westernaustralia.com tops Clipper leaderboard

by Catherine Green on 22 Jul 2006 westernaustralia.com have had their ups and downs, but they are certainly ‘up’ today as they have once again risen to the top of the leaderboard in the Clipper 05-06 Round the World Yacht Race!

The Australian entry arrived in Jersey in high spirits this morning [21 July] as they claimed second place position in the closely fought Transatlantic stage from New York.

The yacht crossed the finish line yesterday at 1030 GMT– just over 30 minutes after the lead boat, New York – a very close call after racing for over 3000 miles.

Skippered by Mark Preedy, westernaustralia.com were positioned just half a point behind Durban Clipper on leaving New York, but with Durban still racing and currently in eighth place, this has pushed the Aussies up into first place, a position they have held for the second time in this 35,000 mile global adventure.

On leaving Jersey for Liverpool on 25th July, there will still be 15 points up for grabs in the last two races and the competition will be tough for the top three podium places; however westernaustralia.com have put themselves in a very strong position and have a good chance of lifting the highly coveted Clipper Cup.

On arrival in the stunning port of St Helier, Jersey, skipper Mark Preedy was greeted by a bank of journalists closely following the race in its final stage. He commented; ‘It is all looking very rosy for us and we are delighted to be back in first place position. We are racing far more competitively and making the right decisions on both the shorter sprints and big ocean crossings - this is our third 2nd place position in a row.

He continued; ‘In the final stage back to Liverpool I want a proper fight for the finish and I want to win this race having given it everything we’ve got!’

If westernaustralia.com do manage to get their hands on the Clipper Cup, they will be the first Australian team to win an around the world yacht race.

The New York Clipper claimed first place position yesterday [20 July] in race 11, racing from their host port in New York, across the formidable Atlantic Ocean to Jersey in the Channel Islands - taking 15 days.

After racing for over 3000 miles, the last hours once again came down to a photo finish, with New York crossing the shortened finish line at 0954 GMT, closely followed by westernaustralia.com at 1030 GMT and the Victoria Clipper chasing at 1048 GMT.

Danny Watson and the crew of Qingdao crossed the line at 1513 GMT yesterday to take fourth place - well done Qingdao!

The race finishes on 29th July in Liverpool UK, to keep track of the race in its final stages log onto www.clipper-ventures.com/2006