Clipper boats head up African coast

Boats bound for Salvador

The Clipper 2002 racing yachts are romping along with 22-26 knots of wind on their starboard quarter as they head up the African coast. What a great breakout they have achieved compared with other races leaving Cape Town, which have often been becalmed and then become widely dispersed as a result.

The fleet has definitely cleared its account with the Great Wind God this time, as the yachts have avoided a good three or four day beat against the usual northwesters. As a result they are well up on their schedule for the predicted 22-day race to Salvador in Brazil and this will stand them in good stead for their planned arrival date of Monday, 21 July.

The winds are due to lighten, but nevertheless the teams will be working out that they could arrive early into Salvador. With their current daily runs around 230 miles, this may well prove to be the case.

Rory Gillard, skippering London Clipper, thinks that it will be worth the extra miles going further north and he has now been joined by Cape Town Clipper and, somewhat predictably, by Ross Daniel on New York - the heavenly twin brothers are together again!

Conversely Rupert Parkhouse and the Scots in Glasgow Clipper follow the national tradition of heading south and are the lone guardians of the southern flank. This is possibly a slightly higher risk strategy but there is nothing to say it is not going to work and if it does full credit to them.

Bristol and Jersey are tearing up the middle of the course with a nose ahead of Hong Kong and Liverpool. Overall the fleet is only spread out in a 45-mile front and a mere 25 miles covers the DTG basis (Distance To Go) between the yachts. Because they are still heading well north of the direct line to the finish, the spread between first and last is more like 13 miles.

While the crews swath their tracks down the Atlantic rollers in the bright phosphorescence under their heavyweight kites, it is a timely moment to reflect on the fleet's visit to Cape Town. Without exception the crew loved their time in the South Africa and a large number will be returning to see more of this wonderful country and its friendly people.

All will share that everlasting memory of five teams arriving at the Prize Giving Reception straight from the jetty. As they entered the Royal Cape Yacht Club the welcome was unbelievable and the grins remained firmly in place from that moment on. The City of Cape Town supported the visit magnificently and the pride and enthusiasm for the skipper and crew of Cape Town Clipper was heart-warming.

The Cape Town restart, with the Clipper fleet visiting the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, provided one of our best ever send-offs and drew massive crowds. Our thanks for this go to Executive Mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo and Derek Vander Merwe, CEO of the V & A, as well as their respective staffs.

One of the most delightful moments of the departure was when Councillor Lydia Anderson announced that, thanks to sponsorship by Gemini Ribs, crew member Marvin Sampson was going to be able to continue the race aboard Cape Town Clipper all the way to Liverpool. This is not just tremendous news for Marvin, but also a great boost to the development of youth sailing back in Cape Town. Go Marvin!

Clipper 2002 - Race 13 Positions
03:00, 3 July 2003

Pos Yacht Distance to Finish (nautical miles)
1 Jersey 2,705
2 Glasgow 2,708
3 Hong Kong 2,712
4 Bristol 2,713
5 Liverpool 2,715
6 Cape Town 2,728
7 New York 2,731
8 London 2,734