TEAMS in the international Clipper Round the World Yacht Race departed Bell Harbor, Seattle on April 28 and are well on their way to Panama.

Local Seattle man Larry Garner said the journey had been a long time coming, as he joined the fleet for the US leg.

"Now I am on the boat it has sunk in that I am really doing it and I'm excited to get on board to work and live with the crew and experience the boat's energy," he said.

"I know it is going to be a lot of fun and I am looking forward to some of the challenges and the camaraderie."

Currently, a pressure system, about100 miles off the Californian coast, means the teams are battling light airs, with speeds dropping as low as 0.4 knots.

As of Tuesday, Garmin lay 10 nautical miles ahead of LMAX Exchange but at 0900 UTC it had a speed of 0.7 knots.

The teams have not seen much sun since they left, but as Garmin Skipper Ash Kett explained, they do not want to have too much luck with weather so early in the race.

The lights winds are expected to have picked up since Tuesday, with meteorologist Simon Rowell expecting there to be a much higher flow from around north-north-west.

Crew member on GREAT Britain, Claire Chapman said it was going to be a very tactical race.

She added she expected lots of difficult decisions for the teams to make on how close to stay inshore or whether to head further offshore for stronger winds.

"If some of the lead boats decide to stay inshore and that's a mistake, it might give an opportunity for other teams to take some bigger points on the scoreboard," she said.

"We are fully focused on winning the next race, we have chatted about what we want to get out of the next few races and improving our position."

The final teams are expected to arrive in Panama on May 27 before race 11 starts on May 30.

To keep up to date with the teams progress visit http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com.