No Easter Bunnies
06:31, 19 April 2003
by Colin de Mowbray

There is a considerable amount of chopping and changing going out in the South China Sea as the eight Clipper yachts are locked into a tight racing box heading south to the waypoint NE of the Macclesfield Bank. This time it is Ross Daniel in New York that has taken the lead in the fourth change in as many radio schedules. Jersey reports that in the light reaching conditions New York hoisted their Genoa and went from a position 0.7 miles astern to one mile ahead of them over the 12 hour period. This will be very significant as many of the boats are in sight of each other and the general opinion is that in most conditions the boats go better with the No1 Yankee and a staysail. The new boy on the block is stirring things out there and this is going to start this debate all over again.

As predicted the wind has now backed and all the boats are making a good course for the waypoint. During the night after the wind freed they have been changing back and forth between medium and light weight kites. Glasgow has come out a winner and climbed three place into second place and is close on New York's heels with Bristol chasing. Hong Kong decided the SW flank was not right for them and has moved across to join Jersey and Liverpool in the left wing position. London is now left on their own as guardian of the right wing and Cape Town is maintaining a covering position in the middle.

Simon Rowell in Jersey reports that his crew are now slowly going pink as they enjoy the glorious weather. He is clearly well settled back in the seagoing routine and is sending messages suggesting Skippers' Dinners in the New York Yacht Club. This forward and totally irrelevant thinking is clearly a result of the heat. However he has now allowed Jane De La Haye to cut off his mop of hair; this will have a cooling effect on his head and enable him to focus on the more immediate programme such as their arrival in Singapore.

The long range forecast shows the typhoon bending round to the north and so this should not be an issue now for the Clipper fleet although it will doubtless bring damage to the northern islands of the Philippines. Some forecasts show the weather going light over the next two days before picking up from the NE once again. At present progress is quite good but there will be many ups and downs and I can see the places continuing to change.

It will be a hot Easter for the race crews and they will mark it in different ways. I suspect one noticeable absentee will be the Easter Bunny, partly because they are not good swimmers and partly because rabbits are unlucky on boats. In cases like this when fresh meat is in short supply it could also be unlucky for the Easter Bunny.

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