The remainder of the fleet are beating up to the finish now, with the wind NE up to force 4, backing to the NNE force 3 later. Liverpool Clipper is now well south of London and the different tactics will determine this close battle for second place.

Jersey Clipper now holds a narrow lead over Leeds, Glasgow and Plymouth but all these four are in a tight group.

Yesterday morning's fresh NE wind brought a welcome break to all the boats but it was a tease. As the yachts approached the Irish coast the wind died and progress once again became painfully slow. Bristol and London were well south and had a dramatic tumble to 7th and 8th place but they were to have the last laugh. Bristol Clipper in particular found their own personal breeze and opened out a 17 miles lead by 15:00 GMT yesterday. This morning she has turned that into a massive 43 mile lead over London Clipper who narrowly leads the chasing pack from her southerly position.

Bob Beggs has become known as an escapologist and clearly his previous experience in the Special Forces is proving most useful. Skippers remember his cunning run into the finish in Japan and again when he broke from the pack en-route to Cape Town. Then he broke free from his chains in the Doldrums to win the race into New York, before snapping at Jersey's heels all the way across the Atlantic. Bob Houdini Beggs has made some good calls over the last 11 months and his fellow skippers now credit him with having gold appendages.

But there is a big twist in the order following yesterday's 15:00(GMT) positions. The wind came from the north just after the last radio schedule and the northern yachts had a good run with the wind for 12 hours, whereas the two Clippers in the south, Bristol and London, had an agonising evening becalmed whilst the others made good ground. The sensation is that both Bob Beggs' Bristol Clipper and Stuart Gibsons' London Clipper have fallen from joint first to seventh and eighth respectively. What an amazingly cruel blow and they will be bitterly disappointed and even more determined to crawl back once again. As London Clipper slipped from 3rd to 8th, then to equal 1st and back to 8th within the last 48 hours, Race Organiser Sir Robin Knox-Johnston commented, "There may have been a race that has provided this much excitement, but I have never heard of one."

The weather system is still not cut and dry. The NE wind is the result of the Low Pressure over the North Sea, but as the yachts approach this low will also move east. The winds should remain but they will not be strong. Possibly Bristol and London were putting their faith in the Low to the SW but this weak feature was blocked and has dissipated to the south and is no longer of any relevance. Ironically yesterday the fleet of Clipper Reflex 38s returning from the weekend regatta in Jersey had to seek shelter from
the gale force winds in Guernsey on their return back to Southampton.

The race is now a 6-pack in the north with Bristol Clipper some 40 miles to the SSW and London a further 10 miles on. The main group are less than 20 miles off the beautiful SW coast of Ireland and should see the famous Bull, Cow and Calf islands off Dursey Head, just to the north of the famous Mizzen Head.

Bristol Clipper has been hanging onto their slender lead with Jersey very much in contention, but the news that has heartened everyone following the race is seeing names like Leeds and Glasgow in third place, as they cross-tack off the Irish coast. Every one now is in with a chance and it is
going to depend on who is in the right place when the wind changes.

Skipper Ed Green reports from Glasgow that it is a case of parking, crawling, parking and crawling, whilst Jersey's skipper Paul De La Haye says that they have changed more sails over the last 24 hours than in 10 days in
the last race and they are both physically and mentally whacked.

London Clipper’s southerly course may be paying off and Bristol Clipper thinks this is where the wind will come from when it picks up again. Bob Beggs tacked Bristol down to the south yesterday afternoon and appears to have made small gains overnight. To them, the good news is that London Clipper now splits the positions between them and Jersey, thereby opening up the points difference in the overall race. Jersey on the other hand think the wind will be picking up from the north first and that this will give
them the edge. They have Liverpool and Portsmouth within spitting distance as they beat slowing towards Ireland. Just to the south the trio of Leeds, Glasgow and Plymouth remain in close company as they search desperately for
the wind.

