As you may or may not know, in the 2009-2010 Clipper Race we lost one of the ten strong fleet to the seas after the yacht came aground.
As a result of this, a new Yacht has been built to replace the boat lost to the seas. Its specification and look completely identical.
The ten-strong ocean racing fleet of the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race will start their circumnavigation this August and the replacement Clipper 68 is right on schedule to join the rest of the fleet in April.
Rob McInally, Clipper Construction Manager, who is overseeing the build in China, has sent this report.
The last week has seen the keel going on, the antifouling being finished, the rudder and radial drive being aligned and the negotiations with the shipping agents finalised.
Once the keel had been through its 14-day process of being epoxy primed painted and faired the anti foul was its final coat. The cradle was the extended in height to allow the yacht to sit on the cradle with the keel in place.
Before the supports that will hold the yacht during its 28-day voyage from Shanghai to Rotterdam were put in place the yacht was lowered onto the immaculately prepared keel bolts and the iron surface that fits snugly into the recess of the monolithic area of the hull. The 21 keel nuts are then torqued onto the 25m backing plates that will hold the keel in place.
Once the joining compound has gone off we are then ready to put the yacht into the water and start the system checks. Each system is checked, including the operation of the engine and generator, the fuel system that supports it and the fresh and salt water systems.
The bilge system is then checked for both the electric and manual system. Next the navigation system is checked, including the radar and GPS, before the last of the interior furnishings like bunk covers will be put in place. The yacht will be wrapped up and secured to its shipping cradle and the yacht and cradle lifted from the Double Happiness Shipyard onto a barge which will take it up the river to the waiting ship where yacht and cradle will be lifted from the barge onto the ship where the cradle will be welded to the deck.
Once it has arrived in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the boat will be delivered to Clipper’s Gosport HQ to be commissioned and join the other nine identical yachts that will take part in Clipper 11-12 later this year. The massive winter refit programme to ready the fleet for the rigours of the race ahead is very nearly complete and the last of the nine yachts will go back in the water in the middle of April.
Last night I took part in a one-off live event at Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds.
Lacey Turner, David Harewood and Andrew Gower starred in a spectacular live drama and music event - a contemporary interpretation of Mary Shelley's gothic horror story.
Victor Frankenstein married his childhood sweetheart Elizabeth Lavenza, all the while knowing that the creature he created and rejected has vowed to return on his wedding night.
There were 12,000 people gathered at Kirkstall Abbey to share the big day and join the couple in a unique mass flash mob dance.
Previous to the live event I had attended the dance workshop with my sister in law so that we could lead the audience in an en-mass synchronised dance - which took a few rehersals to say the least!
The whole audience was asked to arrive in full wedding dress - literally everybody did!
This is me (below) waiting to commence the first rehersal at about 5pm...
This is me and my sister in law just before the start...
This is the tank where the 'creature' - Frankenstein's creation - was brought to life...
The event was a fantastic experience, if a little cold, but was made even better by the fact that last night was the largest the moon has ever looked for almost two decades. This added to the drama that was Frankenstein's wedding.
I had to share this fantastic shot of the Hull and Humber boat from the previous race on it's approach to New York....wow!
The yacht sponsored by Singapore has it's sponsorship colours!
Haribo tangtastics. One to be taken every 20 mins while at sea.
Whilst testing this new seasickness 'tactic' the fellow Clipperite confirmed that she was 'only sick twice...and that was probably anxiety...But all my teeth fell out!'.
At this hard time encountered by those resident in Japan, my thoughts lie with you. The mind cannot even imagine the suffered and devastation caused. Something that this tragedy has brought home is the importance of teamwork and how working together we can achieve so much. It is inspiring to watch international rescue teams come together to help find survivors and recover victims.
Whilst the disaster has effectively temporarily frozen the world's third largest economy, I have no doubt that this incredibly vibrant country will rebuild itself in no time and achieve a recovery at an admirable rate.
It is no secret that the Japanese economy shrank at the end of last year and had been expected to return to growth in the second quarter of 2011. It is now expected that the economy will take longer than initially expected due to the devastating effect of the earthquake and tsunami.
There is absoluted a silver lining in the horrific events of the past few days. There is of course the worry that the tragedy could lead the economy down one of two paths. The first which will push the economy out of the downwards spiral allowing the economy to get back on track. The second pushing the economy down.
I myself, without doubt, see a silver lining to this and believe that the Japanese economy will recover.
Throughout the Clipper Race and including our training, crew members are lucky enough to experience sights rarely seen: perhaps dolphins in the Atlantic or an albatross in the Southern Ocean, but a nuclear submarine in the Solent must be a first!
