Betreff: Clipper 2002 Race Report
Absender: "lspridgeon" 
Empfänger:
Datum: 22. Aug 2003 19:39


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Clipper 2002 Race Report
20 June 2003

ALL PAIRED UP

Yesterday afternoon saw a dramatic change of fortunes for the leaders of
the Clipper 2002 fleet, as Jersey snuck in ahead of Bristol in very
light conditions. Both yachts found they had drifted out of the current
and gybed back offshore a few hundred metres apart.

Jersey Clipper was first to get back on the conveyor belt and soon
opened out a lead of over a mile. At 15:00 yesterday Bristol's Richard
Butler stated the true wind was northerly 3 knots, their boat speed
through the water was 1.3 knots and their speed over the ground was 6.1
knots.

After a calm night of hunting the index current, Jersey had opened out a
10 mile lead but just one slip and Bristol will regain the lead. It is
decision time as the two rivals approach the Aghulas Bank and their
friendly current turns south west round the bank and away from the
westerly course they need for Cape Point.

Jersey will try and cover Bristol and conversely Bristol will be trying
to regain the lead by taking a different approach to the same problem.
With over a hundred mile gap to third placed London Clipper, Richard
Butler will not be looking astern.

Whether it is fun and games at the front, or just outright warfare,
there is also plenty of action further back. Rory Gillard in London and
Ross Daniel in New York are taking their friendly rivalry to the limit.
Having been moved out of third place 36 hours ago when Rory took London
round the north of them, the gap opened up some 10 miles. As dawn breaks
this morning London will see New York a couple of miles astern after
their top scoring 122 mile during the last 12 hours; they mean to even
the account.

Liverpool Clipper, who have been following the 1,000 metre contour, have
had a better period than the others and have probably ridden the current
more successfully. Their 12 hour run of 88 miles has been enough to move
them ahead of Cape Town Clipper, who are further inshore.

Glasgow Clipper reindexs more to seaward and is close behind the local
team on a distance to run basis. Justin Taylor sounded in remarkably
good form and Hong Kong Clipper continue their spirited chase, this time
closing the leaders by another 30 miles in 12 hours.

The weather reindexs under the influence of the high pressure area over
Southern Africa. This has managed to keep the 'Lows' to the south. The
result is glorious sunshine and weather in the area, although the winds
are fairly variable. This will mean the ETAs will be difficult to
predict but now that the leaders have slowed down it is looking as
though they may arrive in daylight on Saturday morning.

If this was to happen it would be quite out of character from the normal
03:00 arrival. If the others made good progress, London and New York
could finish late on Saturday or during the night. I suspect the others
to arrive throughout Sunday. There is also a possibility of them getting
stuck on the various Capes while all the supporters enjoy the wonderful
hospitality of the Royal Cape Yacht Club.

Clipper 2002 - Race 12 Positions
03:00, 20 June 2003

Pos     Yacht        Distance to Finish (nautical miles)
1     Jersey          251
2     Bristol          261
3     London      361
4     New York     364
5     Liverpool     420
6     Cape Town     432
7     Glasgow      435
8     Hong Kong     451

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Clipper 2002 Round the World Yacht Race
Race 12 Mauritius to Cape Town ETA 21/06/03