Liberty is being free from the things we don't like in order to be slaves of the things we do like.--Ernest Benn

Friday, December 23, 2011

Clipper Round-the-World Race: Next Leg



60 comments:

  1. Thanks to Belladonna & Fukitol for the alert! All clear!

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  2. Well here we go again, what a way to spend Xmas.
    Good luck and Merry Christmas to all.

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  3. Oops messed that start up, got some catching up to do now to get up to Contig and the Container.

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  4. I had to go out to dinner & theatre right at the start. Stayed for the first ten minutes and I was #75. Figured that was okay. Came back and I was #1075. Doberwoman got me up now in time for me to tweak a little.......

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  5. Okay. For the record, I'm turning it over to Otto Helm right now. I'm #556. Gawd know what Otto's going to be able to do for me. But I will find out!

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  6. Merry Christmas!!! If Santa can go around the world - so can we!

    This should be an interesting leg. Looks like we are more spread out than usual. Left, right and center - which is the right track???

    Enjoy the day. Enjoy the race. Thanks to Doc for supplying the link that binds us. HO, HO, Ho!!!

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  7. Contiguous, shouldn't that be Yo Ho ho seeing as we are on the high seas?

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  8. Belladonna: Yes! I was flabergasted when I woke and returned from my Christmas frivolities! I never expected this from Otto. Instead of demanding the helm back, I had to ask for it.

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  9. I expect to be ranked very close to 250 in the next half hour. At that point, I'll hand the wheel over to Otto again, expecting him to sail conservatively for the next seven hours. I expect my losses to be between 150 and 200 boats. See if I'm not right about that.

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  10. Yeah, I would have liked to have seen that.

    Things are not so bad at the moment, but they are not so good whenever Contiguous is in sight. And the Big C. is storming along right now at 1227. Yachts of Fun is only four boats behind me. No Going Back (SO) is at 1916. Belladonna (SO) is at 2077. Fukitol, never out of any race, is at 3540.

    I feel lucky not to be just a spectator this race.

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  11. Doc, my rankings list you at #21. Have you ever been there before? That's a pretty big responsibility to have on your shoulders. Keep up the good work!

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  12. Thanks, Contig. I peaked out at 20th.

    I have posted a shot taken at the wind change last night. It's just before we tacked over on port to benefit from the header as our fleet approaches the turning mark at Papua New Guinea's outlying island of Taeaknabululu. At one point Open Container attained 20th. While I slept, my closest competitors tightened up to 45°. I had been footing off for a reason which I don't recall. Corrected now.

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  13. Belladonna and No Going Back, both S.O.'s, are under 1,000 in this snapshot!

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  14. Yeah, still under 1,000 and even 300 !
    Be very carefull all of you, there is a little piece of rock a few miles E.S.E. of the mark, @ 154 E 23 50, 11 S 26 55, but probably large enough to stop our boats.

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  15. Well I'm getting a wee bit worried about my current position/route, 7192th and going backwards. I must keep telling myself it's only a game, it's only a game, it's only a game.

    Great work by SO's NGB and Bell plus the Container is the highest placed boat on My Friends list, well done to you all, keep it up.

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  16. Hi all. Thanks for inviting me in Doc. I bring you all season's greetings from Barbados where Santa got a sunburn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fuH8V5uXiY

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  17. Duckitall - don't forget Doc. He's currently NO 22 and he's 35 mi ahead of me and pulling away with a 0.5 knot advantage. Pretty amazing for a dude from CA!

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  18. Welcome Mary Celeste RIP. I've been following you, nine boats behind, all day. I thought I might as well say 'hello' and try to distract you a little. I was a little late on my last tack and make it that I lost 14 boats in the process. It's killing me speculating on where I'd be if I hadn't have muffed the sail handling back at that point. I can't spare a boat, especially with Contiguous hunting me down. Maybe I can snap another picture tonight.

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  19. Hey there Contig I did mention Doc as the Container, he's now at 21st posn and going strong, nice one, only trouble is the pressure of trying to keep it up, eh Doc.
    Big welcome to Mary from a cold, wet and windy England.

