The south-westerly wind held out and brought the first yachts over the Race 16 finish line at 04:00 BST yesterday morning for the closest ever finish of the Clipper 2002 Series. The crews now face just one more final hop to Liverpool to the overall finish line, which should finish this morning.

Having arrived at their home port behind Bristol Clipper, the gap to the lead had increased to two points. Hence they needed this win to stay in the game.

Skipper Simon Rowell and his team got their win – but only by four minutes. Close astern Liverpool Clipper was bearing down in the dark with her spinnaker pulling her to the line. Right astern the Glasgow team were manoeuvring to take advantage of her chasing position. Whatever they did on this dark and crisp morning paid off and they managed to find enough speed to draw level.

Liverpool’s wind was stolen by the Jocks and the Purple Peril faltered. As the two boats approached the line, Glasgow slid past to take second place by 29 seconds from the Liverpudlians. All three boats finished within five minutes of each other.

Positions (after race 16)

1 Jersey 94 points

2 Bristol 93

3 Liverpool 73.5

4 Hong Kong 67

5 Glasgow 62

6 London 56

7 New York 54

8 Cape Town 28