Video Highlights: Clipper 2019-20 Race 9

The ninth race of the Clipper 2019-20 Round the World Yacht Race was the shortest event in the circumnavigation so far and commenced with a rare nighttime Le Mans start. Hot and tropical, it took the 11 teams on a triangular course out of Subic Bay in the Philippines into the South China sea.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the course had been revised as it was not possible to use the Chinese ports of Zhuhai and Qindao were not deemed safe to visit. The new course was made up of three individual Dell Latitude Rugged Ocean Sprint sections between virtual gates meaning it was an all out tactical five day race.

Race 10 was scheduled to depart Subic Bay for the North Pacific Ocean on March 21 but it was necessary for the Clipper 2019-20 Race to be suspended due to the global COVID-19 outbreak. The Clipper Race will resume in February 2021.

RACE 9 RESULTS AND FINISH TIMES
Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam – 20.07.22 UTC
Punta del Este – 20:29:11 UTC
Visit Sanya, China – 20:47.32 UTC
Seattle – 21:36:28 UTC
Unicef – 21:48:06 UTC
Zhuhai – 22:38:06 UTC
WTC Logistics – 22:42:16 UTC
Go To Bermuda – 22:53:50 UTC
Dare To Lead – 22:55:50 UTC
Qingdao – 23:04:50 UTC
Imagine Your Korea – 02:54:00 UTC

Video uploaded Apr 16, 2020.

Race details – Team list – Race route – Tracker – Facebook

Course change: The fifth leg was to be divided into three races (6, 7, 8), with the first race to finish in Sanya, China. However, due to the coronavirus outbreak, a course change during Race 6 from The Whisundays was enacted and the fleet finished in Subic Bay, Philippines.

Additionally, Races 7 and 8 were combined to avoid the Race 8 finish port of Zhuhai, China. The course for Race 7/8 took the fleet north from the Philippines, across the Luzon Strait and around the western most cluster of the Japanese Ryukyu Islands before returning to Subic Bay for the finish.

Furthermore, the original course for Races 9 and 10 of the sixth leg had to be revised as the Chinese ports of Zhuhai and Qindao were not deemed safe to visit. Race 9 is now a 750 nautical mile triangular course in the South China Sea, starting and finishing in Subic Bay, with Race 10 to start in Subic Bay before extending across the Pacific Ocean to Seattle, USA.

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.

Source: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race