Clipper Race: Sprinting to the finish

Published on November 7th, 2019

(November 7, 2019; Day 15) – Today on the third race of the Clipper 2019-20 Round the World Yacht Race, The Spinlock South Atlantic Showdown, the results of the fleet’s efforts to cover the 335 nautical mile Dell Latitude Rugged Ocean Sprint in the fastest time, have been confirmed.

The time trial between two lines of longitude or two lines of latitude is an opportunity for the fastest three teams to gain extra race points, and it was the third ocean sprint of this edition of the Clipper Race, which transpired to be a very fast race for the teams.

The eleven teams had great sprinting conditions but it was Seattle that scored the top spot logging the fastest completion time of 28 hours 50 minutes 32 seconds, which gave an average speed of over 11.5 knots. Seattle takes three bonus race points for its efforts. Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam grabbed second fastest time an hour behind Seattle and take two bonus points, and Qingdao secured third place, gaining a bonus point.

The results of the Ocean Sprint are as follows:
28:50:32 Seattle (three bonus race points)
29:52:55 Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam (two bonus race points)
30:46:30 Qingdao (one bonus race point)
31:55:00 GotoBermuda
32:33:52 WTC Logistics
32:46:49 Imagine your Korea
33:05:14 Dare To Lead
33:09:12 Unicef
35:29:00 Punta del Este
35:34:54 Visit Sanya, China
35:52:00 Zhuhai

A victorious David Hartshorn, Skipper of Seattle said: “I am so delighted for the team. Their hard work and focus over the 28 hours 50 minutes of the Dell Latitude Rugged Ocean Sprint has landed a first position and a much needed three points. This will be a real confidence boost for the team, both on board and ashore.

“The best part for me was the team work across the boat. Clearly the helms played a big part, but the cockpit and foredeck crews showed how slick in their preparation and execution of evolutions, they can be, to keep the boat moving as fast as possible for as long as possible.”

The competition is clearly heating up with three teams currently in Stealth Mode. Punta del Este, which was in second place on the leaderboard before it activated the tactical mode, will be visible again at 1200UTC today. Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam is currently hidden in the South Atlantic, returning to sight at 0000UTC on November 8, and we will see how WTC Logistics has progressed whilst in Stealth Mode at 0600UTC on November 8.

Current front-runners, Qingdao has also declared it’s wish to enter Stealth Mode will be visible for the final time on the Race Viewer at 1200UTC today, reappearing on November 8 at 1200 UTC.

The fleet is just a day or two away from the finish line and it is a close-call as to which teams will take podium positions, even more so with the teams sneaking in and out of visibility, adding to the excitement.

On the approach to his hometown, Zhuhai’s Capetonian Skipper, Nick Leggatt shared: “On deck, it is a bit frustrating as we have gone from too much wind to shifty, gusty conditions with large areas of light winds as a high pressure ridges in behind the storm. He continued: “it looks as if we can anticipate the usual strong south easterly winds of a Cape Summer as we approach the land, so we need to position ourselves to get the best possible wind angle then.”

For the estimated arrival times, click here.

The 11 teams set off on October 23 for the second leg of the Clipper 2019-20 Round the World Yacht Race, referred to as Race 3: Spinlock South Atlantic Showdown, which takes the fleet 3555nm from Punta del Este, Uruguay to Cape Town, South Africa.The fleet is due to arrive in Cape Town between November 7 and 11.

Race details – Skipper list – Race route – Tracker – Facebook

About the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race:
The Clipper Race was established in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world in 1968-69. His aim was to allow anyone, regardless of previous sailing experience, the chance to embrace the thrill of ocean racing; it is the only event of its kind for amateur sailors.

Held biennially, the Clipper 2019-20 Round the World Yacht Race gets underway September 1 for the fleet of eleven identical Tony Castro designed Clipper 70s. This 12th edition has attracted 688 crew representing 43 nationalities for the 41,000+ nm course. The race finishes on August 8.

The course is divided into 8 legs and 15 individual races, with some of the crew in for the entire circumnavigation while others will do individual legs. The team having the best cumulative score over the entire course will win the Clipper Race Trophy.

The Clipper 2019-20 Race Route:
The fleet departs from London, UK to Portimão, Portugal; across the Atlantic to Punta del Este, Uruguay; the South Atlantic to Cape Town, South Africa; across the Southern Ocean’s Roaring Forties to Fremantle, Western Australia; around to the Whitsundays on the east coast of Australia, back into the Northern Hemisphere to China where teams will race to Qingdao, via Sanya and Zhuhai; across the mighty North Pacific to Seattle, USA; to New York via the famous Panama Canal; to Bermuda and then it’s a final Atlantic crossing to Derry-Londonderry in Northern Ireland; before arriving back to London as fully proven ocean racers.