At 21:54 UTC Gold coast Australia passed through the Celebes Gate in first place and will now remain in first place until
the re-start in 95 hours time north of Borneo. The timings for the first five yachts to cross the gate were very close, and the next three yachts passed the gate only a couple of hours after Derry.
This is a fantastic achievement for us on Gold Coast and we worked incredibly hard to get back to first place in a race
where we have seen our fair share of problems. Three days ago we were over 70nm behind the leading boats with a torn
mainsail and spinnaker, and now we are leading the race by over an hour. I am immensely proud of my crew who worked very hard through very difficult conditions.
Conditions over the past few days have ranged from 40kt squalls coming out of blue skys without a warning to pitch black
sky, no wind and lots and lots of rain where the windex would turn a full 360 degrees every minute. I’m pretty sure
everybody got sick of the orders to change sails as we would often change from a spinnaker to a Yankee 2, to a Yankee 1 to a
wind-seeker in one watch. To make things fun we would also throw a few stay sail hoists just to keep the team in good spirits.
This morning after the finish of the first phase of race 7 we motored into the lee of Tinina Balut Island in the Sarangani
Strait to drop the mainsail in preparation for the cruising phase. As we were required to wait for Derry so we could cruise
in company until the re-start gate, we stopped the motor, went for a swim and had a breakfast of kings in paradise! The
islands around here become more beautiful the closer we get and the temptation to grab some walking boots and hike to the
top of the volcanic island were almost overwhelming. The relief everybody experienced after the swim at breakfast was amazing and everybody is in a fantastic mood though slightly exhausted.
Today everybody is having a day off relaxing and enjoying the scenery of the Philippine islands as they drift by. Tomorrow
we will commence some maintenance tasks and get as much work done to the boat as possible in three days so we are ready for the final 800nm “sprint” to Singapore.
Richard Hewson blogs can be viewed at http://www.hewsonracing.com and yacht tracker viewed at http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com. Please
note that at the moment we are in “Stelth” mode and can not be viewed on the tracker until re-start.