Race 8 Day 12: Light winds continue to threaten OneDLL’s lead in Race 8

It’s been a night of mixed fortunes for the Clipper Race fleet; with OneDLL’s 20 mile lead slipping away overnight and Derry~Londonderry~Doire and Old Pulteney remaining neck and neck as the pursuit of the Dutch entry and that all important first place continues.

After being almost becalmed by a dreaded wind hole OneDLL had no choice but to watch as Derry~Londonderry~Doire and Old Pulteney closed in on its lead. Skipper of OneDLL, Olly Cotterell, shared his frustration of the past 24 hours. 

“The problem with wind holes is you have no wind to move out of them! So our worst run so far has been 8 miles in 12 hours! We head for squalls when we can and we use the little wind there is with our trusty windseeker to keep the boat going. Most of the fleet seems to be playing a similar tactic weaving up the coast and judging the benefits of supposed increased wind and increased opposing current offshore.”

While the majority of the fleet battle onto the next waypoint via an inshore route, GREAT Britain and Switzerland continue to head further offshore in a bid capture some much needed wind. Skipper of the Swiss entry Vicky Ellis, is keeping her cards close to her chest but hopes this tactical decision will pay off.

“So, never mind all that squall stuff, what you really want to know is where we are going? Have we lost our compass down the back of the chart table?  Have the squalls thrown us off our course? Are we off to do a sail by of the beautiful coral atoll of Hermit Island? Was the coast and its currents, logs and fluky winds getting us down?  Well it's a bit of all of the above; you will just have to watch this space!”

PSP Logistics and Henri Lloyd thrashed it out for fourth place amidst yet another heavy squall last night, as skipper of PSP Logistics Chris Hollis could only watch on in awe as there was ‘absolutely nothing we could do to stop the terminator-like onslaught on Eric Holden and his team.’

While Jamaica Get All Right has overtaken Qingdao in the last 24 hours making up valuable ground on the rest of the fleet, Team Garmin will be relying on luck and a toss of the coin to decide its next move. 

To keep an eye on the fleets progress and to view the Official Race Viewer click here

To read all the skipper reports click here