Clipper 2002/2003 Race - Deep water here we come!
09:26, 13 September 2003
by Sarah Beaugeard

As the leaders leave the well known area of the grand banks and get ready to sail once more in the deep waters of the North Atlantic, they are still “bowling along” as Adam Kyffin told us this morning.

Having again covered just over 200 miles in the last twenty four hours, the fleet has reported that they were sailing in winds gusting up to 40 knots WNW last night. Thankfully we have had this confirmed by more than one yacht. Liverpool Clipper, our duty boat this week, do not have any wind instruments at present so are learning the art of the educated guess – probably a good thing when it gets feisty like this! With the wind aft of the beam the fleet really are having an exciting ride – although too windy for spinnakers, polling out the yankee one or reaching North with headsails in these kind of winds makes memorable sailing.

Helping the memory banks file this race correctly is the wildlife that the crews are seeing too. Glasgow Clipper skipper Rupert Parkhouse joined many other reports to confirm that “it is like a sea park out here…we have had whales breaching spectacularly astern of us and earlier on today we had to alter course to avoid sailing into one huge beast”. Thanks to the up-welling of water and the currents in the area, it really does make this part of the North Atlantic an incredibly abundant area of wildlife. Quite spectacular.

Back to the race however. Jersey Clipper still out at the front of the fleet has cut North. As Skipper Simon Rowell explains his tactics he keeps them simple. “that's roughly the direction in which we're all going and also I think the stronger winds over the next few days will be in the north” Disagreeing with this is Ross Daniel, Skipper of New York; diving to make a firm stand as the most Southerly boat, Ross has dropped down to seventh, still making 207 miles over 24hours however they are covering the miles same as everyone else, and making the race an interesting one for us to watch!

Liverpool Clipper will be sailing with smiles on their faces, tracking abeam of Bristol Clipper last night, both yachts reported that they could see each other. Liverpool had the edge however and has snuck in front of the competition, now only 7 miles behind Jersey and three miles ahead of Bristol the front runners are really keeping it close.

The rest of the fleet have fallen slightly back widening the gap between third and fourth. Not wanting to disappoint their audience though, they too are keeping the racing close. Glasgow, Cape Town and London are this morning all equal fourth,26 miles behind Jersey now. London Clipper are however further to the North than their other place sharing Clippers. Relishing in the sailing conditions, Carol Andrews, a leg 6 crewmember wrote this morning that “Pushing the boat and yourselves is amazing, then you realise that both can give some more….this is sailing at its best – I love it!

That leaves us with two, the yachts at the bottom of the table are our fleet gamblers. New York Clipper as we mentioned earlier are way down South hoping that they have the weather right, and Hong Kong Clipper are one of the more Northerly boats and are pegging their hopes and potentially their podium position overall on the wind staying North with them. It never ceases to amaze me that eight boats and eight skippers all getting the same weather information can read it in so many different ways! The right answer? Well, of course it all depends which isobars and wind barbs you chose to believe!

In the race office, a very short synopsis of the forecast over the next week is that it the wind is unfortunately going to tail off over the weekend. As the fleet is already reporting 25knots WNWerly now, this falls into line. It also appears that it may die off from the North first. This means that Rosco has the right idea in staying South and may keep the breeze longer. However, Jersey and Bristol fans, do not start panicking yet! At the beginning of next week we expect the breeze to fill back in, from the North, as a high pressure system develops further South. Miles lost could well be clawed back and we may well see a real mix up of the fleet; making for some fantastic and once more, nail biting racing as the fleet continues East.

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