Did the earth move for you?
07:55, 14 March 2003
by Colinsan

As the yachts pulled out of the Bayside Marina yesterday morning there was one familiar face on the jetty to wave them off. Jane (Jaz) Black was there to wish London Clipper all haste while she gets better from her severe bruising following a fall on board. After they departed down Tokyo Bay she returned to the Race Office where it was soon evident that something was afoot as the building started to vibrate slightly. This was one of the routine tremors that occur every few days and it is a great testimony to the engineering and design of all the buildings, roads and railways that these have become merely looked on as part of life in this area.

Well away from the shakes ashore the Clipper yachts managed to make quite good progress to the west. Bristol has capitalised on her good start and is on her own more inshore than the others. Hong Kong has recovered from their poor start and is once again doing well by going in a different direction but this time has Glasgow and London snapping on their heels. Cape town are making a good showing in the centre and leading an arrow head with Liverpool and jersey to the north and New York to the south.

Generally information is thin at present as the crews get back into their routine and start writing up their diaries. The Skippers will be working overtime with the mass of shipping which churns round the coast making the defined shipping lanes like maritime motorways. Inevitably these have to be crossed and at night if the wind is calm the skippers will be having precious little sleep. I expect the conditions to become progressively lighter over the next 24 hours and this will make the effect of the currents and tidal streams greater. As always when the conditions become fickle there will be winners and losers. Bristol has the problem of trial blazing and while the others chase in different conditions; I expect Richard Butler will not however be complaining.

The Bayside Marina now looks very empty without the yachts and the crews. Apart from the excellent facilities we have been blessed with dry clear weather during the visit which has made a great difference. Another major factor was the special group rate in the vast Yokohama Prince Hotel which was taken up by a large number of the crew. As the crews returned the comments were all in the same vein; apart from being too short the visit to Japan had been a great success and the highlight was the friendliness of the people we have met.

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