| At sea & Singapore. Clipper Race: Cardiff becalmed and retires from Race 5 |
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| Friday, 13 January 2006 | |
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Russ Jefferys: Overnight Conor Fogerty, skipper of the Welsh team Cardiff, made the decision for his team to retire from this race after becoming becalmed some 82 miles from the finish line. They have fought admirably to catch up with the rest of the fleet after returning to Fremantle with rudder damage early on in the race. However as the finish neared and the winds dropped, the decision was made to cut their losses and motor on to catch up with the rest of the fleet who are now motoring on towards Singapore. Below, Conor explains his decision: “The decision to retire was a hard one to make, but there are some underlying factors that our followers might not know. 1) 10th place = 1 point, retirement = 1 point, there is no penalty for retiring from 10th. 2) "Cardiff" is in "no wind", the final distance of 82 miles would have been a real struggle, taking up to another 48hrs to complete the course 3) Clipper head office where VERY keen for us to retire due to security concerns whilst transiting Indonesia, All yachts are to travel in company through the notorious Indonesia waters. 4) Personally, I believe that my crew have worked so hard to close up the 513 mile distance to 82 miles before the last boat finished, I believe this to be an amazing feat, if the race had not been cut short I'm sure Cardiff would have upset the finishing sequence, and to now sit flopping around watching our great comeback diminish would be hot, frustrating and soul destroying. I believe [that] light winds is our optimum sailing, we have proved this several times in the past. I want the crew to mentally be on a high for the next leg, [which will be] more than likely light winds [again]. Cardiff will be at the front again. I want the sense of achievement from this leg to motivate us, I felt that we could loose that if [we were] left to wallow around in windless waters. The hardest part of it all for the crew and me is thinking we let down our friends, family and support back at home by the retirement: a few words of encouragement can really spur the crew on. Finally, this retirement can be looked at in many different ways [but] for "Cardiff" this is a tactical move in a very long race.” Reports of madness in intense Indian Ocean heat: The Latest Diary from Cardiff: ‘Watch the Birdie’ A week after leaving Fremantle for the second time, the weather is abominably hot. On deck it is blistering, and your feet burn on the deck; one crewmember is appointed to slosh a bucket of seawater round the helmsman’s feet at regular intervals. Below decks it is worse, like a sauna from which you cannot escape. There is evidence that the heat is beginning to soften our brains. A number of activities have been devised to pass the time: there have been fiercely fought games of backgammon and draughts, and more than one person has taken down the Pictionary box and looked at it longingly. But there have also been crazier games. Yesterday a small baking tray was brought on deck and left in the sun till it was searing to the touch. Then, while the video camera rolled, Matt produced an egg and explained to an audience agape with expectation that he was going to fry it on the sun-warmed tray. The egg was cracked into the pan; the crew craned forward; the camera recorded the historic moment. But, alas, all that happened was that the egg sloshed around slimily in the pan for a few minutes before being thrown overboard. But this was just the beginning of the lunacy. There are certain events which I am honour-bound not to report, but I am permitted to disclose others. Towards sunset (one of those spectacular wide-sky chromatic sunsets which we have enjoyed recently) the helmswoman managed to take off an item of lingerie using only one hand, without any adverse impact on either her dignity or her course made good. She then handed said item to a fellow crewmember and asked him to put it on her bunk. Five minutes later it was flying from the port signal halyard. There was some debate as to whether this had improved our boat speed and if so whether this was legal within the rules of the Clipper race. As darkness closed in a large seabird came to settle on the top of the mast. Perched on the tricolour with the lights shining on it, it became an exotic tropical creature with a bright red beak to port and a bright green tail to starboard. It posed a problem, not just because we are uninsured for additional passengers, but also because guano can damage our precious sails. A few ways of shooing the creature away were discussed, and I believe Derek even started making a catapult, but in the end we decided that the only sure way would be to sweat someone up to the top of the mast armed with a broom. Once again the video camera recorded the event for posterity as Paddy was swayed slowly, oh so slowly up. Once within a broom-length of the bird he made his lunge. Eeeeeeaaaak! Screamed the bird. Aaaaaargh! Screamed Paddy as it flew at his head. So we brought him down, while the bird circled overhead. As soon as Paddy’s feet hit the deck the bird came back and settled once more on the masthead. The next assault on the bird was by Matt, with similar results. It was obviously not worth sending people up and down all night, so we gave up. Later the bird’s mate came and sat on the Windex, and from time to time they cackled. In the morning they flew off without saying thank you. It is too soon to tell whether the events described here really happened or were part of a heat-induced mass hysteria. Either way, there is little sign of sanity returning. I have just seen the alarming sight of Tony the Dentist striding up the companionway with latex gloves and some pointy metal things. And in the galley is a large plastic jar labelled – ominously – Neptune Juice. What this is for may well be the subject of a future diary< Current positions 0500 GMT: Team 1. Durban FINISHED 2. westernaustralia.com FINISHED 3. New York FINISHED 4. Victoria FINISHED 4. Liverpool 08 FINISHED 6. Uniquely Singapore FINISHED 7. Qingdao FINISHED 8. Jersey FINISHED 9. Glasgow FINISHED 10. Cardiff FINISHED www.clipper-ventures.co.uk |
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