Crew members on their Level 2 training were heading out for a regular day of rigorous exercises when they were passed by an American nuclear submarine.
USS Scranton arrived in Portsmouth for a nine-day visit just as one of the many Clipper Training courses was making their way out of the busy Portsmouth Harbour.
“I think I may have been told off because I was staring at it and perhaps not concentrating on my job at the time!” admits crew member, Chris Pateman-Jones.
“It was pretty spectacular seeing it; they’re much bigger than I thought they were. I’ve seen some of the Tridents before but only from a distance, then that one comes past and it’s huge! Obviously you can only see the top and not the full body, it’s massive,” continues Chris, who will race across the Pacific when he takes part in Leg 6 of Clipper 11-12.
The Scranton is 330 feet long currently carries a 110-strong crew and left Portsmouth earlier this week. The sight of a nuclear submarine is a rare sight even in Portsmouth Harbour with its rich naval history; a visit of a vessel of this type is only expected once every two years. So Chris and the rest of his training crew were very fortunate indeed.
17 February 2011 Weather wise we faced continuous high winds for all four days at sea ranging from a relatively benign Gale Force 8 up to a slightly more breezy Storm Force 10 with a top wind speed of 54 knots. The seas were mountainous!
It was pretty eventful as a training exercise. On our first night heading across the Channel towards France we tore the mainsail during a reefing mission so knew we would have to return to Gosport for a replacement to be picked up before we could continue.
Conditions at the time were SWF8 rising to SWF9 in a very lumpy cross sea which made the ride bumpy to say the least. This was probably why the 14 crew members were reduced to five still standing and not lying prone in their bunks with the dreaded mal de mer. Pleased to say that yours truly wasn't amongst the sickies.
Back at sea on day two we made for Cowes on the Isle of Wight and on Saturday (day three) the decision was made to sail into the Channel via the Needles passage at the western end of the island and head off into the Channel overnight sailing a lazy loop around the Isle of Wight anti-clockwise. This would give us a full day and night at sea. The wind settled into a pleasant SWF9 (about 40 knots or so) as we headed down the Solent and approached the Needles which as many will know are pinnacles of rock at the western tip of the Isle of Wight with a narrow channel between them and mainland England. The distance is about half a mile or so and we had to tack out against the wind.
Now, the tide was with us and giving us a four knot current to push us along but this is where the fun started. When tide meets wind coming the opposite way, as on this occasion, the two forces meet like the Persians and Spartans in an epic battle from Greek mythology. We, on Spirit of Australia were the Spartans and we had to break through the opposing army to get out into the open sea of the Channel. The "enemy" showed itself in the form of a wall of water stretching virtually the full width of the Needles channel with a breaking foaming crest along its length.
What happened next was sensational as we experienced virtually every white knuckle fairground ride imaginable (plus some more) only this fairground wasn't bolted down firmly. At one point two breaking converging waves about 20-foot high stopped us dead in our tracks which was like a train hitting the buffers. We were also completely airborne on a couple of occasions which gives one quite a jolt on landing. However, with much attendant squealing (not only from the ladies on board) and whooping we broke through the over falls of crashing water and into the open sea.
Over the next eight hours or so the wind increased in strength to a full Storm Force 10 with waves the size of houses. Spirit of Australia was flying only as much sail to cover a picnic table and still making 12 knots which is fairly exhilarating. Back in the tranquillity of Gosport we were granted a few hours to rest and feed before heading back out this time down the eastern side of the Isle of Wight for a full day and part of the night repeating many safety drills - chiefly man over board - relentlessly until our Skipper was satisfied with our performance. The wind had eased to SWF8-9 by this time. Comparatively settled conditions.
The entire crew achieved a great deal on this module and knowing little grins were quietly exchanged amongst us as we said our farewells. This is the stuff of Clipper, the reason why the race is unique and why long lasting friendships materialise. It wasn't a bad sail either...
More to come when Level 4 (the final training module before the race itself) takes place in June, prior to that is crew selection at the end of April when I’ll find out which yacht I’ll be sailing in the race and who my Skipper will be.
Another exciting moment during level three training was when we heard a noise that, I'm not going to lie, sounded like someone was letting rip....NO, it was only our MAIN SAIL! ahhhhhh! Handled by the Clipper gang with true professionalism upon our arrival back at the Royal Clarence Marina, the main sail was changed. From the previously matching Australia boat with corresponding Australia main sail, we then had a main sail taken from the Finland boat..now who said we weren't multi-international.
