flaming
Well-Known Member
Oh I do! Which is why I'm not there....
Clipper Race.
- Thread starter capnsensible
- Start date
capnsensible
Well-Known Member
It helps if you are under 50
flaming
Well-Known Member
I am... By a margin....!It helps if you are under 50
dunedin
Well-Known Member
Perhaps why the Challenge Business folded many years ago but Clipper is still running. Can't sail unless the business keeps going.
Rappey
Well-Known Member
Surely they are not that slow ?
The third generation of one-design Clipper Race yachts debuted in the Clipper 2013-14 Race, proving to be faster and more dynamic than previous Clipper Race yachts, breaking speed records of 35 knots
The third generation of one-design Clipper Race yachts debuted in the Clipper 2013-14 Race, proving to be faster and more dynamic than previous Clipper Race yachts, breaking speed records of 35 knots
flaming
Well-Known Member
Must have been a really big wave to get one to 35 knots!
RunAgroundHard
Well-Known Member
... and they will be stopping in Oban next year. I will look forward to that.
Birdseye
Well-Known Member
I sailed on one of the BS challenge boats albeit just in uk waters and was amazed that Chay had specified no protection for the helm. So in poor weather like say the southern ocean, they had 2 crew standing in front of the helm with backs to the weather just to provide some shelter! Idiocy.
Cant remember whether it was one of these boats or the next gen of Challenge boats that Robin K-J used to sail single handed round the world. Aged 70 I believe. Puts my feeble efforts at single handing into proportion.
flaming
Well-Known Member
Neither. He sailed an IMOCA.
Both Mike Golding and Dee Cafari sailed challenge boats round the world solo the wrong way.
And both have sailed IMOCAs the other way….
capnsensible
Well-Known Member
Have you seen the pics on their website? Still very open helm positions but stout rails and nets to stop helm from getting washed away.
Before the 2017 one I happened to be on a yacht in Cowes and a friend of mine rocked up on one. He was training the coxswains who would take over if the skipper had a snag. Really put them through the wringer btw. Net result got an invite round and I was suitably impressed with the bomb proof approach. They really are designed and built with one aim in mind. Adventure racing in tough conditions with toughened up crews. They are gonna get wet....
capnsensible
Well-Known Member
Leg 1 race shortened to wherever each yacht is at 1200 utc today. Makes sense with the very light winds they are getting into now and forecast for days.
So motor to Puerto Sherry. Good decision.
It's an OK marina but a long walk to the nearest lager dispenser.
So motor to Puerto Sherry. Good decision.
It's an OK marina but a long walk to the nearest lager dispenser.
Wansworth
Well-Known Member
But isn’t that part of the “expierience”?…..motortrhough the boring bits and the doldrums
Wansworth
Well-Known Member
And pay for it
capnsensible
Well-Known Member
The first leg I suppose is a short shakedown race. Reckon they got to get to Puerto Sherry in order to make the start date of 15th September to Uruguay. No shortening that one! Just unusual winds for the first hop.
Wansworth
Well-Known Member
I have to admit I really am not interested in team games and even singlehanded racing is becoming almost common place for the spectator,obviously not for the competiré,I believe anothe race is starting soon from Coruna,I wonder what the sponsors get out of it and how they measure the effect of their investment
ss2016
Well-Known Member
Having helmed one at up to 25Kts I have a few comments:
a) It is an obscenely commercial organisation.
b) As a crew member one is far less concerned about speed than strength when it blows
c) With crew food fuel water they probably weigh close to 40 tonnes.
d) they are designed for reaching, not upwind, so round the island is not a fair comparison, but then many of the round the island boats probably have not tried the S Atlantic or worse the N Pacific in winter.
a) It is an obscenely commercial organisation.
b) As a crew member one is far less concerned about speed than strength when it blows
c) With crew food fuel water they probably weigh close to 40 tonnes.
d) they are designed for reaching, not upwind, so round the island is not a fair comparison, but then many of the round the island boats probably have not tried the S Atlantic or worse the N Pacific in winter.
flaming
Well-Known Member
The “designed to reach” argument would hold a lot more water if it wasn’t for the fact that fleets of boats less than half their size put distance on them on every leg across a range of wind angles…Arguably we put more of the total time on them on the off the wind legs than the beat.
And absolutely true that in the southern ocean I would rather be on a clipper boat than my boat…
Doesn’t change the fact that they are very slow for their size.
And also doesn’t make them unsuitable for their designed purpose.
flaming
Well-Known Member
Just because I was a little bored....
On this year's RTI, a race sailed in pretty fresh conditions, the timings from the tracker of us vs the clipper fleet are...
Clipper start 0800.
Our start 0840
At the needles, we are alongside the lead clipper at 1040. So in 2 hours of upwind sailing we have taken 40 minutes out of them. Or 33% better VMG.
We pass Bembridge at 1425. so call it 3 hours 25 min later.
The lead clipper passes Bembridge at 1536. So we have put 1 hour and 11 minutes on them in 3 hours 25 of sailing, give or take. or 34% better VMG. In fresh downwind sailing.
We reach the finish at 1642. 2 hours 20ish from Bembridge
The lead clipper reaches the finish at 1845. circa 3 hours and 10 minutes from Bembridge.
So we've gained a further 1 hour 10 in upwind conditions.
But that leg was a lot more tidal, and they were not in the shallows like we were. But the % gains upwind and downwind from the start to Bembridge were very even.
What's perhaps even more interesting is that in the clipper fleet, it was one of the older 68s that was first home....
On this year's RTI, a race sailed in pretty fresh conditions, the timings from the tracker of us vs the clipper fleet are...
Clipper start 0800.
Our start 0840
At the needles, we are alongside the lead clipper at 1040. So in 2 hours of upwind sailing we have taken 40 minutes out of them. Or 33% better VMG.
We pass Bembridge at 1425. so call it 3 hours 25 min later.
The lead clipper passes Bembridge at 1536. So we have put 1 hour and 11 minutes on them in 3 hours 25 of sailing, give or take. or 34% better VMG. In fresh downwind sailing.
We reach the finish at 1642. 2 hours 20ish from Bembridge
The lead clipper reaches the finish at 1845. circa 3 hours and 10 minutes from Bembridge.
So we've gained a further 1 hour 10 in upwind conditions.
But that leg was a lot more tidal, and they were not in the shallows like we were. But the % gains upwind and downwind from the start to Bembridge were very even.
What's perhaps even more interesting is that in the clipper fleet, it was one of the older 68s that was first home....
RunAgroundHard
Well-Known Member
How old is the fleet, how long do the Clipper boats last before being sold onwards? Perhaps their commercial model values longevity, repeat use and resale, rather than the value eroding stresses associated with a higher performance orientated hull.
flaming
Well-Known Member
Yes, absolutely. And clearly they have a model that works for them.
It's pretty hard to get interested in a RTW race where the crews are paying for the privilege and the boats are demonstrably considerably slower than mine, And then they do things like stop a leg in the middle of the ocean because it got a bit light.
For a RTW race in "not the latest tech" boats the OGR is a lot more interesting I think.