The predictions are that the wind would remain light but will soon start to pick up and so their current slow progress will improve to a medium trot. When this happens they will eventually make a landfall at Land’s End prior to rounding the waypont off The Lizard. This stretch along the SW tip of Cornwall will bring them into strong tidal streams and depending how close they are together this could help or hinder them. Inevitably the result is that the tidal streams will cause them to become more spread out and at the
moment these tides are the strongest of the year. The welcome in Jersey, where the tidal range is a massive 11.8 metres today, still seems a long way off but they could still get there on Friday 21st September, if not it will be Saturday 22nd.

Another quite amazing day with the tail-enders closing right up on the two Golden Boys in front. Three days ago the back markers were 237 miles behind and looking as though they would arrive well over a day behind everyone.Today only 22 miles separates the first from the last, and the race is wide, wide open.

Yesterday was also a busy day ashore with the announcement of the revised programme to take into account the fleet’s late arrival in Jersey. It is expected that the fleet will arrive in Jersey on Friday although, as everyone knows, this has no guarantee. The new starting date from Jersey will be Tuesday 25 September and the finish will be at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth on Wednesday 26th September.

Yesterday afternoon Bob Beggs in Bristol saw his gamble of going even further north pay off and they ghosted past their rivals, Jersey, into a 6 mile lead. This morning the lead is 7 miles but they have a problem in that they are the northern boat and the light wind from the ESE is pushing them even further north.

At present all the boats are heading for Galway Bay on the west coast of Ireland. This coast has some of the most beautiful cruising grounds in the world but this is of little consequence when you have raced 2,500 miles and are meant to be rounding a point off The Lizard in the south of Cornwall.

Jersey and Bristol will not look back kindly on Saturday 15th September as they have both been frustrated by the light winds which have reduced their speed to that of a pregnant turtle going up hill with a shopping trolley.
They have both covered around 70 miles with Bristol opening out to the north; Bob Beggs could see little chance of sailing through Jersey by following in her wake. The fate the ‘golden boys’ out in front has been viewed with a great deal of sympathy and understanding by the chasing fleet behind (true/false). Well gone is any idea that this dynamic duo might make a triumphant arrival in time to eat and drink everyone else’s share at the big crew reception on Tuesday night. At best they will now get in late on Wednesday but they the high pressure looks set to dog them for some time yet.

Although the focus might be on these two at the front of the pack the ‘boys in the south’ are doing a great job and trying to slip through unnoticed – fat chance! Stuart Gibson in London has caught up an amazing 70 miles and is now only 17 miles from the leader. With the fickle weather conditions around this means they have a very realistic chance of taking over the lead from their position 180 miles south of the current leaders.

Matt Baker in Plymouth has had the best day’s run and his 133 miles has eaten 76 miles out of Jersey’s lead. Following suit, Simon Rowell in Leeds has closed up 60 miles and now has a useful 22 mile gap guarding his fifth place from Portsmouth.

Despite Ed Green’s mutterings about the wind and the adverse currents, Glasgow have managed to cover 121 miles and now share third place with London stationed some 75 miles to the south.

But not all is doom and gloom. Yet again Paul De La Haye and Jersey Clipper have managed to catch the wind and with a top score of 142 miles have opened out their lead over Bristol to a massive 96 miles. What is more galling for their disciples, namely London and Plymouth, is that they had some wind but Jersey has taken it away and left them stranded. Yesterday afternoon at the radio schedule London and Plymouth were happy bunnies as they plied along ay 7 knots and heard all those to the north had stopped. London moved up to second and Plymouth, although still 6th, only had to make up 3 miles to be in 3rd place. Maybe someone heard them laughing because soon after this they also stopped.

Yesterday evening the unthinkable happened and in the space of 12 hours Bristol dropped from second to seventh as she came to a complete standstill. This morning Bob Beggs’ conviction in staying north could just be showing signs of vindication as they are moving at 9 knots while 30 miles south the trio of Glasgow, Liverpool and Portsmouth are DIW (Dead In the Water). Yes, Bristol is off again but will they make up the 96 miles on Jersey? Only the great Wind God knows the answer and only he can tell us when Jersey will hit the easterlies which are associated with the high pressure system they are heading into.

With 0.4 points between Bristol and Jersey for the overall lead it might appear a two boat race. The reality is that all eight yachts are going to play a vital role in the outcome. Any that finish between these two warring giants will have a dramatic effect on the points and the final outcome of the winner of the magnificent Times Clipper Trophy.

