Clipper
2002/2003 Race - Race 14 Rages On
24 August 2003
Hong
Kong Clipper had 17 miles to run to the race finish
at Ambrose Light-tower (NY) at 14:00 GMT today,
in order to clinch the next podium place on the
fourteenth stage of the Clipper 2002 Series. Here
in Manhattan though, there is now a strong Northerly
breeze which sees Justin Taylor and his crew tacking
all the way to the finish line and making about
4 knots boat speed.
Neptune
seems determined to make these last few miles
pretty tough ones for the Hong Kong crew as they
continue to beat into strong 30 knot headwinds.
The Race Office team here at the Intrepid-Sea-Sir-Space
Musuem expect to see the successful second-placed
team alongside the USS Intrepid at 18:00 local
time today.
Bristol
Clipper, racing for third place, has obviously
had a tough day too. Only managing 32 miles in
the last 12 hours, all that skipper Binks had
time to report was that he just hadn’t had
time to report today!
Liverpool
Clipper remains in fourth position, having kept
the South Westerly winds longer than the boats
ahead and both Liverpool and Glasgow have now
caught up around 20 miles on Bristol. It is not
only the sailing keeping Adam Kyffin and his crew
on their toes though. The weather front passing
over the fleet left its mark on Liverpool Clipper
last night as they were struck by lightening;
luckily the only damage was to the wind instruments
at the top of the mast.
This
same weather front brought with it rather damp
and squally sailing conditions. Passing over Glasgow
Clipper around 21:00 local time, her skipper Rupert
Parkhouse reported that this had left the 5th
placed Scots with a North Westerly wind, Force
4 in strength.
Looking
at the forecasts these Northerly winds will not
be around for too long. After being headed, it
is expected that the wind is going to once again
become light – at best it could blow 10
knots of Southerly breeze, but not for some time.
Although
this will mean that those still racing may be
able to hoist their spinnakers again, we will
not see their miles ticking away too quickly.
A pretty harsh blow from the weather gods as the
‘so near but yet so far’ stamp is
firmly marked.
Back
in the pack, London and New York have caught up
impressively. This may of course have something
to do with a certain amount of horsepower they
have assisting their sailing! Passing Liverpool
and Glasgow Clipper yesterday, both yachts are
not far from Bristol now and will be eager to
berth in New York to begin their maintenance programmes
after their pit stop in Bermuda.
Roger
Steven-Jennings and his Cape Town crew also continue
to make good progress towards New York, with the
remains of the electrical activity around them.
Clipper
2002 - Race 14 Positions
03:00, 24 August 2003
Pos
Yacht Dist To Finish (Nautical Miles)
1 Jersey FINISHED 23/08/03 at 15:45 GMT
2 Hong Kong 62
3 Bristol 233
4 Liverpool 270
5 Glasgow 283
(Rtd) London 241
(Rtd) New York 252
(Rtd) Cape Town 402
n.b.
Cape Town, London and New York are motoring to
New York.
Source:
Clipper
2002/2003 Round The World Race Official Site
