Victorious Spirit of Australia crew arrives in Panama - 10 May 2010
The ecstatic crew of Spirit of Australia have arrived in Panama following their victory in Race 8 of the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race. The team led for much of the way but were pushed every inch of the 3,300-mile course by fellow competitors, Team Finland, Qingdao and Jamaica Lightning Bolt, who did not make it easy for them.
Spraying the traditional winner’s bottle of his champagne over his exhausted crew Queenslander, Brendan Hall, said, “That was a fantastic race, mainly because the whole fleet was pushing hard. It was very technical; we had some heavy weather coming out of San Francisco and then the light stuff and all the challenges that come along with that – social and technical. We’ve done pretty well.”
In addition to the ten points for winning the race from San Francisco, Spirit of Australia also picked up three points as the first team to cross the Scoring Gate. Despite two previous podium-topping finishes it is the first time they have netted the maximum haul of 13 points.
Skipper Brendan said, “We saw that it could be done – Cape Breton Island did it coming across the Pacific – so we made that our goal, we aimed very high and we pushed hard and got it in the end. We’re delighted.”
The result puts them 15 points clear of closest rivals, Jamaica Lightning Bolt, at the top of the overall leader board. There are six more individual races remaining in the Clipper 09-10 campaign, so will the Aussies be resting on their laurels?
“Absolutely not, no way!” exclaimed Brendan. “The fortunes in this race can turn in a split second as we’ve seen with Team Finland and California. All it takes is for a rig failure to essentially get zero points for a race and we’d be back with everybody else again, so no way are we going to rest on our laurels. We take the same conservative but hard sailing approach. Our goal from here on in is to get consistent podiums. We’re not necessarily aiming for the top spot but we’re aiming to protect our lead and as long as we can do that we stand a very good shot at standing on the top of the podium in Hull.”
Sporting a fine, Central American-style set of whiskers, round the world crew member Michael Hanssen from Perth, WA, said, “It was very close. When the finish line was moved we were a little bit taken back by it but once we got our heads around where it was we had to work double hard to try and make some big miles back.”
Ocean racing is one of the few sports where men and women can compete on a level playing field and the crew balance on board Spirit of Australia shifted in favour of the fairer sex for this race.
Michael explained, “We haven’t had this many girls on board before so going into this race it was very different; it was a lot less testosterone-charged. I think this was my favourite leg so far overall. The crew worked and gelled so much better together. There’s not necessarily an ego on board when it’s mainly guys but it tends to be a bit rude and blunt, so to speak. But you’ve always got to be nice to the ladies!” he grinned.
One of those ladies is Cork crew member, Sarah Boyle, who has been racing with Spirit of Australia since the Irish yacht grounded in the Java Sea in Race 5. She will leave the Aussie boat in Panama to rejoin her team for Race 9 to Jamaica.
“I can’t wait to sail with them again,” she said. “I got on really well with them before and we’re still close so I can’t wait to get back with them. I’ve had a great time on Spirit of Australia, too, but it will be great to get back with everyone on Cork and catch up on all the stories. I only get four days on the new boat which is kind of sad but it will still be worth it to catch up for those four days.”
Sarah will leave the race in Jamaica but will be on the quayside in Kinsale when the yachts arrive at the beginning of July for the Irish stopover after their final transatlantic crossing.
“I live in Cork so I’ll be there waiting for everyone to come in – I can’t wait, it’s going to be brilliant!”
Details of the Cork Clipper Festival will be unveiled towards the end of this month when the exciting programme for the eight-day stopover in Kinsale and Cork will be revealed.
After completing immigration formalities Brendan and his team must now wait for the go-ahead to pass under the imposing Bridge of the Americas and begin their transit of the Panama Canal, one of the great engineering achievements of the modern world. Forty-eight miles long, the canal rises to 28 metres above sea level through a series of huge locks. As the 68-foot long ocean racing yachts pass through they are likely to be dwarfed by a tanker, cargo ship or cruise liner in the neighbouring set of locks.
As the gates close on the Pacific Ocean it is a time for reflection, particularly the round the world crew members, who will begin to get a sense that a major part of their journey has come to an end, and when the massive steel gates open into the Caribbean they are beginning their journey home. Of course, with six individual races still to come there is plenty of action left in this edition of the contest which is raced by people like you.
At the Caribbean end of the Canal Spirit of Australia will join Cork in Shelter Bay Marina as she undergoes final preparations to rejoin Clipper 09-10. The crews will wait for the other teams before setting off for the Race 9 start line and the 591-mile sprint upwind to Port Antonio on the on the north coast of Jamaica.
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