Betreff: Clipper 2002: Man Overboard Recovered
Absender: "Clipper _blanks" 
Empfänger: 
Datum: 29. Jan 2003 15:37


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Press Statement 29/01/03:

MAN OVERBOARD RECOVERED SUCCESSFULLY IN CLIPPER 2002 RACE

Nicola Reading, a 31-year-old Telecoms Marketing Manager from Beccles in
Suffolk, UK, fell overboard whilst racing aboard the 60-foot Cape Town
Clipper yacht in the Pacific Ocean at 08:55 GMT on Tuesday, 28 January.

The incident occurred during the Ko Olina Cup Race from Galapagos to Hawaii,
part of the Clipper 2002 Round the World Yacht Race. The crew member was
successfully recovered, without injury, after 12 minutes in the water.

Nicola, who is competing in the whole eleven-month challenge, fell overboard
during a spinnaker drop. In squally conditions at 23:55 local time on
Monday, 27 January, Nicola was on the foredeck gathering a lowered spinnaker
when a gust caught the sail and pushed her over the side. The crew swiftly
put into operation the man overboard recovery drill they spend so long
practicing and Nicola was brought back on board, shaken but unharmed.

Clipper Ventures’ Chairman, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, said that although
losing someone over the side at night was a skipper’s worst-nightmare
scenario, Nicola’s efficient recovery highlighted the benefit of the crews’
intensive training.

This is the only time an incident of this nature has occurred in the Clipper
Race, which has so far successfully taken over 700 amateur crew around the
world.

ENDS
29th January 2003

Further race information:
Loretta Spridgeon / Tim Hedges
Clipper Ventures plc
Tel: +44 (0) 2380 237088
Fax: +44 (0) 2380 237081
Mobile: +44 (0) 7773 818586
Website: www.clipper-ventures.com


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Betreff: Clipper 2002 Race Report
Absender: "Clipper _blanks" 
Empfänger: 
Datum: 29. Jan 2003 10:26


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Clipper 2002 Race Report
29 January 2003

BEHIND YOU!!

The oncoming watch must have felt as if they were taking part in a maritime
pantomime! Having raced for nearly 4,000 miles the crew of Jersey Clipper
would have had a clear view of their opponents on Bristol as they climbed
out of the companionway hatch.

As Richard Butler's Bristol team slowly edged between Jersey Clipper and the
finish line, skipper Simon Rowell decided the time had come for dramatic
action and gybed to cover them. This was probably a sensible move as all the
teams will need to put a lot of westing in to get to the finish line, but it
has forced them into a close quartered match race with the other boat now
less then three miles away on their port quarter.

Not surprisingly Bristol skipper Richard Butler and his crew are rather
pleased to be so close to the first position, but did make the point that
the pressure really is now on.

Further back Glasgow and Hong Kong reindex locked in battle, with Hong Kong
performing exactly the same manoeuvre as Jersey Clipper. They too have gybed
to cut across in front of Glasgow but have just missed the slot and reindex
just under three miles behind. The question now is whether Glasgow will gybe
to cover them.

The distances involved in ocean racing do cause one to reconsider what
constitutes a long and short time! Race Director, Colin de Mowbray, made
the point a few days ago that although the boats were nearly there they
still had the equivalent of a Fastnet Race left to sail. Certainly for the
crews breaking through the last thousand mile barrier has great
psychological importance and with 24 hour runs of 200 miles, the days fly
by.

With two boats clearly in sight of one another and nearly at the finish, the
reindexing 340 miles to go promise to be especially hard fought. The strict
routine of the watch system is likely to break down at this point, as the
crews pull out all the stops to gain that extra ounce of boat speed. There
will certainly be some tired crews stepping ashore at the Ko Olina Resort
and Marina, as no team will want to miss the moment of overtaking or pulling
away.

The weather is currently pleasant, if a little light; duty skipper Richard
Butler reports a clear sky and 15 knots of breeze from the east south east.
Today's weather chart (see the Race Viewer at www.clipper-ventures.com)
shows the conditions the fleet can expect as they close Oahu, with a small
area of high pressure to the west and disturbance around the islands.

The chart also shows how the islands currently lie exactly at the
convergence point of the easterly trades the boats have been experiencing
and the rather unusual westerly winds from a low off to the north west. This
may be a boost to the boats in the east because although they reindex further
from the islands, they could have a better angle of approach as the wind
continues to ease and swing more to the south.

Having been sailing downwind for so long, the boats could well end up having
to tack between the islands and the positions that have been relatively
stable for so long could well end up looking very little like the current
order.

LATEST POSITIONS
04:00, 29 January 2003

Pos    Yacht       Distance to Finish    Distance to Leader
1    Jersey       343 (nm)      0 (nm)
2    Bristol       346          2.9
3    Liverpool    370          27
4    London    372         28
5    Glasgow    455          111
6    Hong Kong    458          114
7    Cape Town    516         172
8    _blank York    611          267

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


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