Betreff: Clipper 2002 Race Report
Absender: "Clipper News" 
Empfänger: 
Datum: 19. Sep 2003 16:08


Clipper 2002 Race Report
19 September 2003

HOW'S YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE?

With just over six hundred miles to run to the Channel Island of Jersey,
Race 15 of the Clipper 2002 series looks set to keep us on tenterhooks until
the bitter end.

Last night saw Bristol Clipper sneak into the lead once more, but this
morning, Simon Rowell and his Jersey team have clawed back the lost 4 miles
and are just a mile ahead. “That wasn’t supposed to happen,” contemplated
Bristol skipper Binks.

Continuing to make good progress towards our green and pleasant land, the
Clipper fleet have covered just shy of 200 miles in the last 24 hours.
Liverpool Clipper retains their all-important third place and running down
the leaderboard, the fleet positions reindex unchanged.

As we can see from today’s position chart at www.clipper-ventures.com,
Liverpool and Bristol have sold their soles to the Northerly route and the
North/South divide has become more pronounced.

The Southerly pack of consisting of Cape Town, Glasgow, Hong Kong and New
York have perhaps held onto more wind as they have tightened the gap
slightly on the frontrunners and once again achieved some of the highest
runs of the fleet.

Joining the boys in the South, Jersey Clipper has made more of a southerly
course and looks committed to that route. Sailing with North / North
Westerly winds varying from 8 to 15 knots, skipper Simon reported that they
have the spinnaker pole right forward and are shy reaching with their
mediumweight spinnaker up.

With reports still flooding in of plentiful phosphorescence and the company
of pilot whales, even if they have slowed down a little, the sailing is
still great out there.

With the heavy winds of the past week abating somewhat, it is with great
interest that the crew are listening out for news of Hurricane Isabel,
currently whipping herself up the Eastern seaboard of the States. For now,
perhaps the fleet should be happy with their 15 knots!

Clipper 2002 - Race 15 Positions
03:00, 19 September 2003

Pos     Yacht          Dist To Finish (Nautical Miles)
1     Jersey          645
2     Bristol        646
3     Liverpool      652
4     London      684
5     New York     713
6     Hong Kong     720
7     Glasgow      732
8     Cape Town      751

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


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