Clipper fleet arrives in Scotland

The 11 teams in the 2023-24 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race completed the penultimate leg, arriving from July 12 to 14 in Oban, Scotland. First to arrive was Perseverance which was in the leading pack for much of the 3,300 nm course from Washington, DC, and with the team playing its Joker – meaning it would double any race points awarded – this win takes them just three points shy of the overall lead.

“It’s incredible. What a race! There were lot of tactics, and I could not be prouder to win this particular race,” noted Perseverance Skipper Ineke van der Weijden. “The crew have been fantastic, whether they are round the worlders or crew that have just joined. They gave everything they had, and for most of the time Joss and I sat back, they just knew what to do. They are as motivated as Joss, and I are.”

Additional Qualified Person (AQP) Joss Creswell added: “It was super tight to begin with, the boats were all together. We fell back, we came forward. It’s always worth remembering with the whole of the crew that it was always going to be back and forth. My previous job was based here in Oban so to sail back in here was so special. It was cool, but very emotional, and I am very glad I’m home.”

Arriving in second place, after battling it out with Perseverance right down to the wire, it was Zhuhai who took its eighth podium of the edition. Skipper James Finney said from on board: “Well that was a tough race. It had a bit of everything, we lost the pack, found them again, had some brilliant sailing, some brilliant wind holes. It was a good ocean crossing, a good one to finish on.

“Hopefully we have secured our place in the top three, which was the goal for this race. I guess the next step is to beat Perseverance in the next race. We will really enjoy the next one.”

On taking second place, Finney added: “We just missed out on the steady breeze, we came through about 20 miles away, and then it just died. It was quite a long six or so hours!”

And taking third place, and no stranger to the podium, it was overall leader Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam. “We’re still in with a chance overall, some teams had played Jokers, but that Scoring Gate was pretty important to us,” said Skipper Bob Beggs. “We’re really happy. There is no strategy going forwards, let’s win! We’re going to give it our best.”

The final race is from Oban to Portsmouth, UK (815nm) which starts July 21 with an expected arrival on July 27.

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

2023-24 edition will take the following route (updated):

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) – 18 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 28 Jan, Arrive 21-26 Feb
Race 8. Ha Long Bay – Zhuhai, China (645nm) – Race Start 2 March, Arrive 6-7 March

Leg 6
Race 9. Zhuhai, China – Qingdao, China (1370nm) – Race Start 12 March- Arrive 21-22 March
Race 10. Qingdao – Seattle, USA (5580nm) – Race Start 27 March, Arrive 21-26 April

Leg 7
Race 11. Seattle, USA – Panama Canal (4200nm) – Race Start 5 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, Arrive 27 July

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.

Source: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race