Clipper Round the World Yacht Race – Standing on the Podium

by Clipper Ventures on 24 Nov 2015 The podium is complete after one of the toughest legs of the Clipper Race, with three winning teams now in Albany, Western Australia after claiming the top positions on the Southern Ocean leg from Cape Town, South Africa.

Second-placed Derry~Londonderry~Doire and third-placed Qingdao arrived this afternoon after LMAX Exchange’s victory this morning (local time) in race three, the 4,845 nautical mile stage of the tenth edition Clipper 2015-16 Round the World Yacht Race.

LMAX Exchange finished at 2143UTC on November 22, Derry~Londonderry~Doire at 0932 UTC on November 23, and Qingdao three hours later the same day at 1226 UTC.

The race was a typical Southern Ocean leg, with the fleet enduring a storm as it left Table Bay and taking a battering. The choices made in those first 36 hours shaped the race for a lot of the teams, with the top three yachts enduring it well and keeping up a lot of sail during the storm. They eventually had a lead of 1000 miles on the backmarkers.

All the boats reported boat-breaking conditions with gusts of 70-80 knots on several occasions, extremely confused seas and waves of 8-10 metres during the race.

Derry~Londonderry~Doire Skipper Daniel Smith said: “We had a real mix of weather, absolutely everything from being becalmed and having to work really hard to keep the boat moving, to way more wind than we wanted at times, so exciting sailing but frustrating sailing too.

“We had big winds and waves, some good speeds and lots of surfing. We had been ahead of Qingdao, but there was a big area of light wind coming into Albany, so there were big tactical decisions the last few days about which way to go to try and pass that area of low wind, and it was very frustrating. We weren’t sure about our position coming out of it, so we worked very hard to make sure our position was good.
“I am very proud of the team, they have worked very hard, especially the last few days - we could have easily ended up in third place.”

Mark Light, Deputy Race Director, added: “These teams have consistently shown they are good racers over the three legs so far, and get the weather and tactics right. They are clearly working well as a team. Every day they gained miles on the rest of the fleet during race three, and these performances puts them in a very good position for the rest of the series.”

The winner, LMAX Exchange, will be awarded the Wardan Whip trophy by Host Port, the City of Albany, and the other two teams pennants at a prizegiving event on 26 November.

The nine remaining teams are expected into Albany over the next five days, with yachts at the back of the fleet suffering in very light winds.

Race four: The Elliot Brown Timekeeper Cup from Albany to Sydney will start on Tuesday December 1. British watch company Elliot Brown is the Official Timekeeper for the Clipper 2015-16 Race.

Built to go the distance during the circumnavigation, Elliot Brown watches are being worn by Skippers and crew to test their durability in the extreme conditions. Elliot Brown is producing 1000 special edition Clipper Race crew member watches which are available to pre-order today.