Clipper 2002 Start Confirmed
27th October 2002The start of the highly popular Clipper 2002 Round the World Yacht Race will now take place tomorrow, Monday, 28 October at 14:30 GMT with favourable south westerly (force 5) conditions forecast for the start line.
The first race of the eleven-month series, taking the Clipper crews from Liverpool’s Albert Dock to the Cascais stopover in Portugal, was rescheduled due to today’s extreme weather conditions, which saw storm force winds battering much of the UK.
The eight Clipper racing yachts, representing Liverpool, London, New York, Bristol, Glasgow, Jersey, Cape Town and Hong Kong will slip from Albert Dock at midday and proceed into Canning Half Tide Dock, before the gruelling 35,000-mile race begins in the Mersey at 14:30.
A 10-minute countdown will lead up to the big event, which will be started by 14-year-old Francesca D'arcy, a city council competition winner.
And as a treat to those lining the Mersey, the yachts will pass the famous Pier Head in formation flanked by HMS Biter and Charger, training vessels for Liverpool and Manchester University. The international Clipper fleet will then race up and down the river three times, before heading out into the Irish Sea for the Cascais Stopover in Portugal and eventually onto Cuba on the first of the six race legs.