On Friday 30 December, the youngest team in the double-handed, Class40 Global Ocean Race (GOR), 28 year-old Kiwi, Conrad Colman and his 22 year-old, British co-skipper, Sam Goodchild, crossed the GOR’s Leg 2 finish line in Wellington Harbour, New Zealand, in first place on their Akilaria RC2 Class40, Cessna Citation after 30 days 22 hours 20 minutes and 40 seconds, netting the maximum of 30 points for Leg 2.
Colman and Goodchild rounded Cape Farewell at the northern tip of South Island at 14:00 GMT on Thursday (03:00 local on Friday), fighting against headwinds. With Cook Strait set for a 40-50 knot south-easterly blast, potentially gusting to 60 knots, the stretch of water separating South Island from North Island was not a location to be caught in. For the two leading, double-handed Global Ocean Race Class40s, Cessna Citation and BSL, there was no option and life became increasingly tough for the two teams. Fleet leaders Conrad Colman and Artemis Offshore Academy sailor, Sam Goodchild, with Cessna Citation tacked hard in 35 knots of south-easterly wind in extremely ugly seas ahead of the main gale, sailing close to d’Urville Island and Port Gore on the northern tip of South Island before they attacked the 14-mile wide wind funnel at the narrowest part of the strait between Cape Terrawhiti on North Island and Perano Head on Arapawa Island in Marlborough Sound at 06:00 GMT on Friday with 18 miles remaining to the finish line.
One hour later, as the wind built to 45 knots, Cessna Citation barrelled through the 2km-wide entrance to Wellington Harbour between Pencarrow Head and the Miramar Peninsular in torrential rain and grey, rolling waves as daylight faded fast. Colman and Goodchild left the partially exposed Barrett Reef to port and crossed the GOR Leg 2 finish line off Worser Bay on the harbour’s western shore taking victory in Leg 2. GOR Race Officials boarded Cessna Citation via the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club’s support RIB, congratulated the co-skippers and swiftly checked the engine seal fitted in Cape Town was still intact and the Class40 continued to her mooring in Queen’s Wharf for reunions and celebrations in the relentless Wellington downpour.
Surrounded by friends and family on the wet, slick, wooden quayside, Conrad Colman was one of the happiest men on North Island: “It’s the legend of the youg’uns!” he laughed. “It’s absolutely fantastic and it can’t get much better than this,” adds Colman. “I’ve been wanting to sail in a race into New Zealand since I was six years-old when I watched Fisher & Paykel and Steinlager 2 match race down the coast, so not only racing into New Zealand, but winning is really something special.” His British co-skipper was relieved to be ashore: “The Indian Ocean isn’t the problem, it’s Cook Strait that’s the issue,” admitted Goodchild with a broad grin. “The last 12 hours have been pretty horrific.”
One of the really remarkable features of Colman and Goodchild’s partnership is their recent acquaintance: “We met each other a few days before the start of the race and pretty much shook hands on the start line,” explains Colman. “We did a lot of things on the fly, but we shared all the responsibilities and it worked really well.” Sam Goodchild agrees: “We come from two different sailing backgrounds with myself in the Figaro Class and Conrad in the Mini 6.50s and it just worked out well,” he says. “I never, ever expected that we’d win and it’s a massive bonus.”
Clearing the eastern end of the limit, Cessna Citation dropped south once again using perfect positioning in a cold front with 35 knots of breeze setting a new GOR Class40 24-hour distance run of 359.1 miles and building a lead of over 245 miles. Despite running into light airs and watching their lead diminish as they approached New Zealand, Colman and Goodchild held their nerve through the horrors of Cook Strait and kept pushing hard until the finish gun.
As Conrad Colman, Sam Goodchild and friends and family enjoy celebrations at Rydges Hotel near the GOR Race Pontoons, much of the group’s talk concerns Ross and Campbell Field in second place on BSL who will encounter the full-force of the Cook Strait gale overnight. In the 11:00 GMT position poll, the New Zealand father-and-son duo are 126 miles from the finish line and 12 miles from Cape Farewell where they will turn east and head directly into 40-45 knots for the final, hard miles through the confines of the strait.
Mabire and Merron crossed the line in third place
At 09:49 on Monday local time (20:40 GMT 01/01/12), Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron crossed the double-handed Global Ocean Race (GOR) Leg 2 finish line in Wellington, New Zealand, in third place with Class40 Campagne de France after 33 days 10 hours 40 minutes and 15 seconds of racing through the Indian Ocean from Cape Town. Mabire and Merron’s hard-won podium place keeps them in second place on points behind Ross and Campbell Field on BSL and two points ahead of Leg 2 winner, Conrad Colman and Sam Goodchild with Cessna Citation.
“It’s not the best result,” admits Halvard Mabire. “But, luckily, we have three legs remaining,” he adds. “It has been a very, very long leg,” says Mabire to complete agreement from Miranda Merron.
