Race 8 Day 20: The Derry “LondonDerry” Doire is battling the conditions to keep up with the leaders in the race from Brisbane to Singapore – eighth leg of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.
Sean McCarter.
However, the Derry entry is not the yacht in the race to be knocked by by the weather conditions as OneDLL could do nothing but look on as its rival, Qingdao, stormed into first place.
It was a double blow for OneDLL after a dreaded wind hole and a strong current saw the Dutch team not only lose its lead, but also go back on itself by 15 miles.
The most southerly yachts in the race have all experienced similar and frustrating conditions over the last 24 hours, with Switzerland, Old Pulteney and the Derry Clipper all reporting losing miles due to the strong current and fickle winds.
Derry skipper Sean McCarter conceded the day “west from bad to worse progress wise.”
He added: “After the wind shift that crippled our VMG (Velocity Made Good), the wind then died completely. We actually went backwards on the current by an impressive, if somewhat depressing, 16 miles. Thankfully, we started moving again this morning and have re-crossed the 500 mile ‘to go’ mark.”
Sean said morale on board remained “high`” despite the setback.
He added: “We knew this leg would be very tricky as all light wind sailing is. We are happy to see karma at work in that two boats that have had bad luck in the previous two races are coming to the front in Qingdao and Henri Lloyd.”
Tags:
