Clipper Round the World Race - A battle to the finish line in Race 8

by Clipper Ventures News on 3 Feb 2014 In the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 2013-14 Qingdao has successfully managed to hold onto its lead for another 24 hours, But the Chinese entry will Need to do all it can to keep its nearest competitors at bay as Great Britain, Henri Lloyd and Jamaica Get All Right set their sights firmly on the finish line.

With the current forecast predicting the winds to stay in the north, north east the fleet continues to battle the unusual head winds and light air, as progress remains slow. However, as Henri Lloyd and Jamaica Get All Right steadily climb the ranks, Qingdao will need to work hard to maintain its current lead. Simon Talbot, skipper of Great Britain knows anything can happen at this late stage of the race:

'Looking at the fleet now, this wind hole has really caused everyone to bunch up, with the back markers standing a really good chance of being the front runners; it really is a lottery and a very frustrating lottery at that!'

Jamaica Get All Right had an extremely successful 24 hours moving into fourth place after finding a favourable current which helped boost the boats speed by an extra two knots. However, it was a different story for the former leaders of the pack OneDLL, Old Pulteney and Derry~Londonderry~Doire after falling behind on the leaderboard into a frustrating mid-fleet position.

With so much to play for at this stage of the race and with only 100 miles separating the top ten teams, skipper of Switzerland, Vicky Ellis knows that the race won’t be decided until the finish line as one of the most challenging races in the 16 race series draws to a close:

'Whoever gets to the finish line first congratulations. It’s been a difficult leg. It’s not been the wettest or the windiest or the hottest or the most windless or the most tiring of the legs to date. What it has been though, to make it one of the toughest legs so far, has been a testing combination of all of those items, when you least wanted them!'

All positions reported as at the time of writing and are changing frequently.

POSITION / TEAM		DTL
1	Qingdao	0NM
2	GREAT Britain	52NM
3	Henri Lloyd	66NM
4	Jamaica Get All Right	60NM
5	Team Garmin	134NM
6	Old Pulteney	141NM
7	One DLL	150NM
8	PSP Logistics	99NM
9	Derry~Londonderry~Doire	168NM
10	Switzerland	127NM
11	Mission Performance	148NM
12	Invest Africa	174NM

 

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