Heavy rain and fickle winds greet Clipper fleet

'The start of the Race to New York - Clipper 07-08. Picture by Gareth Parry-Jones Hull & Humber' Clipper Ventures Plc &copy

Following the Le Mans start yesterday the teams have had to battle with squally conditions bringing with them occasional heavy rain and patches of light wind.

'It has been an interesting race so far with trimming and good helming the priorities,' says Ricky Chalmers, skipper of Durban 2010 and Beyond. 'The wind has been moving around a lot with squally cloud wind and the occasional downpour with a zero wind aftermath to make it interesting.

'We are up with Hull & Humber, New York and Uniquely Singapore, however four of the other boats have stormed up to the west in obviously better winds and I think our group is now about five miles behind them. I am not sure where
the two remaining boats are, I think to starboard and well behind.'

Fleet after re-start Clipper 07-08 - Clipper VenturesPlc &copy

As the fleet heads north the teams have had to make the tactical decision of which side of the Bahamian islands to take. The latest positions show the boats have split into two distinct groups with eight teams leaving the islands of Acklins and Crooked on their port side and only Nova Scotia and Liverpool 08 choosing the eastern route.

Joff Bailey, Race Director, says, 'We will know tomorrow which group has made the best decision as possible wind holes in the lee of the islands could slow some of the teams down. Once through the islands the fleet will be back into the Atlantic Ocean for the first time since last November.'

One team looking forward to reaching the open waters of the Atlantic is Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper. Skipper Hannah Jenner says, 'After the dramas of the fishing net yesterday morning the race start and sailing since has kept us on our toes. We do not have a good history of sailing in the vicinity of islands and our current position has us surrounded by them. It will be good to get back out into the Atlantic again!'

One of the teams in the vicinity of Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper is the WA entry, westernaustralia2011.com. Following their race start yesterday, skipper Martin Silk, says, ' As darkness fell Great Inagua Island loomed ahead and we tacked early to avoid light winds, taking a slight knock as the wind then shifted to the north east. Fortunately we now have the better angle as we jostle with Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper and others around us. We are anticipating ongoing lifts and thinking for once that the GRIB files hold some truth!'