Betreff: Clipper 2002 Race Report
Absender: "Clipper _blanks" 
Empfänger: 
Datum: 06. Dec 2002 12:33

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CLIPPER 2002 RACE REPORT
_blank YORK CLIPPER APPROACHES FINISH...

Leaves on the line!
6, December 2002

The Clipper Race can be great fun. During their time on board, the crews
experience the highs of ocean racing and glean many wonderful memories of
the stopover ports and the people they have sailed with. However there can
be lows as well; the frustration of being becalmed whilst your competition
screams towards the finish, the fear and discomfort inherent in an ocean
storm, or just the inevitable, petty niggles amongst a bunch of tired people
living in a confined space. As anyone who has been following the boat
diaries will gather, it is not rosy sunshine all of the time.

The crews' low moments, though unpleasant at the time, are fairly
insignificant in the greater scheme of the eleven-month race and should
therefore be seen in perspective. They could be stuck in a traffic jam on
the way to work after all, or stranded at a train station as yet another
service is cancelled. Currently for Chris Hazeldene and the crew aboard
London Clipper, the Tube is definitely on strike! Despite a fairly
respectable 24 hour run, they are now well and truly becalmed. In a
communication to Race Control at 09:30 they had barely moved since the 04:00
position report.

The forecasts have been predicting a drop in wind strength for the last few
days, but so far the wind had held. It looked as though the fleet would all
have experienced a fast finishing run over the few reindexing miles. Race
Director, Colin de Mowbray, had even gone so far as to predict a lunchtime
arrival for _blank York (Cuban lunch). And that of course blew it! The wind has
dropped from 25 knots to 7 and _blank York Clipper’s speed dropped to 6 knots.
For London Clipper even this would have been gratefully received. The only
redeeming feature for them is that Hong Kong, now so close behind, have been
equally stricken.

The big gains, even before the wind really dropped, have been amongst the
rearguard three of Liverpool, Glasgow and Cape Town - with Liverpool Clipper
pulling up an impressive 22 miles on Jersey. However, like an obstacle in
the road they know that they too will soon slow up.

What could make this bottle jam particularly interesting is that the yachts
most affected are sitting right in the middle of the Grand Bahama Channel.
This is a 10-mile wide passage between the spectacular cays and reefs off
the coast of Cuba and the southern most extremity of the Bahamas bank, where
the sea bed rises from hundreds of metres to less than one within a quarter
of a mile. This severely limits the yachts’ options and allows them no room
to adjust course to either avoid an area of light wind, or steer a course to
maximise what wind there is...

The Hemingway International Yacht Club of Cuba is set to host an eventful
race stopover, which promises to be highly popular with the Clipper crews.
As the fleet make their final run into Havana, the reports will be coming
direct from the Race Office Team at the Marina Hemingway, with regular
updates available at www.clipper-ventures.com

CLIPPER 2002 LATEST POSITIONS
04:00, 6 December 2002

Pos    Yacht       Distance To Finish
1    _blank York    137 (nautical miles)
2    Bristol       204
3    London    261
4    Hong Kong    276
5    Jersey       302
6    Liverpool    357
7    Glasgow    358
8    Cape Town    366

Clipper _blanks Distribution
Clipper Ventures Plc
Tel: +44 (0) 2380 237088
Fax: +44 (0) 2380 237081
Email: distribution@clipper-ventures.com
Web: www.clipper-ventures.com


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