Cape Breton Island Clipper in tight race to finish line

Oct. 19, 2009 - PRLog -- Cape Breton Island – Nova Scotia’s Masterpiece is in a four-way race with Spirit of Australia, Jamaica Lightning Bolt and Cork for second place in the La Rochelle to Rio de Janeiro leg of the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race.

However, the area off the coast of Brazil has turned into a parking lot for the leading pack today. As the teams try to eek out every bit of power from the rapidly diminishing wind, frustration is palpable amongst the skippers.

Cape Breton Island has emerged from Stealth Mode, a 24-hour option to be removed from the tracking view of the rest of the fleet. Their cloaking card has worked, sneaking ahead of Jamaica Lightning Bolt into third place. The team's skipper, Jan Ridd, is
relieved, having spent the past 24-hours struggling in the same light winds as the front runners. Today, however, things seem to be looking up for Canada’s entry.

"Well we have eventually found a decent breeze," explains Jan. "We're currently sailing towards the finish at a half decent rate, which is nice after spending Stealth Mode struggling to keep the kite filled."

Cape Breton Island – Nova Scotia’s Masterpiece, the only Canadian entry in the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race, currently sits in third position behind leaders, Team Finland, and only 8 nautical miles behind second place, Spirit of Australia.

The boxing kangaroo will fall prey to the eagle of Cape Breton Island if skipper Ridd has his way. He says, "Well done to Brendan [Hall, Skipper of Spirit of Australia] for producing some consistently amazing six-hour runs irrespective of wind conditions. We have not thrown in the towel yet but definitely have been working hard to match him and his crew. A few days ago we had better boat speed and were pulling away, then they engaged overdrive and consistently put in runs of over 60 nm! We are still going well and have been trying all sorts of sheeting angles to try and match their speed and have come up with some new and effective ideas.”

The lead yachts are in the last 100 nautical miles of this leg of the race and are expected to reach the finish line today.

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Follow the Cape Breton Island – Nova Scotia’s Masterpiece Clipper at
http://www.capebretonclipper.com

Follow the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race at:
http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com

Images
Official images from Clipper 09-10 are available free for editorial use at:
http://www.w-w-i.com/clipper_0910_race/

Broadcast footage
Broadcast footage is available to download at:
http://www.clipperbroadcast.com
Password: broadcaster
Interviews and general views are available on a generic race and specific boat basis to download on demand. (File format wmv).

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