Clipper fleet battles for top position

by Helena Broadribb on 26 Jul 2006 This Saturday afternoon one of the crews will lift the trophy that is to be flown from St. Helier to Liverpool today by reigning Overall Race Winner, 2002 Jersey Skipper Simon Rowell, now Clipper’s Assistant Race Director. Each 68ft Clipper will have their sights set on the remaining 15 points up for grabs in the next two relatively short races.

With Western Australia and Durban at the top of the overall leader board their final fight for the coveted Clipper Cup has begun. However, after New York's win out of her home port into Jersey, eyes are now on the Jersey Clipper which has received such a warm welcome into Jersey to see whether it will give her crew that all important boost in the race ahead.

The current 370-mile race takes the fleet to Holyhead where they will make a brief pit stop before they embark on the final race, Race 13, to Liverpool, coming back into the port where the race began 10 months and 35,000 miles ago.

Clippers depart Jersey for penultimate nail biter: After a windless morning when thoughts throughout the fleet were on whether there would be enough wind to start, the yachts’ battle flags began to flutter and high-level cloud started to creep across the sky. So it was that after a blisteringly hot few days in Jersey, the fleet left St. Helier with overcast skies and a hint of rain.

The start line was off Noirmont Point, a couple of miles west of St. Helier harbour and after a brief procession around St. Aubin’s Bay the fleet began their pre-start preparations where they were joined by a pod of dolphins who played around the boats on cue. The hint of rain turned into a full scale downpour and the starting committee, gunnery crew and spectators lining the cliffs muttered about bad timing, but with the rain came wind and the boats began to heel as they jockeyed for position. This was just as well as there was about a knot or so of tide against them and too little wind would have meant a struggle to cross. As it was by the time of the 10-minute gun they were able to make good progress and when the Lieutenant Governor fired the starting gun Durban Clipper was able to surge across the line closely followed by Victoria, Glasgow, westernaustralia.com, New York, Cardiff, Jersey, Uniquely Singapore, Qingdao and Liverpool. And as an added bonus the rain stopped.

The fleet is now heading towards the western tip of the island before turning to the northwest to head towards Lands End. The forecast shows a steady westerly airflow as a weak low pressure system drifts in from the Atlantic so progress should remain reasonable and we expect them to arrive in Holyhead sometime on Thursday evening.

As well as the winds, the crews will also have to contend with strong tidal streams. These will have a major effect on the fleet’s progress and will offer both help and hindrance as the fleet head north. Boats that get it right will reap big rewards but for those that get it wrong the penalties could be high as they fight against the adverse flow. This may well lead to big splits in the fleet and the finishes in Holyhead could well be separated by hours rather than minutes.