Geraldton Western Australia first Clipper boat to arrive in China

The first teams to complete Race 8 of the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race, have arrived in Qingdao, China, to a hero’s welcome.

 

Line honours were taken by Geraldton Western Australia who crossed the line at 2328 UTC on Tuesday 21 February. They were followed by De Lage Landen just 23 minutes later at 2351 UTC. However, because the Race Committee granted a request from De Lage Landen for redress after suspending racing to assist Gold Coast Australia during a medical emergency, their adjusted elapsed race time was six hours 37 minutes shorter than that of Geraldton Western Australia.

 

Gold Coast Australia will receive no compensation for the delay during the medevac of two injured crew members and the crew put on a valiant effort to stay on the podium and clawed their way back third place, crossing the finish line at 0143 UTC today.

 

The fourth and final boat to arrive in Qingdao today was Singapore, the crew still jubilant from winning the Race 8 Ocean Sprint.

 

The teams were greeted at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center with a specular ceremony including fireworks, drums and dozens of Chinese and international media who all fought to get pictures and interviews with the first Clipper Race crews to arrive in China’s ‘sailing city’.

 

The crew were formally welcomed to the city by Wang Xiulin, Vice Mayor of Qingdao Municipal People’s Government. He said, “Battling treacherous waves and ferocious winds in this grim winter, you have successfully finished this harsh leg with your strong will, outstanding courage and professional sailing prowess. This remarkable feat allows the Qingdao citizens to once again experience this splendid world-class sailing event.”

 

As De Lage Landen skipper, Stuart Jackson, stepped onto the pontoon in Qingdao after 18 days at sea in some of the most challenging conditions they will face during the 40,000-mile circumnavigation, he said, “I’m incredibly proud of all the crew, they’ve worked so hard, culminating in this victory in the race from Singapore to Qingdao. What a stunning welcome by the hundreds of Qingdao people in the marina. We couldn’t have hoped for a better arrival celebrating our first win.”

 

The teams were surrounded by dragon dancers whose performance demonstrated the respect the people of Qingdao have for the crews. Gifts of flowers, hats and scarves were given to the crew and the skipper was draped in a yellow cape, which symbolises nobility; in ancient China it was only worn when emperors and generals returned victorious from battle fields.

 

Geraldton Western Australia’s second place is the team’s best result in Clipper 11-12.

 

With a third place in the last stage and line honours and second place in this one, the crew are really beginning to show their potential. This result is likely to shoot them two places up the leader board to sixth overall.

 

“Hard work and patience have paid off for us,” says Juan Coetzer, the skipper. “Sailing towards the finish line this morning was rather strange, as there were no fishing vessels in sight. De Lage Landen was hot on our heels all the way, but we managed to beat them for line honours. Well done to them as they still pushed hard even though they had received redress for assisting with Gold Coast Australia. It is great to have arrived, and I can’t wait for that rewarding ice cold beer. Well done crew of Geraldton Western Australia!”

 

Gold Coast Australia’s third place finish is no less remarkable.

 

After diverting to Taiwan to evacuate two injured crew members – who are now well on the road to recovery – the team resumed racing in fifth place and, under cover of Stealth Mode, remarkably closed a gap of 40 miles on the leading trio, including Singapore. When Singapore fell into a wind hole, Gold Coast Australia pulled away from them, relegating them to fourth place.

 

The Queensland yacht crossed the finish line two hours after their Western Australian rivals to claim third place.

 

“After such a demanding race that ended so dramatically for two of our crew members I am immensely proud of the Gold Coast Australia crew for fighting our way back to the podium to take third place. This is one of our most memorable victories,” says skipper, Richard Hewson.

 

Nick Woodward, one of the medevac’d crew arrived in Qingdao in time to meet the team and take his place with them on the podium.  Tim Burgess, who broke his leg, has now been discharged from hospital after surgery and is following the race as he recovers in Taiwan.

 

Singapore, who won the Ocean Sprint and who were pushing hard for a place on the podium in Qingdao, can take solace from the fact that the result moves them up to fourth place overall, the best position the Singapore yacht has held in the four editions of the race in which they have taken part. It is that success that skipper, Ben Bowley, and his team are focusing on.

 

“The arrival has been absolutely crazy. It has a lot of colour and vibrancy and it’s a great introduction to the spirit of the Chinese people,” he says.

 

“We have had an excellent race from a boat speed and tactics point of view. The crew has done a superb job and nobody hurt themselves, which was our main objective when we left – getting the boat and crew here in one piece. The fantastic send-off from Marina at Keppel Bay in Singapore certainly set us up really well for this quite tough leg and we managed to protect both the crew and the boat and bag a fourth place, win the Ocean Sprint and move one place up in the league table, so I’m absolutely ecstatic!

 

Singapore is the last arrival in port today, however Visit Finland and Derry-Londonderry have both finished Race 8 in fifth and sixth place respectively and will wait overnight for their own spectacular welcome ceremonies on Thursday.