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  20. Otto made a bad mistake, but I'm behind the wheel and I'm coming back!

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  21. C'on Doc, don't let you disturb by Mary from Heaven :-)

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  22. Sorry Duckitall. My bad. It's called functional reading. It's just that "THE Container" sounds so very formal I suppose I had conjured up a different image in my muddled mind. It's tough enough trying to figure out how to catch THE CONTAINER let alone figure out who the mystery man is. Come to think of it - is he a man?

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  23. Now, as everyone is queing on 154°E30', one can clearly see the difference between A.O. and S.O.
    0.4 knots at reaching angle for 6.5 knots of wind.
    Interesting.............

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  24. All I see is a very long parade with no passing lanes!

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  25. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  26. Look how "euroniekk" is passing "hugo 28 rkn" :-)

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  27. Team Alert: Don't be too complacent about maintaining our places in the parade. I've added another screen shot that discloses there's a second, if miniscule, parade north of the Solomons. Next to the big island, notice that small double circle in dark blue. This boat is currently #537. I won't identify it because that would be giving away my advantage of being able to track him!
    ;-)

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  28. Your mystery man is running at No 1688 and 60± mi back. Let's hope we can keep him in the same relative position. By the way Doc, you look good leading the parade!

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  29. Well the Doc (27th nice one doc) Y-O-F (197th) Contig (285th) Bella (581st) NGB (654th) are all following the coast so never being one to do the same as everyone else it's time for the parting of the ways, I'm going off into oblivion, doomed to go way down the rankings again, he who dares wins, please!.

    The grog will soon be taking over so I'll wish you all a Happy New Year whilst I'm still capable.

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  30. I hope that @ 11:45 AM, you're still capable Cookietall. It's 21:00 PM for me and I'm becoming tireeeed oooahhhh :-(())
    Happy New-Yeaaaar............

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  31. yeh but yeh but yeh that was abooot 19:30pm propeer team in UK, itt's nooo going ooon 11pm and still soober. neerly New Year so Bonne annee.

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  32. Our awareness of time and love is the only thing that sets us Earthlings apart. Have a safe trip into the next year, everyone!

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  33. That's deep Doc. Nicely put, too intelegent for me to say anything like that, I'm no good with words.

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  34. 1st apology of the New Year, forgot to include Mary in the list last night, who is still going strong in 112th, 2nd out of those of us in this blog, sorry Mary

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  35. No headache but somewhat tired.....
    I was trying the more southerly route, along the islands. But then I figured out that nord might be better. Zezo is very undecided and with those complicated weather systems coming from the East I'm too !

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  36. I have been sick as a Iowa Republican. This head cold has me down and out. I always thought the best thing to do to get rid of a cold was to share it. I shared it with Trophy Wife, to no avail. Can't seem to give it to Doberwoman, who still insists that I take her out for a romp. So Open Container continues under the capable hands of Otto.

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  37. If you are as sick as an Iowa Republican then you must be pretty sick. Probably ought to be quarantined with the sick republicans. Sick republicans. Is that redundant or what?

    Otto appears to be doing a very fine job. You might consider leaving Otto at the helm and getting some extra sleep.

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  38. It's like Barney Franks said: "Democrats are not perfect, but the other guys are nuts!"

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  39. Paula said...

    The anonymous 'Post a Comment' link is working again!! Happy New Year everyone. I've been partying in Galway over the holidays but was able to log on to VR and check everyone's position. Seems everyone, except F**itol, survived in the top rankings.

    Seems I have little to do for the next few days...except keep an eye on Bella who, despite my efforts, is still ahead by just five places!! Next Monday, Zezo is pushing me through a tiny difficult gap north of Mindanao 125E45 + 10W00. Hopefully, I can follow a trail made by one of the pathfinders.

    No going back.

    PS: Doc, thanks for posting my pic of turning that winch thingy!! Maybe this year I'll actually get my first trip on a real sailboat :)

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  40. Paula alludes to this photo of herself on someone else's boat. Unfortunately!

