No news is good news
10:30, 21 February 2003
by Tim Hedges

After yesterday's speculation that London was heading north, they have now confounded my theories by returning to the west, and Glasgow is today's candidate for the great north run. Looking back at the vessels tracks over the last few days, the northern league of London, Glasgow and Hong Kong have been taking it in turns to tango with each assuming the lead as they step up to the north, then relinquishing it as they swing back to the west.

The weather has been fairly undramatic, slightly squally last night, but predominantly light and mostly sunny. Adam Kyffin has now passed over duty to Glasgow skipper Rupert Parkhouse who is taking this mornings lead in his stride. The most taxing thing for his crew seemingly getting to grips with what day it is now they have crossed the date line. In fact the whole fleet has been remarkably quiet with even the normally chatty Bristol skipper reporting the news that there is no news.

Ocean sailing can be like that. Sometimes it is all go; frequent sail changes, intense competition and wildlife galore, and sometimes one just settles into the routine of watch keeping, 4 hours on - 4 hours off - down below to sleep, read or just potter before going back up on deck to steer, trim the sails, grind the winches, keep lookout for another 4 hours. Mealtimes become the focal points of the day, and every one hangs in suspense for the 12 hourly position reports. Sir Robin refers to this as the tyranny of a watch system and come rain or shine, wind or calm you know that in 4 hours time you will be doing again pretty much what you are at the moment. Routine it may be, but it is good for the crews to take advantage of this quiet time to rest up and prepare for the winds to come. It is also a good time to do all those little jobs around the boat. Whilst the on watch crews will still be concentrating hard on racing the rest will be checking the sails, the rigging, the generator and all the other myriad components that make up an ocean going yacht so that when the weather does change and the levels of intensity increase the skipper can be secure in the knowledge that the boat won't let them down. For maximum performance a stitch in time can save much more than nine.

Liverpool have had the highest run of the day and are now the second western most boat after Bristol. Cape Town have maintained their 6th position but are threatened by both Jersey and New York who have both had higher runs. New York have also taken quite a turn to the north so it will be interesting to see how this serves them over the next few days.

With all the boats now in the eastern hemisphere it is interesting to reflect that none have "fallen off". With the exception of a few brave souls in the flat earth society (sorry chaps, yet another blow to your theory) most of us would take this for granted, but whilst we salute the achievements of our modern day adventurers so to should we acknowledge the bravery of our pioneering ancestors who set sail in small ships when the dangers of coming to the edge of the world seemed real enough. Some now may dismiss the achievements of the small band of people who have raced round the world, but we should remember the sceptics who branded Columbus foolhardy for setting off on a voyage that was bound to fail, and be thankful that the spirit of adventure that drives human endeavour lives on.

Tim Hedges

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