Betreff: Clipper 2002 Race Report
Absender: "Clipper _blanks" 
Empfänger: 
Datum: 19. Feb 2003 11:48


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Clipper 2002 Race Report
19 February 2003

WEST IS DEFINITELY NOT BEST

After a good night yesterday, things today have slowed down a little. Duty
skipper Adam Kyffin aboard Liverpool Clipper reported that the 12 to 15
knots of wind from the southeast that had given them such pleasant
conditions have now been replaced by, of all things, light winds from the
west.

Adam described how the wind initially increased as the sky, previously
clear, steadily clouded over. As the wind increased so it also veered more
to the south prompting a peel from lightweight spinnaker direct to
heavyweight, a sail more suited to reaching in the fresher breeze.

Some 4 hours later it all changed again as they approached a squally bank of
cloud and were steadily headed until they were left with a frustrating 5 to
7 knots of westerly breeze.

This has forced them to choose between heading to the north or south of
their desired track. Adam has said that, although north takes them closer to
Japan, he does not yet want to make that call.

London Clipper has taken a slightly northern tack, whilst Bristol and Jersey
have elected to sail even more to the south with Bristol now down to 18
degrees 56 north. Most are still heading due west to the best of their
abilities and most have still managed reasonable mileages.

Hong Kong Clipper has returned to the front of the pack, having had the
highest run of the day whilst Glasgow have fallen back to third allowing
London to take second place.

They may be in the middle of the fleet, but both Cape Town and Liverpool
have shown impressive runs. With less than 100 miles separating them from
the leaders and with over 2,000 miles still to run, they are definitely in
contention.

_blank York Clipper has had the worst run of the day with just over 120 miles
sailed. We have no reports of damage so it is likely that they have just had
the blunt end of the weather.

LATEST POSITIONS
03:00 GMT 19 February 2003

Pos    Yacht       Distance to Finish (nm)
1    Hong Kong    2316.85
2    London    2320.24
3    Glasgow    2320.27
4    Liverpool    2364.16
5    Cape Town    2390.43
6    Bristol       2436.91
7    Jersey       2480.93
8    _blank York    2502.33

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 6 Hawaii to Yokohama
Clipper 2002 visit to Yokohama 8 - 13 March 2003


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