Organizers for The Times Clipper 2000 are on a final push to fill the remaining berths on the fleet of eight 60-foot boats that will be leaving Portsmouth, U.K. October 15 th, 2000 for a round the world race. Applicants can either sign on for single legs or the entire 11-month circumnavigation though they must participate in an intensive training program to prepare crewmembers for the rigors of ocean racing. So far 190 crewmembers have signed up for the predominately downwind route which will follow the tradewinds for the 34,000-mile, 16-stop circumnavigation.

The first leg leaves Portsmouth, U.K. bound for Cuba via the Canary Islands. In Cuba some crewmembers will rotate out, while others stay on for the Panama Canal transit and passage to the Galapagos Islands for Christmas. Next is a race across the eastern Pacific to Hawaii, and then the longest leg, from Hawaii to Japan. The fleet then will make its way to Shanghai, and then engage in a short race from Hong Kong to the Philippines. From here the route stretches to Mauritius and Cape Town, across the southern Atlantic to Brazil, from Brazil to New York and across the Atlantic to the U.K for an anticipated September 21, 2001 finish. Enroute the boats will also compete in the SORC off Miami, the Kenwood Cup in Hawaii, and this time the yachts are entered for the classic San Fernando Race, run by the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club which will take them to San Fernando in the Philippines.