Buncrana children await local
yacht skipper
20.06.14
CHILDREN from St Oran's
National School in Buncrana eagerly awaiting the arrival
into Lough Foyle of former pupil Sean McCarter who is
skipper of Derry's entry in the Clipper Round the World
Yacht Race.
The children from the Cockhill school are proudly
sporting their 'future crew' t-shirts sponsored by Derry
City Council who are organising the LegenDerry Maritime
Festival beginning this weekend. |
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Children from St Oran's National School,
Cockhill, Buncrana get ready to welcome home Clipper
skipper Sean McCarter. |
The Derry clipper has a
lead of 200 miles on second-placed Great Britain despite
having to bear away and run north over the top of a new
high pressure weather system.
Challenging weather is hampering some of the fleet’s
progress.
Sean McCarter said: “On receiving our daily instalment
of weather information yesterday morning, it was
immediately apparent that an important decision was
needed. We could either continue with our plan of
sailing into the high until the breeze dropped and tack
south to start a long slow beat under it.
"After going over the routing for both options, we
decided that heading north would mean sailing less miles
on faster angles whilst dodging the light patches on the
west coast that are also hindered by tides. The
unfortunate part was that we would have to sacrifice a
large portion of our lead to reposition ourselves for
the new strategy.
"The hope is to gain some of this back in a day or two
as we pick up a more favourable heading before the
chasing pack. Only time will tell.” |
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Children from St Oran's National School,
Cockhill, Buncrana get ready to welcome home Clipper
skipper Sean McCarter. |
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