News

First three teams to transit Panama Canal

16 May 2008

Having taken on nature in the raw for the last 27,000 miles of their circumnavigation, the crews of the ten Clipper 07-08 teams are about to experience one of man’s greatest triumphs of engineering over nature.

The first three boats, New York, Uniquely Singapore and Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper, will transit the canal today at 09:45 local time (14:45 GMT) and the 51 miles (82 kilometres) of waterway will take them approximately 12 hours to cross.

Friends, family and supporters of the Clipper fleet will be able to watch the yachts pass through the locks at both ends of the canal by logging onto the Panama Canal webcams: click here to view them

The Panama Canal took ten years, more than 75,000 workers and $400 million to complete. Since its opening in 1914 more than 900,000 vessels have passed through it, including five Clipper fleets to date.

Clipper Operations Director, Colin de Mowbray, skippered Chrysolite in the inaugural Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in 1996 and says the sixth Clipper fleet to pass through the Canal will find it another memorable experience.

“It’s a real highlight,” he says. “There’s a lot of anticipation because people haven’t done it before. It’s a coming together of the engineering and the significance of it and what man has achieved here. The historical side is fascinating and just to go through and experience it and read about it, it’s one of the great things to do. I remember it vividly and I’m sure all the crew members will as well.”

Cut through one of the narrowest saddles of the strip of land joining North and South America, the Canal uses a system of locks which function as water lifts to raise ships from sea level, either the Pacific or the Caribbean, to the level of Gatun Lake, 26 metres above sea level. The ships then sail the channel through the Continental Divide. A US$5.25 billion expansion project is underway to build two new sets of locks to allow much bigger ships to pass through.

There have been widespread reports of lengthy delays for yachts passing through the Panama Canal from the Caribbean side to the Pacific, however the Clipper 07-08 fleet will be travelling in the opposite direction, leaving the Pacific behind them, so will not be affected.

Operations Vice President at the Autoridad del Canal de Panama (Panama Canal Authority), Manuel Benitez, says, “The ACP is concerned about the situation and is working aggressively to reduce the backlog. We are closely monitoring this situation and we are working to ensure that all feasible measures are being taken to return to normal levels of transit waiting time as soon as possible.”

The backlog came about during the second half of February from a surge in arrivals within the waterway’s peak season (February - May) that coincided with maintenance work at the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores Locks. Maintenance work has now been postponed and additional crews assigned to the locks.

Senor Benitez continues, “Weather conditions, the mix in vessels arriving and the impact of peak season have contributed to the creation of the backlog and will also play a role in the successful reduction of the backlog. We have seen a downward trend and expect to see a more pronounced reduction in waiting times for transits in the weeks to come.”

Joff Bailey, Clipper 07-08 Race Director, says, “The transit through the Canal is one of the few elements of the Clipper Race that is not totally within our control. We are very much in the hands of the Panama Canal Authority and their schedulers, but we have been working with a local agent here for several years now and they and we have done our utmost to ensure everything is in place for a smooth transit so we can start Race 10 to Jamaica as soon as possible.”

The Panama Canal Authority has yet to announce the transit times for the seven remaining Clipper Yachts.  Their transit times will be published as soon as they are available.