Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - Henri Lloyd crosses finish line

by Marina Thomas on 13 Dec 2013 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 2013-14 is on day 10 of Race 5. Henri Lloyd crossed the finish line into Sydney, Australia at 0315 local time (UTC+11), claiming its fourth consecutive podium result and its first win in the Race.

The team celebrated its win with Champagne on arrival to Rushcutters Bay which further consolidates the team’s overall lead in the race series.

Eric Holden, who was voted Sailor of the Month by Sail Canada last month, said of his team’s victory:

'This win has been a long time coming; we’ve been the bridesmaid for the last couple of races so it’s nice to do one better and win Race 5 into Sydney, Australia. People have been asking me if I would be happy winning the overall race without actually winning one of the races in the series. My answer is always yes, but it feels so much better to win a race then come second or third.

'What’s been interesting about this race has been the mixture of offshore and inshore racing. With the interchangeable weather it meant a lot more sail changes and a lot more work for the crew. Our strategy was to take it more conservatively and when our chance came we were ready to push hard and make it count,' added Holden.

Just under three hours later, OneDLL secured second place after crossing the Race 5 finish line at 0614 local time (1914 UTC). 'We had a good start in Albany and that continued with competitive sailing with Henri Lloyd and Derry~Londonderry~Doire,' explained skipper Olly Cotterell.

The third podium was taken by Chinese entry Qingdao which crossed the finish line at 0911 local time (2211 UTC); provisionally securing a podium position overall. Skipper Gareth Glover said: 'That was one of the toughest races so far, as the weather was constantly changing so we had to change tactics on the spot.'

'Give me the Southern Ocean any day where you have more time to think about things and plan the tactics. The crew worked tirelessly and filled all the roles on board to get us the podium finish. We are always trying to do better than the last result, and we came fourth into Albany, so we are very happy with third into Sydney.'

The remainder of the fleet will arrive into the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia today and over the weekend.

POSITION / TEAM		DTL
1	Henri Lloyd	0NM
2	One DLL	0NM
3	Qingdao	0NM
4	Switzerland	0NM
5	Derry~Londonderry~Doire	0NM
6	Old Pulteney	1NM
7	Jamaica Get All Right	1NM
8	Mission Performance	47NM
9	Team Garmin	118NM
10	Invest Africa	118NM
11	GREAT Britain	153NM
12	PSP Logistics	212NM

 

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