London leads the way
10:00, 20 February 2003
by Tim Hedges

After a slow day yesterday the wind has picked up again throughout the fleet, but for the first time since the race start from Hawaii being in the south has really paid off. Both Bristol and Jersey have had substantially higher runs than the boats further north, and both skippers will be feeling vindicated that their strategy is beginning to pay off. However Japan is also a long way north, a fact not lost on the London crew who have jumped two places into first position by heading almost directly for Japan. Is this it? Have they decided that now is the time to go for it, or will they resume their westerly course? Certainly during the 98 race the first and second boats to reach the finish line were the first two to split from the fleet and head north. Whilst those that hung on in the south caught up a lot latterly, it was never quite enough to recoup all the extra miles they sailed. This will become clearer over the next few days, and if London really does continue on her north westerly course the next question will be who will be first to follow.

Both Hong Kong and Glasgow would be in a strong position if they chose to do so, and as both have led at times during this race they may well chose to do so rather than see London's lead increase. Bristol and Jersey are really committed to their current strategy, and certainly Bristol skipper Richard Butler is happy being the western most boat. In his mind this "is what matters at the moment. Its still a long way before we should be heading north towards Japan, so northing isn't yet very important." New York too remains committed to the south but for Liverpool and Cape Town things are much less clear cut. They could choose either route, but what is certain is that they will not want to just join the end of a procession and a dramatic move at this stage may make a big difference in a couple of weeks time.

The other big news is that the crews have just lost a day of their lives. As they cross the international date line they change from being 12 hours behind the UK to 12 hours ahead, so for some Wednesday hardly happened. It also means that they will soon all be in the eastern hemisphere. This means that they really have now sailed half way round the world, and that in some respects they will now be sailing nearer to home rather than further away (apologies to all non UK residents) although in purely mileage terms they are still not yet half way.

Source: Clipper 2002/2003 Round The World Race Official Site