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  41. It may look like Paula but I'm sure Paula would never allow her winch to get in such a knot.

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  42. I've added a screen dump a few minutes ago. What's remarkable is how well No Going Back is doing vis-a-vis other sans options boats. They are designated as goldenrod dots. Click on this image to expand it and you can pick out the concentric blue circles which indicate Paula's position. She is having a fantastic race, probably first in class?

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  43. Slightly overstating it, perhaps, but well in the 99th percentile!

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  44. Paula said...

    I'm currently #123th SO. Zezo was guiding me north all along when suddenly the programme suggested that Bella and me take the southern route. I dithered for a few wind updates and zig zagged across the oceans before making my final decision. I'm still not sure it was the right decision, time will tell...

    I watched Open ContainerIII cruise through the northern passage. You made it look sooooo easy. It will be very interesting to see who gets to the waypoint first, OCIII or Contiguous!! Bella is still ahead of NGB, now by 61 positions but I hope to catch him... soon!!

    I'm also watching F**itol who is 30 places behind me, taking the northern route and loaded with all the options. He is looking to move up the leaderboard following his bad start.

    I have also logged on to www.pacotool.fr who gives some useful information. I don't understand most of the numbers but saw an advertisment earlier showing the most devine shoes!!

    No going back

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  45. All SO's will spend sleepless nights or workless days going the northern route, through the Phillipines. I wouldn't try it without waypoint options.

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  46. Thanks for the link to Paco Tools, Paula. I'm wondering if it can render some fun graphics showing positions of multiple boats. Maybe if I get some boat owners' email addresses, I'll try this!

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  47. I guess not. I have a long way to go before I can get back to the finger-tip control I enjoyed over VRTools during the last VORG.

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  48. 2nd apology of the year coming up.

    Sorry Paula, Doc and any others on here who didn't know about Paco Tools, it's a brilliant aid to Zero and makes life soooo much easier. just click the get from VR button and then when it has pulled through the latest data click where it says Zero link and hey presto up pops zero's chart showing your current position, but you have probably already worked that bit out.

    And that's just the start of what you can do with Paco.
    I'm aiming to go through the smallest of gaps below Dapa on Siargo Island and East Bucas Grande Islandat at 14:30 game time today and hopefully I'll make it using Otto and various bits of Paco including the "show the map" feature.

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    1. Can't get my Paco Tools or VR Tools to work. I just wanted them for purposes of graphic representation. I've got all I need right to be competitive, except for more time at the keyboard!

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  49. Phew, glad that bits over, thanks to Paco.

    Looks like NGB and Belladonna have a real tight battle on their hands, only 2 places between them at the moment but the next 12 hours is looking a bit grim for them so I might manage to pass them and so I should as they are both sans options.

    Dead Mary is flying in 18th, Yachts of Fun 175th and Doc in 176th, another close fought battle, with Contig in 399th, with no chance of me catching any of them.

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  50. Congratulations on a great leg to Singapore Doc!Is that your best finish yet? Well done!

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    1. Yo Contiguous! You and Yachts of Fun have finished in the mid-300's, well above my usual station in (virtual) life. Congratulations & Respect!

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    2. Congrats to all of you, well done, please don't rub in my lousey finish (yeh right as if) just get the beers in ready for me to drown my sorrows.

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  51. Hey there. As usual NGB is gonna beat me on the last straight line, even if it's very,very, very slow !
    Congrats to her and all of you already in front of a cold and refreshing beer ! ! !

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  52. Congratulations everyone for a very interesting race. Are we all here now? Thanks everyone for waiting for Bella and NGB. No drowning sorrows but raising our glasses in celebration - have you seen the number of boats becalmed still out there?

    No going back.

    PS Still can't post on main 'On the Water' screen. Bella sent me instructions for logging on going around the long way so hope this works !!

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  53. All further comment is re-directed to the newest Virtual Regatta thread.

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