Heated toilet seats!
09:00, 23 February 2003
by Nic Gray

Good morning from the race office. This mornings results look very similar to those of the last few days. The Northern pack remain in the lead with Hong Kong occupying 1st but London and Glasgow continue to chase hard and I’m sure there is more position swapping to come. Down in the South fortunes are more varied. Our Raymarine tracking software shows Richard and his Bristol crew as the slowest boat over the last 24 hours – managing only 125 miles towards Japan, whilst Jersey Clipper (only 60 miles from Bristol) were the 2nd fastest overall with a 24 hour distance of 150 miles. This fact was not lost on the Bristol skipper who seemed rather grumpy in his email to the Race Office this morning. Liverpool is in a good position in the middle of the fleet with Cape Town and New York following hard.

All eyes in the Race Office are now on which boat will make the turn towards Japan first and try and break away from the fleet. This will probably happen just after one of the twice-daily radio scheds, as it will allow skipper and his crew twelve hours on the new course before having to show his/her hand by reporting their positions to the rest of the fleet. As the fleet draws closer to Japan what treats lie in store for them?

As a crewmember on Plymouth Clipper in the 2000 race I can still remember the trip to Japan vividly. The weather suddenly changes from warm trade winds and spinnaker sailing to cold cold white sail sailing. In fact I can honestly say that I have never been so cold and wet in my life as I was on the approach to Japan. Despite two layers of thermals, mid layer clothing, wet weather gear, two hats and two pairs of gloves I was still cold! We were warned that snow was seen on deck during the ’98 race but were still not prepared for the cold shock the Japanese winter had in store for us. I hope it is just as cold for this years crews as its real character building stuff! A special treat awaits the crews once they arrive at the marina – the toilets (always an early port of call after the bar) have state of the art heated toilet seats! They still remain a popular conversation topic amongst the 2000 crew but I’m sure the present crews will be very vocal about all the functions of these special toilets so will leave it to their dairy’s to explain.

Finally after receiving the Saturday sports update from the Race Office, a Welsh crewmember on Bristol has decided he is now Irish. I guess that means he is going to change nationality again on the 30th March!

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