Betreff: Clipper 2002 Race Report
Absender: "Clipper _blanks" 
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Datum: 17. Jan 2003 11:55

Clipper 2002 Race Report
17 January 2003

HONG KONG BREAKS THROUGH.

After only a very brief spell in the doldrums, Hong Kong Clipper now seems
to have clear wind almost all the way to Hawaii. With 30 knots of wind from
the east, they are now able to head straight to the finish line and we will
soon see an increase in their daily runs as they alternate between a poled
out headsail and their heavy weight spinnaker.

Hong Kong's northern position will also start to look less extreme as some
of the boats in the south begin to head more to the north. Looking at this
morning's position chart at www.clipper-ventures.com, we can clearly see
that London Clipper for one are beginning to carve northwards and it will be
interesting to see how much they converge with Hong Kong over the next few
days.

The ideal situation when crossing the variable belt of the ITCZ "doldrums"
is to be moving north as it drifts south, thus passing through the belt in
the shortest possible space of time. The worst is to get caught as it too
drifts northwards. Looking at the weather map on our Raytech Navigator
software, it seems that the low pressure associated with the ITCZ is indeed
moving south which could prove most beneficial for the boats that do choose
to head north today.

As it stands London Clipper would seem to have about 100 miles at most
before they break clear to the north and possibly less if the forecast holds
good. Jersey, Cape Town and Glasgow will also be worth watching at this
point and the daily runs shown on this afternoon's position reports will
tell us much about conditions locally.

However, even with the best of forecasts it is easy to be wise from our
armchairs! In reality the effects of the ITCZ are so localised that only
real time satellite pictures can really tell you what is going on.

Bristol Clipper, steaming along in clear wind to the south of the pack have
been very certain of the wisdom of their course and by rights this should
have continued until they too chose to head north at the point where skipper
Richard Butler thought the ITCZ was at its narrowest. Yet lo and behold at
about 03:00 GMT this morning they were struggling to make progress in only 5
knots of breeze. They had still managed a good run, but as the day wore on
had slowly increased sail as the breeze died, flopping around under
windseeker by the time of the 04:00 radio sched.

Moral should be good on Cape Town Clipper at the moment. Not only are they
in a very respectable 5th place but the sun is shining and they have
finished the repair to their medium weight spinnaker. With much trepidation
they finally re-hoisted it, rivets and all, and flew it successfully for
over 7 hours, though their latest report mentions that they have now
sensibly changed down to the heavyweight as the wind has increased a little.
Sun and a good wind! In fact, the only fly in the ointment seems to be the
discovery of a healthy population of maggots around a ruptured tin of fruit.
Sailing in the tropics can have its disadvantages!

Our apologies go to former Clipper skipper, Mervyn Wheatley, who was quick
to point out that Thermopylae was in fact 4th into Hawaii in the 96 race and
not 5th as reported, and that 900 miles was the north south difference in
the fleet, not the distance they were behind. And showing that the Clipper
bug really is a hard one to get out of the system, a 2000 crew member from
Plymouth Clipper emailed to remind us that they too had gone north early and
had subsequently won into Hawaii after a nail biting duel to finish with
Bristol and London.

It's good to know that many of those involved in past races are following
Clipper 2002, eager to find out which of the international Clippers will
lift the Ko Olina Cup in Hawaii this time around!

LATEST POSITIONS
04:00, 17 January 2003

Pos    Yacht       Distance to Finish
1    Jersey       2788.31 (nautical miles)
2    London       2807.64
3    Bristol       2828.52
4    Liverpool    2831.90
5    Cape Town    2855.42
6    Glasgow    2871.96
7    _blank York    2874.17
8    Hong Kong    3071.57

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

Race 5 Galapagos to Hawaii - THE KO OLINA CUP
Clipper 2002 visit to Hawaii will be hosted by Ko Olina Marina and Resort
www.koolinamarina.com