Team Finland sneaks ahead of Spirit of Australia in Clipper

Another day in the race to Qingdao and the relatively benign conditions 
persist. It will not be long, however, before the wind ramps up and the 
teams experience the harsh conditions that this race is renowned for. 
Spirit of Australia's skipper, Brendan Hall, realises that one advantage 
of the static conditions is that they allow his crew to rest and prepare 
themselves for the onslaught which potentially lies ahead. 

"Once the sails are trimmed, about the only person who has anything to 
do on deck is the helmsman who must have utter focus and concentration 
for the duration of their turn on the wheel," explains Brendan. "Ocean 
racing isn't all about heroic foredeck work and extreme helming at high 
speed." Although there will be plenty of that to come over the next 
week. 

The steady easterly winds are allowing all the teams to make good 
progress north towards the Scoring Gate off the southern tip of Taiwan. 

"If the weather forecast holds true we should be able to make the gate 
by keeping on the same tack all the way there and hopefully get at least 
one gate point, if not more," says Pete Stirling, skipper of Jamaica 
Lightning Bolt. "As well as the excellent sailing conditions we also 
have one knot of favourable current pushing us along. The temperature is 
at last cooling down to a more tolerable level so, all things 
considered, life is good on board. Everyone, however, is all too aware 
that conditions will probably change quite dramatically as we get north 
of Taiwan - at sea you nearly always have to pay for the good times!" 

Good times are also being had on board Team Finland with the Finnish 
entry's persistence in their hunting down of the Australian team finally 
paying off. 

"The day is beautiful, the sailing glorious and for the first time 
Spirit of Australia is behind us," says skipper, Rob McInally. "But that 
has just put the pressure on us to extend the lead. 

"The run to the gate and our positioning for the north easterly wind at 
the Luzon Strait is starting to be plotted and planned. The many 
variations that are possible with the wind from the southern tip of 
Taiwan up to Qingdao are still very much open to interpretation. 

"For now, with three of the fleet behind us, we must consolidate our 
position while making manoeuvres on the mid fleet pack in front." 

Team Finland has her sights firmly set on Jamaica Lightning Bolt, whilst 
further east Uniquely Singapore's attention is fully focused on 
overtaking Cape Breton Island and Hull & Humber.   

"We have had quite a few disappointing sets of results with Hull & 
Humber and Cape Breton Island taking miles out of us," explains the 
skipper of the Singaporean entry, Jim Dobie. "One of the hardest things 
in these races is to keep the momentum going when you haven't got a 
relatively close competitor. Although we are in a fairly strong position 
with the amount of east we have, we can't let that make us complacent 
and we need to work doubly hard to keep our speed up and make sure we 
keep on the best possible course." 

Edinburgh Inspiring Capital and California do not have this problem and 
continue to enjoy the close competition created by their proximity to 
each other with just four miles separating them on the west of the race 
course. 

However, in relation to the rest of the fleet, Qingdao, like Uniquely 
Singapore, is also alone, but has had company in another form over the 
past 24 hours. In his report to the race office today, skipper Chris 
Stanmore-Major explains that it has been a busy night on board and gives 
an insight into why by recounting some of his recent chat over the 
radio. 

"'Massive tanker, massive tanker, this is Qingdao, Qingdao, over.' 
' Yes, good evening sir, we are a 20-metre sailing vessel fine on your 
port bow, range five miles. Can you confirm you have us on radar, over?' 
'You do not?' 
'I am turning on my deck lights. Now can you see me?' 
'You can? Excellent. Good watch to you sir. Standing by on one, six.' 

"This happened again and again all night," says Chris. "But 
interestingly every single ship made a change in course for us and each 
watch officer bid us a good journey. 150,000 tons of steel giving way 
for our little Dragon who, compared to the monsters on the move out 
here, seems a small refuge indeed. 

"There is an air of expectancy aboard Qingdao and it is hard to equate 
the gentle north easterly blow we are experiencing now with the tempest 
to come."   

Knowing what lies ahead, Cape Breton Island is taking advantage of the 
favourable conditions to get the boat ready for the rough conditions in 
the East China Sea. 

Skipper Jan Ridd says, "We have been checking the seals on all the 
hatches and have also developed a system to seal the main hatchway to 
avoid too much water coming in.  We have also been checking stowage of 
all items to make sure there is nothing that can fly out and potentially 
cause injury. There is definitely a feeling of anticipation on board and 
we all feel we are enjoying the calm before the storm. Whatever the 
coming days bring we can be confident that we are prepared for the 
worst." 

Meanwhile, Hull & Humber's attention remains solely on the Scoring Gate 
as the team attempts to hold on to their lead and gain the maximum three 
points by being the first team to cross. 

"We're right on course for the gate which we'll hopefully reach in three 
or four days," says the team's skipper, Piers Dudin. "Last night was 
spent reefing in and out and changing between the Yankee One and Yankee 
Two and it's good to have Cape Breton Island high on the horizon keeping 
us on our toes." 

Positions at 1200 UTC, Monday 8 February 

Boat DTF* DTL* 
1 Hull & Humber 1594nm 
2 Cape Breton Island 1599nm 6nm 
3 Uniquely Singapore 1638nm 45nm 
4 Jamaica Lightning Bolt 1641nm 47nm 
5 Qingdao 1664nm 71nm 
6 Team Finland 1685nm 92nm 
7 Spirit of Australia 1689nm 96nm 
8 California 1707nm 114nm 
9 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital 1716nm 122nm