Clipper 2002/2003 Race - Feeling hot, hot, hot
09:28, 06 August 2003
by Sarah Beaugeard

Reports from the fleet today are that everything is getting a bit hot mid-Atlantic. Not just because the racing is close but because the winds have already turned a little lighter. Is this the start of the dreaded ITCZ? Rupert Parkhouse reported this morning that they are sailing in clear skies with a South-South Easterly breeze on smooth seas. As idyllic as this may sound it is the kind of stuff that after a while can taunt sailors, it may be ok for now but they all wait fearing that it will lighten even more and that awful ‘slap slapping’ sound of the sails will begin once more. The Clipper fleet has little choice but to grin and bear it as New York is the next port and the doldrums lie in between.

What you will see some of the fleet, namely Jersey, Bristol, London and New York doing is heading up. By this I mean that they have turned their course in a more Northerly direction. By doing this, they are making more apparent wind as they steer a course closer on the breeze. This will increase the boat speed and fill the lightweight spinnakers that they are now flying just that bit more. The theory being that the first boat to get through the ITCZ could well be the first boat throwing their lines ashore.

Reaching the North East trades first will certainly be an important factor in this next phase of the race and the race is on to see who does this. Fred de la Perrelles diary in from Jersey this morning tells us that Jersey Clipper is “Buzzing” with their new found first place as they have established a nice lead over the new second place Hong Kong Clipper.

Slipper into third Glasgow Clipper has taken a slightly more North of West course over the last twelve hours, but we know the Scots will not give in easily now that they are in the front half of the pack so they will be holding on tight and sailing as hard as they can in the current conditions today. In his report back to the office Rupert says that the crew have the “Lightweight up, lightweight sheet on and spi pole as low as it can go on the mast track, we are set up for these light winds even though they did arrive a little sooner than I anticipated”

Close on the tail of Glasgow Clipper Adam Kyffin and the crew of Liverpool Clipper have had 24 hours busier than most. Liverpool’s AP spinnaker has had a terrible ‘headache’ for the last couple of days…but Sail repairer Mike Shepherd and his team have now finished their repair…a secret that they have only just shared with us! Sailing further West, something tells me that Adam has his eye on Bristol Clipper. Currently 3 miles behind Glasgow and 3 miles ahead of Bristol the Scousers will not want to let the Birstolians pass.

Richard Butler has different ideas though and now seems a little happier with his position in the fleet. He is however only going to settle for one scalp in this race and it sounds like he is getting ready to pounce on his favourite prey – Jersey Clipper. “The lunchtime sched was OK, the midnight one better. We are only 22 miles behind Jersey, but more significantly on a very similar latitude. We can sort out the Westing later. For now, north really is best. The furthest north boat is the one most likely to romp out of the doldrums first and sail away.”

Chasing Bristol hard is London Clipper, eight miles ahead and probably only just out of sight, an upbeat London crew are going to fight their way to New York by the sounds of it. Further back, approximately 20 and 40 miles behind London New York and Cape Town at first look like they are suffering. However, you have to look at their daily runs they are covering as many miles sometimes more than the rest of the fleet, but that is the problem. If everybody continues at a similar pace, in similar conditions, it is hard to make gains. Both Roger and Ross will be watching hard for the front runners to slow down as they hit the doldrums. The ideal result would be that they could then catch up and mix with the fleet once more.

As Tim reported yesterday, the doldrums are frustrating and tedious but just cannot be avoided! Over the next couple of days I expect we will see the brakes go on slightly and the boats to slow down…but every 0.5 of a knot counts in these conditions and keeping the boats moving is the key.

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