Clipper 2002/2003 Race - Slowing down (but hopefully not for long!)
10:02, 14 September 2003
by Sarah Beaugeard

As predicted today the fleet has slowed down as the area of low pressure directly above them at present sucks away their wind and swirls it around, sail changes have been the order of the day.

With wind backing and veering throughout the night, the foredeck teams have been busy. Emails back from the boats this morning report that most have settled either for reaching with medium weight spinnakers or beating into the light winds with their Genoas up. The wind seems to have settled for the moment into a NNW force 3, certainly a dramatic change from the 40knots that the fleet was wrestling with the night before last.

These changes in the wind have also prompted some changes on the leader board. Simon Rowell and his team onboard Jersey have kept tight hold of their place out front. Simons only problem yesterday was that the boat was “overcome by mass hysteria and removal of clothes when the sun came out” having sailed in such overcast conditions the crew were keen to top up their tans for arrival it seems, but it didn’t last for long! Jersey are now one of the most Northerly boats which is something of note as this could stand them in good stead when (hopefully) the winds fill in once more.

Liverpool have managed to separate themselves from Bristol a little more over night and are now two miles in front of the third placed Bristol team. Desperate to catch the new wind and their main competition, Bristol are the second most Northerly boat in the fleet. No longer visible on the podium is New York Clipper, after completing an astonishing 121 mile run in 12 hours last night, the Southerly advantage has perhaps left Ross and his crew now and they are this morning down into 4th. It will certainly be interesting to watch their progress today however.

Squeezing up into 5th, Hong Kong Clipper had the second highest daily run over twenty four hours. They are however swiftly followed by Cape Town and London on the leader board who are only 2 miles behind the Hong Kong boat. On their coat tails is Glasgow Clipper in eighth, being only 27 miles behind the leaders, the race is still extremely close. It will only take one bad kite drop or squall and we could still see this table turned on its head.

The fleet, as you can see from the position chart, has settled into pairs. Jersey and New York are a pair simply because they are the boats at either ends of the fleet, one in the North and one right down South. We then have Liverpool and Bristol chasing hard also in the North, Hong Kong and London making their way North East, and Glasgow and Cape Town doing the same mid-fleet, all racing East two by two, perhaps all hoping to get into something different, be it wind or current.

Wind wise, we keep our hopes pinned on the forecasted winds to develop in the North tomorrow and speed the fleet back up to the 200 mile a day speeds that they are just short of at present. Now receiving weather fax from the UK (Northwood for those interested) Bristol Skipper Richard Butler reflects on the fact that the fleet is so nearly home today….in relative terms you are Binks but with 1500 miles of the race to Jersey left to run, it is all still to play for, and there are two more races after that!

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