Tight at top of leaderboard as Clipper Race passes half way mark

by Clipper Ventures on 14 Feb 2014 2013 - 14 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race- Just over one point now separates the top two teams as Henri Lloyd wins Race 8, The Old Pulteney Navigator Cup, into Singapore.

The Clipper Race fleet has arrived in One15 Marina, Sentosa Cove, Singapore after a gruelling 33 days at sea since departing Brisbane, Australia.

Race 8: The Old Pulteney Navigator Cup - part of the 16 stage Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - was particularly long and challenging due to unfavourable weather conditions which saw severe squalls, a water spout, stifling temperatures and wind holes frustrate the fleet. These resulted in officials having to end the race early at the Sarangani mark, just off the coast of Mindanoa in the Philippines, in order to avoid further delays into Singapore.

The boats were instructed to make best speed and have arrived over the last two days to celebrate their success, with Henri Lloyd taking first place after a very close finish with Great Britain, just seconds apart. OneDLL clinched the final podium place, less than half an hour behind.

The win is Henri Lloyd’s second of the series. Skipper Eric Holden said: 'The toughest part of this race was staying patient. It was long and sometimes it seemed like we were making very little progress and making very little gains to the leaders. We just had to be patient and wait to make our move.

'We had some damage in Australia and missed two races so really this is like back to back wins for us as the last time we got to race properly was from Albany to Sydney. It’s good to be back on top and show everyone that we’re still here and we’re still fighting.'

Great Britain skipper Simon Talbot celebrated his team’s second place finish and commented: 'Our race didn't start well. We were trailing the fleet for the first few days but we dug deep, focused on the result and worked incredibly hard as a team to claw the positions back. By the end we were so close to first place but we couldn't quite take it. Congratulations to Henri Lloyd, it was such an incredibly close finish to such an incredibly tough and challenging race.'

Clipper Race leaders OneDLL took the third podium spot, retaining their place at the top of the overall race standings. Skipper Olly Cotterell commented: 'This was a difficult race. We had headwinds when we should have had favourable winds and there were a lot of changes at the front. We actually lead for a long time and we were a bit unlucky towards the end with the wind hole that developed. At the halfway stage of the series we are in a very strong position but we know we have a lot of work ahead to keep it up.'

OneDLL is now just 1.1 points ahead of Henri Lloyd with 81 and 79.9 points respectively. Derry Londonderry Doire is in third place with 69 points. Great Britain are just four points short of the podium, with Switzerland and Qingdao tied in fifth place, with 61 points.