Clipper Race: Battling for the finish

(June 10, 2016; Day 10) – After a busy night of nine team arrivals, the NYC skyline still awaits Mission Performance, PSP Logistics and IchorCoal which are all still battling to complete the final few miles of this short but tough test from Panama, the LMAX Exchange – RACE of THE AMERICAS leg of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

Mission Performance is just 2.5NMs from the finish line after managing to overtake PSP Logistics overnight but with PSP just over a mile behind it is not yet certain who will take tenth place.

Earlier this morning in his daily race report, Skipper Greg Miller said: “As I write this we are 25NM from the finish line, with PSP Logistics breathing down our necks just 4.9NM behind us. The wind…as expected is coming from exactly where we want to get, surprise, surprise!”

PSP Logistics Skipper Max Stunell explains what led to allowing Mission Performance the opportunity to overtake at the final hurdle. He says: “It was a night of little sleep as we were hard on the wind into a steep sharp swell, racing neck and neck with Mission Performance. As the day continued the sea state got worse and as I made a headsail change, Mission Performance, who held the inside line, took advantage of the wind bend and drew ahead.

“Now we find ourselves agonisingly close to the finish line, adjusting to another wind shift and it has turned into a slow tacking match. The whole team is looking forward to New York after the 7,000 nautical miles we have covered since Seattle.”

One of the shortest races of the 14 stage Clipper Race series, Race 11: The LMAX Exchange RACE of THE AMERICAS has been a harder slog than expected, partly due to the racing being so tight meaning focus and attention has had to be maintained throughout.

Further behind in twelfth place, IchorCoal has 40NMs left to the finish line. The team slipped back a couple of days ago and despite choosing an inshore tack to try to find better winds, the team was unable to regain its lost miles.

Skipper Rich Gould said earlier: “Our run in shore has not paid off in any way and the difference between the weather we have and the weather the forecast shows is still quite substantial.

“With 70 nautical miles left to the finish the wind has just veered directly to the direction we need to go. The crew have worked tirelessly on this race but it seems that there is still some work to do yet.”

Click here to read how ClipperTelemed+ claimed its first Clipper Race win, beating Garmin to the line and get the reaction to Visit Seattle’s first podium finish

Click here for the remaining team’s ETAs into Liberty Landing Marina.

Click here for what’s on during the fleets visit to the Big Apple.

*******************************************
As the Clipper Race fleet covered the final nail biting miles of the US Coast to Coast Leg, it was not just the crew at sea who were giving it their all to make it to the New York finish line.

Cycling his way solo across the USA after leaving the boats in Seattle, Garmin Leg 6 crew member Simon Parker crossed the finish line, beating his former teammates to New York. “As the first yachts arrived from the Atlantic I greeted them from aboard a 45-footer on the Hudson River, with a glass of wine in one hand and a beer in the other.” Parker said.

http://clipperroundtheworld.com/news/article/bike-v-boat-across-usa-the-final-test
Read his latest blog to see how he beat the fleet to the finish after 4,000 miles and almost 50 days cycling across the USA.
*******************************************

Event Website – Race Viewer – Team Reports – Facebook

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 current 1930nm race from Panama to New York got underway at 1208 UTC (0708 local time) on Tuesday May 31 with a Le Mans start in the Caribbean Sea.

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.

Source: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race