The trip down from California should give the clipper crews plenty of opportunity to hoist the spinnaker and enjoy some high speed surfing although again they will be keeping an eye on the radar for any tropical storms that may stray their way.
When they get to Panama they are in for quite a treat. The Panama Canal may not sound very exciting but nothing could be further from the truth. Born out of commercial necessity, the canal relies heavily on the surrounding rainforests to provide the much needed water to sustain the enormous amount of traffic that uses it every day. As a result, those rainforests are kept in near pristine condition. The Rainforest carries over 10,000 different varieties of plants and over a 1000 species of birds, some of them which are totally alien to North America and Europe. The Baru volcano in the province of Chiriqui (located about 5-6 hours driving time from Panama) is 3475 mt (11 000ft) and in this part, because of the special geography, you can watch both the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean at the same time.
The destination for the clipper fleet on the other side of the Panama Canal is Jamaica which proved to be a very popular port of call on the 07-08 race. This relatively short journey should be reasonably uneventful but the arrival in Port Antonio is sure to be spectacular. If anyone knows how to throw a party its the Jamaicans.
Like Montego Bay, Port Antonio claims to be the cradle of the tourist trade, but unlike other resorts on the island, its tourism potential remains undeveloped and undamaged. Therein lies Port Antonio's charm, and the lure of the parish of Portland. The local economy revolves around agriculture, mining, manufacturing and service industries but it is also a popular holiday destination for both Americans and Europeans.
The Bob Marley museum was an obligatory stop for the Jamaica Clipper crew in 07-08 who, no doubt, played his music 'religiously' throughout the race.
Benchmark data for 07-08 shows this leg sailing on 19 April. Race 9 ended in Panama around 8 May. The short race 10 ran from Panama on 15 May to arrive in Jamaica around 19 May.
When they get to Panama they are in for quite a treat. The Panama Canal may not sound very exciting but nothing could be further from the truth. Born out of commercial necessity, the canal relies heavily on the surrounding rainforests to provide the much needed water to sustain the enormous amount of traffic that uses it every day. As a result, those rainforests are kept in near pristine condition. The Rainforest carries over 10,000 different varieties of plants and over a 1000 species of birds, some of them which are totally alien to North America and Europe. The Baru volcano in the province of Chiriqui (located about 5-6 hours driving time from Panama) is 3475 mt (11 000ft) and in this part, because of the special geography, you can watch both the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean at the same time.
Like Montego Bay, Port Antonio claims to be the cradle of the tourist trade, but unlike other resorts on the island, its tourism potential remains undeveloped and undamaged. Therein lies Port Antonio's charm, and the lure of the parish of Portland. The local economy revolves around agriculture, mining, manufacturing and service industries but it is also a popular holiday destination for both Americans and Europeans. 
The Bob Marley museum was an obligatory stop for the Jamaica Clipper crew in 07-08 who, no doubt, played his music 'religiously' throughout the race. 