The Clipper Race boats are expected to begin arriving at A beacon outside the Port of Tauranga on Thursday with the current leader, Gold Coast Australia, expected first.

The following bunch of four boats is expected to be about 10 hours behind the stage leader, says Clipper Round the World sponsorship manager Katie Beney.

See video below of clipper vessel Geraldton Western Australia battling through the Southern Ocean on its way to Tauranga.

Today, Gold Coast Australia is passing Cook Strait, with the following bunch of about four boats off Banks Peninsula.

Tauranga's Bridge Marina is preparing for the arrival of the fleet and Clipper Round the World staff are setting up offices ready for the influx.

The first boat is due Thursday morning, and there will be updates every three hours to show their exact positions.

She thinks most of the boats have now used up their stealth mode option following Derry Londonderry coming out from under the 24 hour cone of silence.

Stealth mode takes the boat off the website for 24 hours so its position cannot be tracked by either the public or competitors.

'They do it if they want to take a slightly different route, it's a very tactical decision,” says Katie.

'At the moment they are almost match racing up the coast.”

There are 10 of the 20.7 metre yachts in the race, which is open to anyone prepared to pay.

A single leg costs £7000, or about NZ$11,000, Staying onboard for the whole 40,000 miles of the longest ocean race costs about NZ$80,0000 at current exchange rates.

Recruiters are following the race and enlisting crews for the Clipper 13-14 Round the World race.
'Berths are filling up fast for Clipper 13-14 so now is the time to act if you want to get on board for the next edition of the race,” says Clipper's crew recruitment manager, David Cusworth.

'With a programme of crew recruitment presentations lined up in New Zealand and Australia next month, I'm looking forward to meeting some of the Australasians who will take up the challenge of a lifetime on our new fleet of Clipper 70s.”

There are 17 crew on each boat and a commercially qualified skipper,” says Katie.

'Ten of them are onboard round the world – they are doing the whole race. The other seven are either on for one or several legs.”

The ages of the sailors range from 18-72.

It's the first time the Clipper Round the World race has ever come to New Zealand.

The decision to add the New Zealand-Australia East Coast leg was partly because Australians represent the second largest nationality in the race crews. There are eight kiwis, one of whom is from Tauranga, says Katie.

For Tauranga the Clipper fleet arrival will mean the whole shore based community including media, sponsors, plus family and friends of the 180 crew will be in town for the period round the ten day port call.

The fleet departs Tauranga on December 4 for Southport on the Gold Coast.

Race progress can be viewed at: http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/index.php/follow/race-viewer/