Clipper Round the World Yacht Race fleet head to Southampton

by Amy Martindale on 19 Jul 2012 Clipper 2011-12 Round the World Yacht Race fleet started race fifteen, from Den Helder to Southampton, at 11:00 GMT today, Thursday 19th July. As the fleet contended with fierce winds of 20-25 knots, De Lage Landen was first to cross the line in its home port, closely followed by Gold Coast Australia and Singapore.

After more than 40,000 miles at sea, the teams of ten identical 68-foot racing yachts, crewed by non-professional sailors from all walks of life, will have a nail-biting fight to the end as the teams battle for those final valuable points.

With just one point separating current third placed Singapore and fourth place De Lage Landen on the overall leader board, it will be a fight to the finish line as the final podium position in Southampton is still to be decided.

Gold Coast Australia is now unbeatable in first place and Visit Finland is secure in second place. Further down the leader board it remains tight to call, with several teams within just a few points of each other, all the teams energy will be focused on climbing to the top half of the table.

Mixed weather conditions await the fleet in Race 15 and ahead of today’s departure, De Lage Laden skipper Stuart Jackson said, 'The wind is going to be fairly strong to start with and then ease off as we make our way through the North Sea and back down the English Channel to the Solent. We are going to try and get a good jump right from the very start to get out ahead and lead the pack.'

The Clipper Race fleet will arrive in Southampton this Sunday, 22 July to a huge celebration after 51 weeks of ocean racing, visiting 15 ports of call on six continents. This will complete the world’s longest ocean race, seeing around 500 people from all walks of life celebrating their remarkable achievement after nearly twelve months at sea.

Details on the festivities in Southampton can be found here.

Latest boat positions

Position	Team	DTF	DTL
1	Singapore	264NM	0NM
2	De Lage Landen	264NM	0NM
3	Geraldton Western Australia	265NM	1NM
4	Gold Coast Australia	265NM	1NM
5	Qingdao	265NM	1NM
6	Visit Finland	265NM	1NM
7	New York	265NM	1NM
8	Edinburgh Inspiring Capital	265NM	1NM
9	Derry-Londonderry	266NM	2NM
10	Welcome to Yorkshire	266NM	2NM

Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found online along with daily skipper Clipper Round the World Yacht Race website