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24 January 2003, 11:04 am

Fleet Split Towards the Final Approaches

Clipper 2002/2003 Round the World Race

Galapagos - Hawaii

Jersey and Bristol, the more southerly boats, are enjoying their tussle together. Richard Butler and his crew are not going to give up their fight easily and each report they send mentions every mile lost or gained.

In long races like this, it may be difficult to imagine that each small gain makes too much difference. But remember, all of those small gains add up and Jersey's Simon Rowell ought not to relax just yet.

Meanwhile in the middle of the pack, the Liverpudlians are chasing London Clipper. Having made a little separation over the last 24-hours, perhaps skipper Adam will try to 'undertake' the Cockney Clipper. With this being the Londoners' last race with relief skipper Ed Green, we can be sure that they will be trimming their hearts out as they surf those Pacific waves - one to watch!

In the North, the Hong Kong and Glasgow pairing also enjoys this feisty weather. Justin Taylor aboard Hong Kong Clipper yesterday reported the fleet speed record so far of 18.9 knots. Imagine the noise down below as a huge quantity of water surges along the hulls of the boat on surf like this. Fantastic!

And what of our final pair? News back from both Cape Town and New York Clipper yesterday confirmed that they were having a great time and loving the current conditions. However, they were having to sit on their hands a little as the temptation to hoist fragile spinnakers in these strong winds was getting too much. All is not lost though; all too often boats come roaring towards their next port of call and find themselves in ever decreasing winds...
What a week it has been for the skippers and crew alike!! We have seen some amazing sailing, great speeds and fantastic reports from exhilarated crews.

A bit of easy maths will illustrate the huge distances that the boats have covered in the last seven days. Jersey, London and Bristol have averaged 1,700 nautical miles in seven days (just over 240nm every 24 hours"). Pretty good going and there are a few fingers leafing through the terms and conditions of their plane tickets because of it!

With New York Clipper having 1614nm to go, we ponder if the whole fleet will arrive at the newly built Ko Olina Marina and Resort before the Clipper Race Office team does?

LATEST POSITIONS, 24/01/03, 0400 GMT

Position	Yacht Name	Distance to Finish
1	Jersey	1387 (nautical miles)
2	London	1405
3	Bristol	1411
4	Liverpool	1420.6
5	Hong Kong	1510
6	Glasgow	1517
7	Cape Town	1530
8	New York	1614.72