Race 9 Day 13: A sombre day across the fleet

There is a sombre mood across the Clipper Race fleet today with Skippers reflecting on the tragedy aboard IchorCoal in their reports as they head east to Seattle.

Speaking on the loss of round the world crew member Sarah Young, Wendy Tuck, Skipper of the Da Nang -Viet Nam team, said sailing across oceans is one of the earth’s last wild frontiers.

“Its times like these that we think of all our loved ones and realise how far away we are, and what a remote planet we still live on.

“We never tame or conquer an ocean, we just inhibit it for a while, and hope to have a safe passage. It is this wildness and the challenge to ourselves that makes us put on our foulies and set off, for what we hope is the adventure of a lifetime. Fate is an unkind bird sometimes, so we must live and love for now,” Wendo added.

GREAT Britain Skipper Peter Thornton wrote: “Extremely sad news about Sarah and we are all quite shocked and suddenly acutely aware of where and what we are in this world.

“I cannot imagine what IchorCoal and her family are going through right now so our thoughts are with all who knew and loved Sarah.”

Thank you to everyone who has sent messages of condolence and support for Sarah’s family, friends, crew, the fleet and Clipper Race team.

Across the fleet, the conditions have been very testing over the last 24 hours, with high winds, a nasty sea state and very cold temperatures.

Derry~Londonderry~Doire is the new race leader, 19.39 nautical miles ahead of former race leader Unicef, now in second, with ClipperTelemed+ in third.

Dan Smith, Skipper of Derry~Londonderry~Doire, said: “The sailing has been very hard over the last 24 hours with wind shifts and squalls through the night which the crew dealt with well. During the morning watch change after helping them wrestle the Yankee 1 to the deck I had the sad job of telling them about the tragic news on board IchorCoal that I had just heard about.

“Our team were devastated and our thoughts go out to Sarah's family, friends, crew on board IchorCoal, Darren the skipper and the rest of the Clipper Race team. We wish the yacht fair winds to Seattle, we will see you there.

“Mother Nature continued to throw distractions at us which have failed to take our mind off the news, but I am sure that our stories are similar to the 11 other Clipper 70 yachts which have probably experienced the same 50 knot winds with 60 knot gusts and who struggle onwards to Seattle.”

For the latest positions, see the Race Viewer here.

*All positions correct as of 0900 UTC

Further updates from IchorCoal will be shared on the homepage.