If anyone following thinks that this race is now sewn up by Jersey I must disappoint them. The next excitement to come is the marked frontal feature guarding the high pressure. This will bring strong southerly winds to raise the spirits of the gallant crews and loyal spectators but then they will hit the high pressure system dominating the Western Approaches. As we enjoy an Indian Summer the yachts will once again stop. Maybe Bob Beggs was right to stick with his guns up north ……

Jersey has also had a good day and once again has opened out their lead from Bristol in the north. Why are the southern group suddenly doing well? One reason is that they are now benefiting from the Gulf Stream and those to the north are, if anything, suffering from an adverse current. To illustrate the point, if Jersey, London and Plymouth have (conservatively) 1.0 knots of current under them and those in the north have 0.5 against them, the difference over 24 hours is a staggering 36 miles. Like interest on an overdraft, the little figures quickly become significant and can leave a nasty bite.
 
Will London and Plymouth continue to charge in the south? At their present progress they could both get ahead of Bristol over the next 12 hours. This would have a serious repercussion on Bristol’s overall standing for the race lead. Paul De La Haye in Jersey will be wishing his two followers on hoping that they will be able to take second and third places and build up a convincing gap to cover any contingencies that might lie ahead.

Jersey has had another significant day with, on the face of it, an insignificant daily run of only 176 miles.

Nonetheless this has once again opened out the gap between her and the chasing pack and she is now 31 miles ahead of Bristol who remain in second place.

The fleet now has a distinctive northern division headed by Bristol, with Glasgow, Portsmouth and Liverpool in neat stations stretching 35 miles to the south of her.

All four of these boats faired poorly yesterday and, with the exception of Liverpool, they all dropped about 18 miles on Jersey.

Glasgow, Bristol and Portsmouth have moved up to the north and the first two have passed Liverpool which has not been tempted by the higher latitudes. Bristol has eased into second place but is now one of the two boats exposed to the extremes of a flank. They are currently 15 miles north of Glasgow and a massive 75 miles north of Jersey. Meanwhile down in the south Leeds and Plymouth have fanned out to the north leaving Stuart Gibson and his crew loyal to their southerly crusade.

Who is right and why? London’s approach would appear the most logical and conventional but are conditions normal with a large high pressure area well north the Atlantic? It is certainly not going to be a clear cut passage for them even though they will get more advantage from riding the Gulf Stream. Bob Beggs in Bristol does not appear to trust the indecisive weather in the south and wants to get as far north and as close to some good depressions as he can. Bristol always seems to profit when they find stronger winds but there is a big element of gamble at leaving Jersey unmarked in the middle ground.

All 8 yachts have made reasonable progress with 24 hour runs between 179 and 200 miles. Liverpool was top dog and has reduced Jersey’s lead by 9 miles down to 31. Interestingly Rupert Dean has edged north slightly with reference to the other boats and with the SE wind may have been carrying a shy spinnaker to make up this distance. If so, is he right to trade his southerly latitude for some quick profit?

London remains the most southerly boat but has Plymouth and Leeds to keep her company. They have to be patient but the rewards will come at the end of the week as the weather changes. Another factor will be aware the effect the Grand Banks off Newfoundland will have on all the boats.

Simon Rowell is duty skipper and bemoans the fact that his northerly course took him out of the current and therefore he has lost out for the present. Matt Baker in Plymouth has been studying the weather maps received via HF radio and captured on the computers. He thinks that Stuart Gibson in London has the right idea in the south and has sacrificed some ground to move down to join the cockney crew.

If yesterday produced similar runs for all boats stand by for some excitement today. Instead of being propelled towards Europe by a succession of low pressure systems, which they could reasonably expect at this time of year, they are now under the influence of an anti-cyclone, or high pressure system. This is going to play havoc with them over the next 36 hours as they have light and variable winds. I would not be at all surprised to see London coming out with the advantage in the south and a large split developing in the positions. Soon after this morning’s report the leaders began to slow and had trouble making their heading. The situation will get worse before it gets better.