Betreff: Clipper 2002 Race Report
Absender: "Clipper _blanks" 
Empfänger: "Irvin Krumnacker" 
Datum: 20. Feb 2003 11:45


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>From Clipper Ventures
To: Dr Irvin Krumnacker
E-mail: Dr.Krumnacker@t-online.de


Dear Dr Irvin

Clipper 2002 Race Report
20 February 2003

LONDON LEADS THE WAY

After a slow day yesterday the wind has picked up again throughout the
fleet, but for the first time since the race start from Hawaii being in the
south has really paid off.

Both Bristol and Jersey have had substantially higher runs than the boats
further north and both skippers will be feeling vindicated that their
strategy is beginning to pay off. However Japan is also a long way north, a
fact not lost on the London Clipper crew who have jumped two places into
first position by heading almost directly for Japan. Is this it? Have they
decided that now is the time to go for it, or will they resume their
westerly course?

Certainly during the Clipper 98 race the first and second boats to reach the
finish line were the first two to split from the fleet and head north.
Whilst those that hung on in the south caught up a lot latterly, it was
never quite enough to recoup all the extra miles they sailed. This will
become clearer over the next few days, and if London Clipper really does
continue on her north westerly course, the next question will be who will be
first to follow.

Both Hong Kong and Glasgow would be in a strong position if they chose to do
so and as both have led at times during this race they may well chose to do
exactly that, rather than see London's lead increase.

Bristol and Jersey are really committed to their current strategy and
certainly Bristol skipper Richard Butler is happy being the western most
boat. In his mind, "This is what matters at the moment. It's still a long
way before we should be heading north towards Japan, so northing isn't yet
very important."

_blank York Clipper also reindexs committed to the south, but for Liverpool and
Cape Town things are much less clear cut. They could choose either route,
but what is certain is that they will not want to just join the end of a
procession and a dramatic move at this stage may make a big difference in a
couple of weeks time.

The other big _blanks is that the crews have just lost a day of their lives! As
they cross the international date line they change from being 12 hours
behind the UK to 12 hours ahead, so for some Wednesday hardly happened.

This also means that they will soon all be in the eastern hemisphere and
that they really have now sailed halfway around the world. In some respects
the crews will now be sailing nearer to home rather than further away
(apologies to all non UK residents!), although in purely mileage terms they
have yet to reach halfway.

LATEST POSITIONS
03:00 GMT 20 February 2003

Pos    Yacht       Distance to Finish (nautical miles)
1    London    2195.55
2    Glasgow    2206.90
3    Hong Kong    2216.00
4    Liverpool    2263.37
5    Bristol       2286.50
6    Cape Town    2290.08
7    Jersey       2338.33
8    _blank York    2413.47

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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