Fog bound Clipper fleet heads for Halifax
'Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper's David Jack on fog watch Photo: Colin Sherriff - Clipper 07-08'
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Ventures Plc ©
'Still appalling visibility but every time it clears we find ourselves within spitting distance of the other boats. All exciting stuff playing dodgems with blindfolds on!' says Qingdao skipper, Marcus Cholerton-Brown.
Fog has been enveloping the fleet since the departure from New York in poor visibility on Wednesday morning and all of the skippers report keeping a constant radar watch for other vessels, as well as extra lookouts on deck.
Following a relatively slow start in light winds on Wednesday, all of the teams started to make good progress on Thursday as they passed the Nantucket Shoal and started to head on a more northerly course towards Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Those teams that stayed slightly further south found that they suffered more than others from patchy winds and winds from the wrong angle as the latest low pressure system has swept over the fleet.
While friends and family gathering in Halifax to welcome the fleet to Nova Scotia are enjoying blue skies and sunshine, the weather system that has brought fair weather to them means something entirely different for the ten yachts racing towards their next port of call.
Race Director Joff Bailey says, 'Over the next 24 hours the Atlantic high pressure system will exert a great deal of influence over the fleet as it expands to encompass the area in which the yachts are currently sailing and that's going to make progress towards the finish difficult and slow.'
Overnight Durban 2010 and Beyond and westernaustralia2011.com who had been trailing the rest of the fleet have made a move northeast in anticipation of the weather to come. Once again, the racing is extremely close, with just nine miles separating first and tenth places. In previous races the teams have enjoyed visual contact with their closest competitors but in this race they don't have the luxury of seeing what the other boats are up to.
Liverpool 08's skipper Ben Galloway says, 'Another close race. The weather is cold and foggy and we can't see the boats in front which are only a mile and a bit ahead, so everyone is keeping their eyes open.
Nova Scotia's skipper, Rob McInally, says visibility's bad. 'The dark allowed all ten yachts to be seen by their navigation lights,' he says. 'At the moment we can just about see the bow of the boat. Twice we have wriggled around fishing vessels and have now changed back to our number 1 Yankee because the wind has eased slightly.'
Nova Scotia and the other nine yachts of the Clipper 07-08 fleet are due to arrive in Halifax on Sunday afternoon. They will sail in formation into Halifax Harbour and will be moored at Cable Wharf until they leave for Sydney, Cape Breton Island, in the Democracy 250 Race on Thursday 12 June. The 270-mile race to the northeastern tip of the Province is one of the events marking the birth of democracy in Canada is not one of the 14 official races in the Clipper 07-08 series. 
www.clipperroundtheworld.com
Berths are now available for the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race. For more information on applying to become a crew member email oceanracer@clipperroundtheworld.comcall the Crew Recruitment Manager on +44 (0) 2392 526000. There is a crew recruitment presentation for prospective Canadian crew at the Westin Nova Scotian Hotel, Halifax, on Sunday 8 June at 1300 local time. The Clipper Race is open to anyone over the age of 18 and there is no upper age limit.
by Clipper event media 
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