, in Peel.

Today, talking with school children helped to remind me why it so vital to keep our boats afloat. The youngsters had a go in dressing up in the Henri Lloyd ocean racing foul weather gear, putting on the giant Musto HPX boots , climbing in to the Gortex sleeping bag - the best bit for one youngster was wearing a lifejacket which I inflated, with the gas cylinder, to his supprise. I look forward to comments and questions online.

Our thanks to Dan and to Andy for the excellent work they are doing both as Volunteer RNLI crew members and by raising funds on behalf of JAMAICA for the RNLI. Thanks also to our crew which has been taking our "Immersion suit challenge" around the different ports of the Clipper 07-08 race in order to raise further funds.

The new masts, specialist swaging machine and shipment of rigging and other parts have finally arrived in Hawaii today and the three riggers from Spencer Rigging have set up their swaging machine on the dockside at Magic Island Fuel Dock and have started replacing the first rigging components on Hull & Humber. They will have an early start tomorrow to work their way through the eight boats who are due to begin Race 8 to Santa Cruz in the next few days. To answer a much-asked question, a swaging machine rolls the high grade stainless steel swage (metal fitting) onto the wire of the rigging with the aid of two powerful rollers – rather like an extremely high pressure mangle.

Meanwhile the guys and gals of our valiant crew are preparing JAMAICA for the start of Race 8 after their extended stay in Hawaii . We wish you a safe and enjoyable journey to Santa Cruz.