Clipper Race finishes Indian Ocean leg

After the 11 teams in the Clipper 2023-24 Round the World Yacht Race departed from Cape Town, South Africa on November 16, Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam won the 4,750-mile course across the Indian Ocean when they finished on December 9 in Fremantle, Australia.

Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam put up a strong fight until the end as the team has spent the past few weeks jostling with Zhuhai and Dare To Lead in Race 4 for the top spot. This stage of the edition is known for its extreme sailing. The team faced huge swells, challenging weather conditions, and freezing temperatures on one of the longest and most testing legs of the circumnavigation.

This is the team’s first podium placing of the edition and it also scooped two extra points earlier in this race when it was second to pass through the Scoring Gate.

“We are very happy with our placing and it was a good performance,” noted Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam Skipper Josh Stickland. “We just kept doing what we were doing and it paid off. I’m so proud of the team.

“The last time I did this race, for around 3,000 miles it was upwind. The conditions on this race were more characteristic of the Roaring Forties. The big waves made the boat feel very small. This race was the first time that we got this boat properly planing – our top speeds weren’t amazing but we were consistent and balanced, going consistently 13-14 knots and had some really good surfs.”

Stickland, who skippered Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam in the Clipper 2019-20 Race, has beat his own result by placing first on the race into Fremantle, after coming second on this same race on the previous edition.

Completing the podium behind Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam was Zhuhai finishing a day later in second, followed the same day by Dare To Lead in third.

The fifth race starts December 19 for a 2,510-mile course to Newcastle, Australia with an arrival window of January 1 to 4.

Race details – Team 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 2023-24 Round the World Yacht Race got underway September 3 for the fleet of eleven identical Tony Castro designed Clipper 70s. This 13th edition has 24 crew aboard each yacht, coming from 63 different nationalities (105 sailors from the USA) for the 40,000 mile circumnavigation of the world.

The course is divided into 8 legs and 14 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.

2023-24 edition will take the following route:

Leg 1
Race 1. Portsmouth, UK – Puerto Sherry, Spain (1200nm) – 3 Sept Race Start, arrive 9 Sept
Race 2. Puerto Sherry, Spain – Punta del Este, Uruguay (5300nm) – 15 Sept Race Start, arrive 12-16 Oct

Leg 2
Race 3. Punta Del Este, Uruguay – Cape Town, South Africa (3555 nm)- 22 Oct Race start, arrive 6-10 Nov

Leg 3
Race 4. Cape Town, South Africa – Fremantle, Australia (4750 nm) – 16 Nov Race Start, arrive 8-13 Dec

Leg 4
Race 5. Fremantle, Australia – Newcastle, Australia (2510nm) – Race Start 19 Dec, Arrival 1-4 Jan 2024
Race 6. Newcastle- Airlie Beach, Australia (985nm) – Race Start 10 Jan, Arrive 16-17 Jan

Leg 5
Race 7. Airlie Beach, Australia – Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam (4515nm) – Race Start 22 Jan, Arrive 16-21 Feb
Race 8. Ha Long Bay– Zhuhai, China (645nm) – Race Start 27 Feb, Arrive 2-3 March

Leg 6
Race 9. Zhuhai, China – Qingdao, China (1370nm) – Race Start 9 March- Arrive 18-19 March
Race 10. Qingdao- Seattle, USA (5580nm) – Race Start 25 March, Arrive 19-24 April

Leg 7
Race 11. Seattle, USA – Panama Canal (4200nm) – Race Start 2 May, Arrive Panama 27 May-1 Jun
Race 12. Panama-Washington, DC, USA (1990nm) – Race Start 5 June, Arrive 17-19 June

Leg 8
Race 13. Washington, DC, USA – Oban, Scotland (3340nm) – Race Start 25 June, Arrive 12-16 July
Race 14. Oban – Portsmouth, UK (815nm) – Race Start 21 July

Source: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race