Adventure on the high seas

THEY call it the Black Pearl - and the rival boats in the round-the-world Clipper race can't ignore its presence.

THEY call it the Black Pearl - and the rival boats in the round-the-world Clipper race can't ignore its presence.

Highs and lows of sailing around the world

GLASGOW Clipper crew member Gordon Lawson has endured almost everything that the ocean could throw at him.

But nothing could prepare him for the sad news that he received from home recently. Word reached him that his father, Jimmy, had died back home in Scotland.

"That was a really hard time for me because there was no way I could get back," he said. "I missed being able to reminisce with my family, but I got lots of great e-mails from my family on the boat, and a lot of support from the people on the boat as well. Without that, I don't think I could have continued."

Father-of-two Gordon, 51, is one of the adventurers who are sailing 35,000 miles round the world on board the 67ft-long Glasgow clipper.

"I'm really enjoying it so far," said Gordon, a finance director.

The crew go for long stretches without seeing any of their rivals - but their competitive spirits rise as soon as they see another boat.

"Once you leave port you see the other boats maybe for the first day, but after that, you don't see another boat again until you're almost finished," says Gordon.

"The last race but one, when we started coming up the coastline, Liverpool had us in their sights and we had them in ours, and it made for a fascinating three days.

"But even at the finishing line, when we finished 77 seconds behind Liverpool after 4200 miles, the first things both crews did was to give each other a huge cheer - such is the camaraderie between the crews."

Clipper talk

ROUND-the-worlder Colin Sherriff has been keeping a blog on the ups and downs of his adventure on the Glasgow yacht. Here he shares his thoughts as the crew continue the race.

It's all change for Glasgow: Scotland with Style Clipper as we set out for Singapore with six new crew joining the boat and its long term inmates. This was one of our best race starts - third over the line and fourth out of the harbour.

What made it really special was the overwhelming response from the people of Western Australia who turned up in their hundreds to wish us well on the race.

It was possible to hear the calls of Go Glasgow Go' from the crowds and see the Scottish flags onshore and on the boats.

The new crew begins to build its own relationships and the watches establish their identities through the hours of spinnaker helming and trimming.

Conversations start up about what we do for a living (apart from this!) and what are the reasons for joining the race and doing this leg. Motivations range from wanting to do some tactical racing, see the archipelago or just go to the Far East for the first time.

We have also had one significant incident when Dafydd Hughes, one of the crew, dislocated his shoulder when holding a halyard. After treatment from our on-board medic, Emma, he is back in shape, in good form and preparing to start racing.

The sleek black Glasgow: Scotland with Style yacht has done the city proud since the race began in mid-September last year.

With 13,500 nautical miles out of 35,000 completed, the 68ft yacht lies second in the league table on 26 points, just one point behind the leaders, Durban 2010 and Beyond.

In previous Clipper races, Glasgow yachts finished eighth, fifth and tenth ... but expectations are high that the current crew, skippered by the highly experienced Hannah Jenner, can do better this time around.

Gordon Ritchie, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau's Head of Clipper projects, said: "Glasgow's success hasn't happened by accident.

"A lot of pre-race work went into finding the right skipper and the right boat, and putting the best training programme in place. It has worked out very well for everyone concerned.

"But it's not about just being a sprinter. It's about racing as well as you can and making sure your equipment, including your sails, last the pace."

Steven Purcell, leader of the city council and chairman of the Marketing Bureau, said: "I'm thrilled that the Glasgow yacht is doing so well and is doing such a first-class job in promoting Glasgow around the world."

Early on New Year's Day Hannah and co set off on race number five - the 2429 nautical miles between Fremantle in western Australia and Singapore.

Hannah, 27, and her crew have coped with rough conditions on their travels so far, which have taken them to La Rochelle in France, across the Equator to Salvador in Brazil, across the South Atlantic to Durban, South Africa, then over the Southern Ocean to Fremantle in time for Christmas.

There was a moment of high drama in November when crew member David Jack, 42, from Kirkintilloch, was swept overboard 600 miles off the South African coast.

David was in the water for nine minutes before being dragged to safety and was treated for hypothermia and shock.

Gordon Ritchie added: "The crew endured a lot of stress and emotion when that happened, and the strain would have been immense on Hannah, but all credit to them for the way they came through it all."

In Durban, Hannah received a letter of support from First Minister Alex Salmond, who said: "I am following the race with great interest and I congratulate your team on their achievements thus far."

David Urquhart, Joint Managing Director at Gordon & MacPhail, proprietors of the Benromach Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, one of the yacht's race partners, said: "It's fantastic to see the yacht in the top positions during the first part of the race.

"Hannah and the rest of the crew are doing a terrific job of putting Glasgow and Benromach on the global map by consistently performing well."

David has a special interest in the race: one of his twin sons, Richard, was on board between Durban and Fremantle, while the other, Stuart, joins next month for the leg between Qingdao, China and Santa Cruz in California.

David said: "It will test their sailing skills and their reserves of physical and mental strength, but they're committed to doing their part to help bring the Glasgow: Scotland with Style Clipper home in first place."