Clipper Race: Final Push for Greenings

(September 23, 2017; Day 34) – Of the teams racing the Clipper 2017-18 Round the World Yacht Race, Atlantic Trade Winds Leg 1, only Greenings and Nasdaq remains at sea following the finish of Visit Seattle late on Friday night, Punta del Este time.

Currently, Greenings is 55.04 nautical miles from the Finish Line, and Relief Skipper and Deputy Race Director Dan Smith says: “The final part of the sail is proving to be a slow one but we will get there. We had a wind hole this morning which required maximum concentration and now we are getting head winds slowing our progress.

“Luckily in the previous few days, we pushed the boat as hard as we could, clocking up good mileage while the wind was good which will hopefully be enough of a buffer to get us in in time to get us the race position we want after redress has been applied. We are very aware though that it’s not all over until we cross the line, and it still [feels like] a long way to go.”

While Greenings will officially cross the Finish Line in Punta del Este in eleventh place, the redress of 58 hours, 44 minutes, and 51 seconds awarded by the Race Committee for the forced diversion to Porto for a replacement Skipper could see the team claim the overall Atlantic Trade Winds Leg 1 win.

Visit Seattle, who crossed the line in tenth place, has also been granted a redress of 1 hour, 46 minutes, and 27 seconds, which will also be taken into account before the final standings for the opening leg are confirmed.

Nasdaq is currently off the southern tip of the Brazilian coast, 277.74nM from the finish line. The team is expected to arrive in Punta del Este tomorrow, between 1200 and 1800 local time (1100 – 1700 UTC).

The weather will be working in Nasdaq’s favour. Clipper Race Meteorologist Simon Rowell reports, “It’s starting to look a bit better as that front heads north, the next high-pressure cell should blob off the mainland just south [of the boats], with the wind then backing SSW to SE to NE on the final run in.

“It will get quite light as it does so, but you should at least be able to point in the right direction then. Also, it should get brighter and drier.”

As the Clipper Race fleet has almost completed the Atlantic Trade Winds Leg 1, the next Daily Update will be on Thursday 5 October, the day after the fleet begins the South Atlantic Challenge Leg 2 to Cape Town, South Africa. In the meantime, the latest news about the fleet and crew can be found on the Clipper Race Website.

Race 2 of the Clipper 2017-18 Race starts on October 4, departing Punta del Este and heading back into the Southern Atlantic as teams take on the 3,560 nm mile journey to Cape Town, South Africa.

For ETAs for the teams… click here.

The 12 teams started the 6,400 nm leg from Liverpool, UK to Punta del Este, Uruguay on August 20, which is expected to take approximately 35 days to complete, making it the longest ever in the race’s 21-year history.

Event details – Race facts – Race viewer – Facebook

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 40,000 nm 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.

Race Route – Race Schedule and Miles

Source: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race