Clipper Race: HotelPlanner Receives Redress

(December 30, 2017) – HotelPlanner.com (CV23) has won the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Clipper 70 Class after being granted a 120 minute redress for going to the assistance of a fellow competitor shortly after race start.

At approximately 1700 local time (0600 UTC) on Tuesday 26 December, HotelPlanner.com went to the assistance of another boat after being informed of a man overboard.

The HotelPlanner.com crew successfully retrieved the man in the water within 15 minutes, and after the on board medical assistant determined he hadn’t suffered any injury, the crew member was returned to his vessel and both boats resumed racing.

Despite the time lost, HotelPlanner.com managed to catch the rest of the Clipper Race fleet, with all eleven yachts crossing the finish line within 90 minutes of each other on Friday 29 December.

Clipper Race Director Mark Light said: “Skipper Conall Morrison and his HotelPlanner.com team did extremely well and acted very quickly under the circumstances. Going to the assistance of a fellow sailor or competitor is absolutely the correct thing to do and the team handled everything superbly well which clearly indicates how well the they were trained and led by their Skipper. The Clipper Race training has once again paid dividends and shows the merits of such an extensive programme.”

Mark added: “As such, the redress award for HotelPlanner.com is fully justified and my congratulations go to Conall and his team for their efforts and first place in the Clipper 70 class.”

The award of redress for HotelPlanner.com was decided by an international jury hearing, arranged by the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Organising Committee at 1000 local time on Saturday 30 December. Click here for a full verdict from the hearing.
http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/media/3435726/sydney-hobart-protest-decision-4-and-5.pdf

The decision means Sanya Serenity Coast (CV27), who was the first Clipper Race yacht across the line at 16:29:29, will take second place in the Clipper 70 Class, whilst Garmin (CV22), the second Clipper 70 across the line at 16:31:47, has been awarded third place.

As the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race doubles as Race 5 of the Clipper 2017-18 Race, HotelPlanner.com will now receive 12 points for the win, with Sanya Serenity Coast and Garmin to receive 11 and 10 points respectively.

The full Clipper Race fleet will be berthed at King’s Pier Marina until the start of Race 6 on Friday 5 January 2018.

Event details – Race facts – Race viewer – Facebook

The fourth stage of the Clipper 2017-18 Race, officially known as Race 4: The Clipper Telemed+ Tasman Test, includes three races along the Australian coast. The 11 teams will race from Fremantle to Sydney, Sydney to Hobart, and Hobart to Airlie Beach in the heart of the picturesque Whitsunday Islands.

The first of three races started December 2 for the 2500nm course from Fremantle to Sydney.

The All-Australian Leg is the fourth of eight legs that make up the 40,000-nautical mile, eleven-month Clipper 2017-18 Race.

Background: Held biennially, the Clipper 2017-18 Round the World Yacht Race got underway August 20 for the fleet of twelve* identical Tony Castro designed Clipper 70s. The 40,000nm course is divided into 13 individual races with the team having the best cumulative score winning the Clipper Race Trophy. Each team is led by a professional skipper with an all-amateur crew that signs up for one, some, or all the races. The 2017-18 race, expected to take 11 months, has attracted 712 people representing 41 nationalities, making it the largest to date.

* Twelve teams began the first leg but one yacht (Greenings) ran aground just hours after the start on October 31 of the third leg from Cape Town, South Africa to Fremantle, Australia. The crew was safely evacuated but damage to the boat was deemed too extensive for it to continue in the 2017-18 edition.

Race Route – Race Schedule and Miles

Source: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race