Screaming towards Hawaii
08:00, 23 January 2003
by Nic Gray

The three leading boats Jersey, London and Bristol have all recorded 24-hour distances above 240 miles as they charge towards Hawaii. Bristol achieved the best run of the three with 247.98 miles covered according to our Raymarine Raytech software, giving them an average speed of 10.3 knots from 0400 yesterday to 0400 today. Even Glasgow the (relatively) slowest boat notched up a 24-hour average of 9.6 knots. These great speeds will keep morale on board very high as the thrill of feeling these 60 ft racers surging along is exhilarating to say the least, and time on the helm is very limited as everyone is trying to get a bit of the action and score the biggest surf of the day.

Simon Rowell in Jeresy who is the Duty Skipper reported this morning that Hong Kong had achieved the best score with an 18.9 knot burst recorded. As Tim Hedges mentioned yesterday the screaming on board during these surfs are deafening, but a feeling that will remain with the crews for the rest of their lives. I can still remember how I felt during my personal best surf on board Plymouth (now Cape Town) in 2000, and still bore people with the story so you have been warned.

The huge loads brought about by these fantastic speeds can take their toll the boat and crew however. The guys and sheets controlling the spinnaker need to regularly checked, both in board and outboard, and the mast monkey needs to climb the mast each day to check wear and tear on both the halyards and the “U” bolts holding the spinnaker blocks at the top of the mast. Climbing up to the top of a 70-foot mast with the boat charging along is no mean feat. In fact Jezzer, a crewmember on Bristol has a few bruises this morning after replacing a “U” bolt that failed yesterday. This wear and tear to the “U” bolts is a common occurrence, especially when you consider the force 2000 sq foot of material full of wind exerts and the boats carry a number of spares so that worn ones can be replaced before or just after they break.

It looks as if Hawaii will play host to a huge Clipper gathering, apart from change over crew many friends and family of the crews seem to be taking advantage of this wonderful stop over and flying south for the winter. Both those arriving by sea and air are looking forward to the reception that is being laid on at the beautiful Ko Olina Resort and Marina. In fact one lucky crewmember (hello!) has already left and will be reading this in Hawaii. The staff here at Race Control who jointly manage both the Around Alone Race and the Clipper 2002 race are very jealous of everyone heading to Hawaii, especially as I have only a few days R&R in the tropical paradise of Dorset to look forward to before the next leg of the Around Alone starts on 9 Feb!

Source: Official Site