 

Visit Finland won the cat and mouse contest and crossed the finish line at 0834 UTC having ghosted along in the last 30 miles flying their spinnaker.  

 

Skipper, Olly Osborne, said, “It has been a real race of extremes, from the equatorial heat, beating into a gale up the Taiwanese coast and now, finally, the eerie stillness of this cold spring day in the Yellow Sea.

 

“We have not finished far ahead of the Derry-Londonderry team who have been a close competitor during the last week and I am looking forward to meeting up with them.  We will be making the pilotage into Qingdao Gang overnight, and then will make fast lines in the morning to what I am sure will be a fantastic reception, and a very welcome break for the crew.”

 

Less than two hours later at 1015 UTC it was the turn of the Northern Ireland entry to celebrate their arrival at the end of Race 8.

 

Skipper Mark Light, said, “Happy days! This has been a very challenging tactical race with plenty of extreme weather from both ends of the spectrum and we are all looking forward to getting to dry land and very cold beers!”

 

New York is also very close to crossing the finish line, intent on beating their close competitors in this race, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital. They will join Visit Finland and Derry-Londonderry to await their welcome tomorrow.

 

“Plans are in full swing and everyone is talking about getting into port for the famous welcome Qingdao has to offer,” says Gareth Glover, the New York skipper. “Well done to De Lage Landen, Geraldton Western Australia and Gold Coast Australia on their podium positions. The crew of New York put in a good race and there is talk already about the next leg where we are going to race hard as always.”

 

The weather in the final approaches to Qingdao has not been particularly inspiring.

 

“The wind is fairly consistent from the south east with around 15 knots of true but the visibility is severely reduced in the cold drizzle as the temperature outside continues to drop. We’re keeping a close eye on deck and on our AIS and radar system,” says Gordon Reid, skipper of Edinburgh Inspiring Capital.

 

“We are putting the final parts of our stopover plan together, including the deep clean, our maintenance and boat job list, as well as our corporate commitments. It's all shaping up to be fairly busy but we will hopefully have time to take in the sights and enjoy the hospitality of the people of Qingdao.

 

“On reflection, the crew have worked hard during the past 19 days in some fairly extreme conditions and should be proud of their level of commitment and focus, something to carry forward to the next race and beyond.”

 

Welcome to Yorkshire and the home team, Qingdao, have been frustrated by being becalmed for the last 24 hours and more.

 

“We've been bobbing around in light winds and rain, north east of Shanghai, for ages now. There's more to come too, before the winds back round to the north and the final upwind slog begins,” reports Rupert Dean.

 

“Our tactic to put Welcome to Yorkshire east of the fleet to avoid the worst of the light airs and make up some miles, hasn't produced the desired results, but at least we've managed to pull back level with Qingdao. We now have a close race between us fighting for ninth place!

 

“Last night was a particularly gruelling one. Frustrating light winds, constant cold drizzle and heavy fishing boat traffic made for a long hard night. Spirits remain high though and, it was a fascinating psychedelic experience to thread our way through miles of netting, marked by lit buoys of all different colours.

 

“It'll be very cold when the northerly headwinds kick in. Ominously large swells preceding these are already appearing. Needless to say we're all looking forward to the welcome waiting for us in Qingdao where, according to our onshore sources, the city is rolling out the red carpet for us. The ceremonies and special events will be a real treat, so we will be doing our very best to express our gratitude. Utmost in our minds though, after what we're about to sail through, will be hot showers, comfy beds, good food and regaining some personal space. We can't wait. Bring on those headwinds!”

 

It sounds as though the headwinds will also be welcome on board Qingdao where, after being overtaken by Welcome to Yorkshire as they wallowed around in the light and fickle winds, they were able to hoist the lightweight kite. But not for long.

 

Skipper Ian Conchie explains, “This morning the wind started to move south allowing us to hoist our lightweight kite which gave us some good speed for a while but unfortunately over lunch two of the seams gave way for no apparent reason and the kite came fluttering down.  All we can assume is that it popped due to the rolling of the boat.  This is now a huge job for our sail repair expert, Dave (Hall). First we have to dry the material before we can start sticking it back together and then sewing it. We can only hope it has been worth the effort in our battle with Welcome to Yorkshire!”

 

 

Positions at 1500 UTC, Wednesday 22 February 

 

Boat                                                       DTF*

1 De Lage Landen                             Finished 1651 21 February (elapsed time adjusted for redress)

2 Geraldton Western Australia   Finished 2328 21 February

3 Gold Coast Australia                    Finished 0143 22 February

4 Singapore                                        Finished 0427 22 February

5 Visit Finland                                    Finished 0834 22 February

6 Derry-Londonderry                     Finished 1015 22 February

7 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital       0nm (DTL** +0nm)

8 New York                                         0nm (+0nm)

9 Welcome to Yorkshire                236nm (+236nm)

10 Qingdao                                         258nm (+258nm)

 

*DTF = Distance to Finish, **DTL = Distance to Leader

Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.