Tactical gamble pays off: Spirit of Southampton extends lead to 13 miles

25 Apr 2003 13:53 GMT
1830 BST Update

James Allen will be delighted with his move south earlier in the day which has put him in the favourable position for the 20 knot south-east wind as the fleet approach Muckle Flugga, tthe most northerly point of the course.

Latest results shows Spirit of Southampton has extended its lead over LogicaCMG and BG Group both now 13 miles behind although the crews will not know this unti their evening chat show when their positions are exchanged on the radio.

The remaining five yachts are further north across a 27 mile spread from the Daily Telegraph to Spirit of Hong Kong / Team Spirit in equal seventh position.

It is going to be a cold and bumpy ride over the coming hours with winds predicted to veer further south just at the time the yachts are likely to be heading south.

The wind shift might provide some restbite for the back markers making the final miles to Muckle Flugga off the wind and therefore faster - closing the gap to the leaders...

But it will be the next poll that will tell us more as this fascinating drama continues to unfold.

UPDATE 16.34 - What happened to the race viewer?? - Unfortunately the race viewer got so excited when it saw the latest set of polls that it collapsed in a heap on the floor.

So bear with us while we try some first aid….the results from 14:00 BST were as follows with the miles behind the leader in brackets:

Spirit of Southampton, LogicaCMG(+5), BG Group(+8), Daily Telegraph(+16), Vail Williams(+26), Basilica (+38) Team Spirit & Spirit of Hong Kong (+40), Basilica (+43)

As soon as the race viewer has recovered and its pulse reduced to normal, we will attempt poll the yachts to give you an update position before “going home time”. Please bear with us...
Ed)

And now back to the story

The audacious inside line gamble from Spirit of Southampton has proved a cunning plan as they charge into a five-mile lead over second place LogicaCMG. The latest poll has, once again, revealed dramatic changes on the leaderboard.

Daily Telegraph and Vail Williams have swapped places. The tail end of the fleet is now tightly packed, with the last three boats occupying just three miles of water and another head to head battle is underway, this time between Spirit of Hong Kong and Team Spirit who lie exactly the same distance from the lead boat.

The fleet is approaching the turning point at Muckle Flugga, which marks the start of the ‘homeward leg’ as boats head south for the first time. Clive Cosby, skipper of BG Group is clearly keen to stamp his authority on the race at this pivotal point: “We’re very determined to be first round Muckle Flugga.” Describing the navigational difficulties that Muckle Flugga will present he continued:

“There’s some strong tides and an exposed headland, it’s like a northern Cape Horn! We will literally turn the corner and head for home.”

Present conditions have become “colder and wetter over the past few days, a bit miserable and there could be gales in a day or so.” A sentiment repeated by Mark Taylor, skipper of Team Spirit: “there’s lots of water coming over the deck, and very cold water at that, and a bitterly cold wind.”

Spirit of Hong Kong reported “waves breaking over the bow” and BG Group believes the “forecast looks like the banging and crashing will continue.”

These conditions are obviously affecting the Crew Volunteers, some of whom may have never experienced similar circumstances. Mark Taylor says “the crew are finding the conditions very tiring and they’re getting very wet and cold out on deck.”

LogicaCMG have revealed “food was not at the top of the agenda today” with several of the crew “unable to keep much food down” resulting in one unfortunate Crew Volunteer “turning green!”

Dan McAvoy, of The Daily Telegraph, described the sensation of racing aboard a Challenge yacht: “it’s like being in a washing machine except the water is on the outside!” Fellow Crew Volunteer Richard Stringfellow did not believe “it would be so isolated, with such little communication.”

Nevertheless, the race itself becomes more exciting with each day as the distance between the first and last placed boats continues to shrink, competiton is intensifying and spirits remain high across the fleet. Mark Taylor’s crew are “enjoying life and enjoying the trip”. John Farndell said the Spirit of Southampton crew “have a fantastic approach to life on board with much humorous banter keeping spirits up through the wet and cold.”

The reasons behind some of the recent tactical decisions, which have shaped the leaderboard, were explained today.

After losing sight of LogicaCMG and BG Group at 22:00 last night, Spirit of Southampton “tacked inshore… and made a move east. After four hours we tacked back again, and are now making good progress towards our most northerly waypoint, Muckle Flugga.”

An unusual move for a leading boat, John Farndell explained in their daily log today that they are now “20 miles further to the south-east. This puts us well upwind of them, and also on the inside line. This afternoon’s poll has clearly vindicated their unorthodox decision.

Clive Cosby, skipper of BG Group explained via satellite phone this afternoon that they “headed up north east and were hoping the wind would go that way but it didn’t, it went south east so we lost out. We lost about 10 miles to LogicaCMG and Spirit of Southampton but we’ve got one of them back now and we’re going to keep pushing hard, we think we’ve made up some ground.” The tactical gamble may not have paid instant dividends but BG Group are currently in third place and applying pressure on LogicaCMG just three miles ahead.

With the tidal effect of being close to land, and the sharp turn to be made tonight, positions on the leaderboard are far from safe.

Dan Wedgwood - www.roundbritainchallenge.com