Both Mabire and Merron agree that the conditions in the Indian Ocean were brutal: “We never saw long swells and it was always a short, nasty sea – a real shaker,” recalls Mabire. “Because of the sea state it was just far too dangerous for us to go south, purely on a safety basis,” adds Merron. Mabire concurs: “The possibility of capsizing was becoming serious,” says the French skipper. “We also just don’t have the budget available to cope with any major breakages and just before we made the decision to keep north, it became impossible to race effectively.” While the GOR’s mandatory 180 degree inversion test recognises the chance of a capsize, the Franco-British duo’s decision to stay further north led them into high-pressure systems, notably in mid-Tasman Sea and then off the west coast of South Island. “When you have a horrible sea state and a lot of wind, that is bad enough, but when you have no wind and the horrible sea state, it’s even worse.” The mental torture and physical strain on the boat was extreme in the light airs. “I think we had about 100 hours stuck in those conditions.”
One possible benefit of the light airs was a good view of the New Zealand coast as Mabire and Merron worked north along South Island’s western shore: “South Island looks so nice I think we’re going to have to come back,” confirms Mabire. “We’re thinking seriously about a cruising boat and we’ve talked a lot about it,” he says. “In Cook Strait, for example there’s either not enough wind, or too much,” Mabire explains. “When there’s not enough wind you can’t use the engine when you’re racing, and when the wind is on the nose, you can’t go in a comfortable direction!”
With three boats in Queen’s Wharf, two GOR Class40s remain racing. In the 00:00 GMT position poll on Sunday/Monday, Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon in fourth are closing in on the finish line with Financial Crisis just 18 miles from Wellington, and the South African duo of Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire are 493 miles from the finish with Phesheya-Racing in fifth place, sailing 170 miles off the coast of South Island.
GOR leadeboard at 11:00 GMT 30 December:
1. Cessna Citation 30d 22h 20m 40s
2. BSL DTF 126 4.6kts
3. Campagne de France DTL 95 5.6kts
4. Financial Crisis DTL 363 10.6kts
5. Phesheya-Racing DTL 451 4.8kts
GOR cumulative Leg 1 and Leg 2 points excluding Leg 2 finish:
1. BSL: 39 (4 points at the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate)
2. Campagne de France: 36 points (5 points at the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate)
3. Financial Crisis: 27 (3 points at the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate)
4. Cessna Citation: 24 (6 points at the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate)
5. Phesheya-Racing: 14 (2 points at the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate)
6. Sec. Hayai: 6 (RTD from Leg 2)
From : Global Ocean Race
Credit : GOR
Colman and Goodchild rounded Cape Farewell at the northern tip of South Island at 14:00 GMT on Thursday (03:00 local on Friday), fighting against headwinds. With Cook Strait set for a 40-50 knot south-easterly blast, potentially gusting to 60 knots, the stretch of water separating South Island from North Island was not a location to be caught in. For the two leading, double-handed Global Ocean Race Class40s, Cessna Citation and BSL, there was no option and life became increasingly tough for the two teams. Fleet leaders Conrad Colman and Artemis Offshore Academy sailor, Sam Goodchild, with Cessna Citation tacked hard in 35 knots of south-easterly wind in extremely ugly seas ahead of the main gale, sailing close to d’Urville Island and Port Gore on the northern tip of South Island before they attacked the 14-mile wide wind funnel at the narrowest part of the strait between Cape Terrawhiti on North Island and Perano Head on Arapawa Island in Marlborough Sound at 06:00 GMT on Friday with 18 miles remaining to the finish line.
One hour later, as the wind built to 45 knots, Cessna Citation barrelled through the 2km-wide entrance to Wellington Harbour between Pencarrow Head and the Miramar Peninsular in torrential rain and grey, rolling waves as daylight faded fast. Colman and Goodchild left the partially exposed Barrett Reef to port and crossed the GOR Leg 2 finish line off Worser Bay on the harbour’s western shore taking victory in Leg 2. GOR Race Officials boarded Cessna Citation via the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club’s support RIB, congratulated the co-skippers and swiftly checked the engine seal fitted in Cape Town was still intact and the Class40 continued to her mooring in Queen’s Wharf for reunions and celebrations in the relentless Wellington downpour.
Surrounded by friends and family on the wet, slick, wooden quayside, Conrad Colman was one of the happiest men on North Island: “It’s the legend of the youg’uns!” he laughed. “It’s absolutely fantastic and it can’t get much better than this,” adds Colman. “I’ve been wanting to sail in a race into New Zealand since I was six years-old when I watched Fisher & Paykel and Steinlager 2 match race down the coast, so not only racing into New Zealand, but winning is really something special.” His British co-skipper was relieved to be ashore: “The Indian Ocean isn’t the problem, it’s Cook Strait that’s the issue,” admitted Goodchild with a broad grin. “The last 12 hours have been pretty horrific.”
