SIGHTINGS clipper race scrambles in asia Everywhere around the world in March, travelers received the message, "Welcome to (fill in the blank); now go home." A variation of this is exactly what happened to the sailors aboard the fleet of 11 70-ft monohulls in the Clipper Race around the world. The microbes hit the fan during the Clipper's passage from Airlie Beach, Australia, to Sanya, China. "At some point during Race 6, well after the boats had left Airlie Beach, Clipper made the decision that they would not go to Sanya due to the virus," explains Clipper crew Harmon Shragge. "They decided that the boats would race directly to Subic Bay. After the boats arrived in Subic Bay, Race 7 changed to an 8- to 12-day jaunt to off the coast of Taiwan." Harmon bought his first ticket from SFO to Hong Kong in late January. He canceled that (and got a full refund due to the virus) and purchased a ticket from SFO to Manila with one stop in Korea. "After I saw the virus explode in Korea, I canceled that flight (no refund, but I will receive full credit). I purchased a ticket on Philippine Airlines from SFO to Manila landing March 3. (I used that ticket.) continued on outside column of next sightings page
news of In 'Lectronic Latitude during the month of March, we kept a running tally of events canceled, postponed, or moved online. The biggest event affected — and the one garnering the biggest headlines worldwide — is the Summer Olympic Games, scheduled to begin on July 24 in Tokyo and environs. Japan was one of the early countries to record instances of the novel coronavirus — before the World Health Organization declared a pandemic. In the second week of March, regattas that qualify sailors for their country's spots on the team began canceling (as did trials in other sports). During the third week of March, both Canada and Australia withdrew from the Olympics out of concern for their citizens. On March
Just one of the guys — Clipper Race founder Sir Robin Knox-Johnston hangs out behind the locked gate with the crews in Subic Bay. With him is San Francisco sailor Harmon Shragge, our correspondent for this adventure. Harmon sails aboard 'Visit Sanya, China'. (That's the name of the yacht in this edition, but also its sponsor.) Lower right: The trash piled up for a while on the docks.
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• April, 2020
