Around Alone 2002 - 2003 dates announced

by Mary Ambler on 2 Jul 2001 Race organisers, Clipper Ventures plc, have announced the start dates for each leg, although the New Zealand ports are still under negotiation, allowing the 28 registered
competitors to continue with the preparation of their campaigns. Race Chairman, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston said that a great deal of time had gone into researching the average speeds of the anticipated fleet which looks to be significantly faster than in 1998, the last time Around Alone was raced. 'We have reduced the overall time of
Around Alone by nearly a month. The schedule is challenging, but speeds in recent races have shown it to be perfectly possible and we remain conscious of costs of the fleet in long stopovers and have thus reduced stopover times in each port, whilst still allowing for boat repairs to be carried out in time for the start of the following leg.'

Knox-Johnston reported. Start dates of legs 2­5 will be reconfirmed 24 hours after the first boat crosses the finish line.

Race Schedule: Start (Newport, RI to Torbay) : Sunday 15th September 2002

Leg 2 (Torbay to Cape Town) : Sunday 13th October 2002

Leg 3 (Cape Town to New Zealand) : Sunday 1st December 2002

Leg 4 (New Zealand to Salvador, Brazil) : Sunday 26th January 2003

Leg 5 (Salvador to Newport) : Sunday 23rd March 2003

The first boats are expected to complete the round the world race in Newport around 14th April 2003, with the remainder of the fleet finishing by 23rd April 2003.