Engines on

Clipper fleet end Race Five to Singapore early as wind diminishes

All ten boats in the Clipper 05-06 Round the World Yacht Race have crossed the finish line at the end of Race Five, just south west of the Sunda Straits and are now motoring towards the destination port of Singapore. The finish line was brought forward by around 750 miles after the fleet were becalmed in the Indian Ocean with no hope of arriving in Singapore in time for the planned stop-over celebrations.

Durban was first across the line to make it back to back race wins, a feat that should put them up to second place in the overall standings behind westernaustralia.com who maintained their 100% podium finish success-rate with second place on this race. New York finished in third place to complete the podium.

Durban Skipper, Craig Millar said; “It seemed to take an age to cross the finish line. The last 20 miles took massive concentration by the crew who are now exhausted and burnt to a crisp! It is seriously hot out here in the Straits, but we are all in high spirits and looking forward to a rest.”

The weather patterns in South East Asia have demonstrated unprecedented light to non-existent winds, leading the race committee to cut short the race finish line to the westernmost tip of Java. Conditions have been extremely fickle and latest reports indicated that this current vacuum will remain for the next five days, which would becalm the fleet and put both the stop-over and rest of the race in jeopardy.

It is estimated that the lead boats will arrive in Singapore on Sunday 15th January where they will be welcomed by traditional Lion Dance ceremony organised by the Singapore Tourist Board.

Yesterday Cardiff skipper Conor Fogerty made the decision for his team to retire from this race after becoming becalmed some 82 miles from the finish line. They fought admirably to catch up with the rest of the fleet after returning to Fremantle with rudder damage early on in the race. However as the finish neared and the winds dropped, the decision was made to cut their losses and motor on to catch up with the rest of the fleet who were already motoring on towards Singapore.

Conor explained his decision to the team’s supporters earlier: “My crew have worked so hard to close the 513 mile [gap] to [just] 82 miles before the last boat finished, I believe this to be an amazing feat. If the race had not been cut short I'm sure Cardiff would have upset the finishing sequence and to sit flopping around watching our great comeback diminish would be hot, frustrating and soul destroying.

“I believe [that] light winds are our optimum sailing, we have proved this several times in the past. I want the crew to mentally be on a high for the next leg, [which will be] more than likely light winds [again]. Cardiff will be at the front again.”

The fleet will spend just under two weeks in Singapore before swinging north once more to Qingdao in China, the sailing destination for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.