Freemantle re-start

Home team lead Clipper fleet away on leg to Singapore

The start of Race 5 of the Clipper Round the World Race from Fremantle, Western Australia to Singapore took place at 1400 local time (0500 GMT) on New Year’s Day, with Durban 2010 and Beyond, Glasgow: Scotland with style and Uniquely Singapore the first three boats to cross the line as the cannon fired. 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 although Durban 2010 and Beyond made steady progress towards the first of three marks in the harbour, they were hampered by patches of wind shadow. Following them round the first mark was the home-port team, westernaustralia2011.com, who with tactical positioning moved into second place.

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. To the delight of the home crowd, the Western Australian team managed to sneak ahead of Durban 2010 and Beyond as they headed out to sea.

Speaking ahead of the race start, westernaustralia2011.com’s skipper Martin Silk said: “We have a full crew for the next leg and I’m fairly optimistic about our chances as we have some good local knowledge onboard. I hope we can do Western Australia proud by gaining another podium position into Singapore.”

The close racing in the Inner Harbour was always going to be challenging for the ten teams taking part in the race. Qingdao remained at the back of the fleet around all three Inner Harbour marks and reflected Marcus Cholerton-Brown’s pre-race plans for a clean start. “With ten boats moving in close proximity to each other in the harbour, it’s going to be a real challenge,” said Marcus prior to their departure. “The crew will need to be focused and we’re aiming for a clean start.”

The fleet has a two week race ahead of them to Singapore and it 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 Keppel Caribbean Marina where they will be hosted for the duration of the Singapore stopover.

Points so far:

	Team	Points
1	Durban 2010 and Beyond	27
2	Glasgow:Scotland with style	26
3	Hull & Humber	25
4	Liverpool 08	22.5
5	westernaustralia2011.com	20
6	Qingdao	19.5
7	Nova Scotia	18.5
8	New York	14.5
9	Uniquely Singapore	13
10	Jamaica	6.5

For more information see the event site: http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/