The Clipper Race - LMAX Exchange – Race of the Americas start

by Clipper Round the World on 30 May 2016 2015 -16 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - The Clipper Race teams will soon be back racing the in the Atlantic Ocean where their journey began nine months ago, as the fleet prepares to start The LMAX Exchange – Race of The Americas from Panama to New York.

After a successful transit through the Panama Canal, in which the teams passed through in groups of three, the twelve Clipper Race yachts will be reuniting on the eastern side of the canal. PSP Logistics, Visit Seattle and Da Nang – Viet Nam are the final three teams to complete the transit and at 2200 local time (0300 UTC) the rest of the fleet will depart Shelter Bay Marina to join up with them.

The plan is that the fleet will then motor through the night towards the race start position, approximately 100 nautical miles away, in order to escape the heavy traffic close to the canal. The Le Mans start is expected to take place around 1500 local time (2000 UTC) on Monday 30 May.

This is the fourth time the fleet have employed the Le Mans start during this circumnavigation and the Lead Skipper this time is Rich Gould from IchorCoal.

The teams draw lots to decide the positioning of the starting line-up but the Lead Skipper’s team will always be in the middle of the fleet in order to have a good view of what is going on across the fleet and making sure that every team keeps the line.

As the Lead Skipper, Rich will have overall control of the start procedure which has the standard countdown (of ten minutes, four minutes, one minute) and then ensuring that all teams adhere to the rules and guidelines.

You can follow the fleet’s progress from Shelter Bay Marina on the Race Viewer.