Day 4 of Race 13 from Nova Scotia to Derry-Londonderry in the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race saw the infamous fog around the Grand Banks, Newfoundland in the North Atlantic hit the Clipper Race fleet.
Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race
The air is damp, skies are grey and visibility for most of the day has been less than 100 yards according to reports from the Clipper Race skippers. So while the teams are on full lookout to ensure they avoid any possible dangers ahead in low visibility, their eyes are also still on the weather reports defining their tactics.
Clipper Race Director, Jonathan Bailey, said, “The jet stream over the north Atlantic is a bit unstable at the moment which has kept the North Atlantic high further south than it historically would be at this time of year. Not only is this responsible for giving the UK some pretty poor weather over the last few weeks, it is also giving the Clipper Race yachts some challenging tactical decisions as they have had steady headwinds since departing Nova Scotia, rather than the more usual following winds that would be expected at this time of year. This has forced all of the yachts further south than they would probably wish and the navigators will be studying the weather closely to figure out when to make the move north.”
The Clipper Race fleet is around 400 miles from the optional Scoring Gate, which can give entries vital additional points as the end of the world’s longest ocean race comes closer.
“We will probably see most of the yachts tack towards the north to get to the Scoring Gate over the next 24 hours and it would not be surprising to see a few ‘Stealth Modes’ used to try to keep the other nine boats in the dark about tactics. When they tack will determine how successful they will be in the long run. What we are seeing on the race viewer now and what will occur over the next 24 hours will most likely be the major tactical moves of this race,” added Jonathan Bailey.
Currently in Race 13 Gold Coast Australia remains in the lead, Visit Finland in second and Welcome to Yorkshire in third.
