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Times Clipper 2000 Fleet set sail on the San Fernando Race


Author: Sue Warden-Owen

The Times Clipper 2000 eight-strong fleet of identical 60-foot yachts set sail from Hong Kong today, 12th April 2001 at 12:00 local (0500 BST) on the biennial San Fernando Race, a 480 nautical mile offshore contest across the South China Sea to the Philippines. Perfect conditions at the start of Race 9 (of 16) saw Bristol Clipper secure an excellent start in 7 knots of North-Easterly breeze and bright sunshine, quite uncommon during Hong Kong's monsoon season.

Spectators joined an impressive flotilla of boats including the Junk
'Frantonios' to watch the start of the San Fernando Race, as 32 competitors
vied for the best position at the start line. The line was stretched out
from Junk Bay, some 3 miles from the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, and there
was no way the Start Official, even a high Court Judge of the Hong Kong
Court, Graham Jackson, could manage to create a windward start, so the
yachts set off on a reach.

The build up to the start saw the Clippers mixing it with the other yachts,
but perhaps in deference to a Judge, no one dared be over the line at the
start. As Graham Jackson subsequently commented, "At the start the fleet
was wisely timorous" - well, who was going to risk being arraigned for
contempt! Showing no lack of either, Bristol Clipper was first to cross,
third in the whole fleet, soon followed by Liverpool and Leeds. Plymouth,
London, Portsmouth, Glasgow and Jersey followed. The wind had been fresh
to strong during the morning, but it fell away to 7 knots as the start gun
was fired, enough to give the yachts good speed and control.

Junk Bay is outside the main harbour in Hong Kong, on the eastern approach, but there is still a large amount of shipping using the channel and perhaps honours should go to a container ship that sailed serenely through the fleet just as the gun went! Naturally the lightweight flyers took the lead, when a boat weighs less than 20 tons and has a waterline of nearly 80 feet it is bound to leap ahead, but the Clipper yachts were packed into the middle of the fleet and powering along in comfortable conditions.

An hour after the start, Leeds Clipper held a slight lead of perhaps 20 yards over the next Clipper yacht London. Glasgow Clipper had moved into fourth place, although a small veer in the wind would give her the lead. Leeds Clipper, under her new temporary skipper, Ras Turner, winner of the
1996 Clipper race, was showing a new aggression, and everyone is watching to see how Ras fares against his fellow Plymouthian, Matt Baker, skippering Plymouth Clipper. These two have raced against each other many times before and have old scores to settle.

The forecast for the leg is east to northeasterly winds of force 4 - 5 (16 - 21 knots) along a straight course roughly to the southeast. However past experience says to expect the wind to decrease or even disappear as the yachts approach the Philippines. If this happens the heavier Clippers, carrying food for 55 days instead of plastic bags of sandwiches, will have to rely upon the momentum of their heavier displacement to keep themselves moving. With Hong Kong representing the halfway stage of the eleven month Times Clipper 2000, the Clipper crews are no longer novices, but this will be the first time they have been able to try their skills against other yachtsmen.

The fleet will enjoy an official Beach Party in San Fernando, a bustling market town situated 140 miles north of Manila, on Monday 16th April starting around midday. Following their brief stopover in San Fernando, the Clipper fleet will sail down to Raffles Marina Club in Singapore for a 7-day visit before the fourth leg of The Times Clipper 2000 concludes in Mauritius on 26th May 2001.

The fleet then races to Cape Town, otherwise known as the Tavern of the Seas, before embarking on the crossing of the Southern Atlantic to the port of Salvador in Brazil. Leaving Salvador, the final leg of The Times Clipper 2000 sees the yachts head north to a newly introduced stopover in New York. To ensure a close and exciting finish, they will also enjoy a high-profile 3-day race stopover in the beautiful Channel Island of Jersey, before the final sprint to the homecoming celebrations in Portsmouth on 21st September 2001.

More Information:

  • YachtsandYachting.com Clipper2000 Round the World Yacht Race Page
  • www.clipper-ventures.com

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