Clipper Race: Last call for finishers

Published on July 11th, 2018

(July 11, 2018; Day 15) – The final two teams, GREAT Britain and Liverpool 2018, are edging closer towards the finish in Derry-Londonderry of the penultimate stage of the Clipper 2017-18 Round the World Yacht Race. For GREAT Britain, Race 12 is due to conclude later tonight.

Liverpool 2018 still has over 200nm left to go and has taken the option to accept 11th place and motor into Derry-Londonderry. For Liverpool 2018, with light winds set to continue for the next 12 to 18 hours followed by unfavourable breeze, to continue sailing would only have the effect of delaying the team arrival into Derry~Londonderry unnecessarily.

Note: The detour reflected on the tracker by Liverpool 2018 to Newfoundland was due to an ill crew member needing medical attention.

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The 11 teams began the final Leg 8 which carries the fleet across the North Atlantic from New York, USA, to Liverpool, UK, via Derry-Londonderry in Northern Ireland.

Leg 8 is formed of two races, with the first being the 3000nm Race 12 from USA to IRL that got underway June 26. The fleet is expected to arrive between between July 10 and 14.

Then it will be one final race, Race 13, when the teams depart July 22 to return to the UK almost a year later for the final finish on July 28.

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. The race concludes in Liverpool on July 28.

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