One of the really remarkable features of Colman and Goodchild’s partnership is their recent acquaintance: “We met each other a few days before the start of the race and pretty much shook hands on the start line,” explains Colman. “We did a lot of things on the fly, but we shared all the responsibilities and it worked really well.” Sam Goodchild agrees: “We come from two different sailing backgrounds with myself in the Figaro Class and Conrad in the Mini 6.50s and it just worked out well,” he says. “I never, ever expected that we’d win and it’s a massive bonus.”
Clearing the eastern end of the limit, Cessna Citation dropped south once again using perfect positioning in a cold front with 35 knots of breeze setting a new GOR Class40 24-hour distance run of 359.1 miles and building a lead of over 245 miles. Despite running into light airs and watching their lead diminish as they approached New Zealand, Colman and Goodchild held their nerve through the horrors of Cook Strait and kept pushing hard until the finish gun.
As Conrad Colman, Sam Goodchild and friends and family enjoy celebrations at Rydges Hotel near the GOR Race Pontoons, much of the group’s talk concerns Ross and Campbell Field in second place on BSL who will encounter the full-force of the Cook Strait gale overnight. In the 11:00 GMT position poll, the New Zealand father-and-son duo are 126 miles from the finish line and 12 miles from Cape Farewell where they will turn east and head directly into 40-45 knots for the final, hard miles through the confines of the strait.
Mabire and Merron crossed the line in third place
At 09:49 on Monday local time (20:40 GMT 01/01/12), Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron crossed the double-handed Global Ocean Race (GOR) Leg 2 finish line in Wellington, New Zealand, in third place with Class40 Campagne de France after 33 days 10 hours 40 minutes and 15 seconds of racing through the Indian Ocean from Cape Town. Mabire and Merron’s hard-won podium place keeps them in second place on points behind Ross and Campbell Field on BSL and two points ahead of Leg 2 winner, Conrad Colman and Sam Goodchild with Cessna Citation.
“It’s not the best result,” admits Halvard Mabire. “But, luckily, we have three legs remaining,” he adds. “It has been a very, very long leg,” says Mabire to complete agreement from Miranda Merron.
Both Mabire and Merron agree that the conditions in the Indian Ocean were brutal: “We never saw long swells and it was always a short, nasty sea – a real shaker,” recalls Mabire. “Because of the sea state it was just far too dangerous for us to go south, purely on a safety basis,” adds Merron. Mabire concurs: “The possibility of capsizing was becoming serious,” says the French skipper. “We also just don’t have the budget available to cope with any major breakages and just before we made the decision to keep north, it became impossible to race effectively.” While the GOR’s mandatory 180 degree inversion test recognises the chance of a capsize, the Franco-British duo’s decision to stay further north led them into high-pressure systems, notably in mid-Tasman Sea and then off the west coast of South Island. “When you have a horrible sea state and a lot of wind, that is bad enough, but when you have no wind and the horrible sea state, it’s even worse.” The mental torture and physical strain on the boat was extreme in the light airs. “I think we had about 100 hours stuck in those conditions.”
One possible benefit of the light airs was a good view of the New Zealand coast as Mabire and Merron worked north along South Island’s western shore: “South Island looks so nice I think we’re going to have to come back,” confirms Mabire. “We’re thinking seriously about a cruising boat and we’ve talked a lot about it,” he says. “In Cook Strait, for example there’s either not enough wind, or too much,” Mabire explains. “When there’s not enough wind you can’t use the engine when you’re racing, and when the wind is on the nose, you can’t go in a comfortable direction!”
With three boats in Queen’s Wharf, two GOR Class40s remain racing. In the 00:00 GMT position poll on Sunday/Monday, Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon in fourth are closing in on the finish line with Financial Crisis just 18 miles from Wellington, and the South African duo of Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire are 493 miles from the finish with Phesheya-Racing in fifth place, sailing 170 miles off the coast of South Island.
GOR leadeboard at 11:00 GMT 30 December:
1. Cessna Citation 30d 22h 20m 40s
2. BSL DTF 126 4.6kts
3. Campagne de France DTL 95 5.6kts
4. Financial Crisis DTL 363 10.6kts
5. Phesheya-Racing DTL 451 4.8kts
GOR cumulative Leg 1 and Leg 2 points excluding Leg 2 finish:
1. BSL: 39 (4 points at the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate)
2. Campagne de France: 36 points (5 points at the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate)
3. Financial Crisis: 27 (3 points at the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate)
4. Cessna Citation: 24 (6 points at the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate)
5. Phesheya-Racing: 14 (2 points at the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate)
6. Sec. Hayai: 6 (RTD from Leg 2)
From : Global Ocean Race
