Clipper Race: We Have A Winner

(February 15, 2016; Day 27) – After nearly four weeks in which Clipper Round the World Yacht Race crew faced a whole range of conditions, Derry~Londonderry~Doire has won the 6,070 nm leg from Whitsundays, Australia to Da Nang, Vietnam, taking its first race victory of the series. The team also won the Ocean Sprint and came second in the Scoring Gate so take home an overall 16 points.

Skipper Daniel Smith says: “The crew have worked tirelessly on board Derry~Londonderry~Doire to first defend then extend and finally defend again our lead over the rest of the fleet. We have constantly been looking over our shoulder as the teams behind pushed hard to catch us. The competition has been hard to beat.

“Over the last few races we’ve felt we’ve had a run of bad luck and struggled to get the boat going and the results we wanted. It’s been great to break that spell of bad luck and show that we can get the best out of the boat. The crew have done a fantastic job of getting the boat to the front of the fleet and keeping it there.

“There will be some more great results to come from Derry~Londonderry~Doire over the coming races so watch this space.”

After another very close dual, Garmin finished second and GREAT Britain is third but will also pick up an additional three points for winning the Scoring Gate early on in the race. Three hours and four minutes redress was applied to LMAX Exchange’s overall finish and was based on average speed, after it assisted an abandoned yacht on Day 7, though this did not change its overall position and it retains its fourth place finish position.

From starting off with a fast downwind sprint in scorchng 40+ degree heat as teams headed north through the tropics and across the Equator line for the second and final time in the series, to winds that gusted over 50 knots in lumpy swells, plus upwind conditions in cooler conditions, and then dying winds in the final stages, this race really has thrown it all at the crew.

The provisional race positions for the Da Nang New Discovery of Asia Race are as follows:

1st – Derry~Londonderry~Doire (+ 2 Ocean Sprint + 2 Scoring Gate points)
2nd – Garmin
3rd – GREAT Britain (+ 3 Scoring Gate points)
4th – LMAX Exchange
5th – Qingdao (+ 1 Scoring Gate point)
6th – Da Nang – Viet Nam
7th – ClipperTelemed+
8th – IchorCoal
9th – PSP Logistics
10th – Unicef
11th – Mission Performance
12th – Visit Seattle

All teams are currently expected to arrive on Wednesday 17 February, every hour between 0900 and 2100.

Click here to check specific ETA times for each team.

Event Website – Race Viewer – Team Reports – Facebook

Report by event media.

Background: The 40,000 mile Clipper 2015-16 Round the World Yacht Race began in London, UK on August 30 for the fleet of twelve identical Tony Castro designed Clipper 70s. The series is divided into 16 individual races, with the team with the best cumulative score winning the Clipper Race Trophy. Each team is led by a professional skipper with an all-amateur crew.

The fleet departed Australia on January 18 for the 6,070 nm leg from Whitsundays to Da Nang, Vietnam.

The ports along the race route are Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Cape Town, South Africa; Albany, Sydney, Hobart and Airlie Beach, Australia; Da Nang, Vietnam; Qingdao, China; Seattle, USA; Panama; New York, USA; Derry-Londonderry, Ireland; and Den Helder, Netherlands before returning to London by late July.