LAT 09 15.4N
LONG 130 23.3E
DTF 1798
ETA 0600 26 Jan 2012
COG 220 SOG 9
WEATHER Wind 055 Sp 18, Sea Mod, Swell 060@2m, Cloud 4/8 Cb, Cl, Ac, Ci Baro 1006.2
Gold Coast Australia finally got our wind back and made some great progress over night and throughout the morning. At
noon we gybed towards the south and we are now making our way down the Philippine coast to the gate between Sarangani
Straight and Marore Is. Whilst we are currently ranked 5th on the leader board on the http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com we are
in a good tactical position as we are the furthest western yacht in the fleet with good wind and good current.
Originally I had thought to sail even closer to the Philippine coast and we still may gybe again to get a bit closer as at
times when steaming down the coast in larger ships I have observed currents of up to 5kts flowing around the bottom of the
Philippines which would no doubt give us a substantial boost. The only problem with getting too close to this coast is that the wind backs to the north and is not as strong as further out to sea.
We will monitor the positions of the other yachts and the wind strength and may utilise this current as we approach the gate in the next couple of days.
One of the greatest achievements so far this race was reached today when our Medium weight spinnaker repair was finally
completed. This repair has taken almost 7 days of sewing in the intense heat of the cabin with a very temperamental sewing
machine and limited cloth and other tools on a “loft” floor that is moving, banging and twisting with every wave. Not only
have we fixed the repair but I also instructed for some further re-enforcing of the clews and luff tapes be made so
hopefully now the sail is better than new. This sail will be very useful as we sail through the lighter winds of the
Celebes sea and down to Singapore and so it is fantastic that it has been repaired so well.
Sailing further north than the rest of the fleet has been a slightly disappointing tactic for Gold Coast as the trade winds
were not as steady as predicted and at times for some reason were weaker to the north than closer to the equator. Many of
the yachts that exited the Solomon Sea and rounded New Ireland behind us were able to take a more southerly route and have
made massive gains on us and have had surprisingly good and consistent winds at 3 degrees north. I have been going over in
my mind and reviewing available information to see what I would do differently in this race If I could sail it again.
Unless I can find more information that would prove that sailing at 3*North is reliable and as beneficial than seeking more
“reliable” trades further north I would probably follow a similar route to which I am sailing now anyway. Hopefully when we
finish this leg somebody can show me the missing “piece to the puzzle” information that will make me change my mind, but for
now I am confident we have sailed a good race so far and have just been unfortunate when it comes to the issue of wind. For
the next couple of days we can only hope that the wind will play the game and we do not loose any further miles to our southerly competitors.
Richard Hewson
Yacht tracker viewed at http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com