Clipper 2017-18 Race - Greenings re-joins Leg 1

by Chris Harris on 30 Aug 2017 The Greenings team resumed its Clipper 2017-18 Race campaign yesterday evening following the yacht’s diversion to Portugal after Skipper David Hartshorn suffered a serious hand injury.

The incident occurred approximately 450nM off the coast of Portugal on Saturday evening when British professional Skipper David Hartshorn, 52, was leading a spinnaker drop with his crew. A spinnaker sheet became caught around his left thumb resulting in a serious open fracture which required urgent medical attention.

Clipper Race Director Mark Light commented: “Sailing around the world is an extreme sport and all of our Race Skippers and crew go through extensive training in order to help them react to any situation they find themselves in. In this incident, it was crucial to transfer David to the nearest hospital as quickly as possible for surgery to save his left thumb.

“The Greenings crew, who include British crew Miles Berry, a surgeon, and Clipper Race Coxswain crew member Jeremy Hilton, specifically qualified to take over control of the yacht if the Skipper is incapacitated, worked impressively together to prepare David for a helicopter evacuation, and I’m pleased to say his operation was a success.”

Following David’s medevac, Greenings continued to Porto, Portugal, under the control of Jeremy Hilton, where they arrived earlier yesterday. Whilst David was not fit enough to re-join them they did get to see their Skipper and the team is now continuing the race to Punta del Este, Uruguay, under the guidance of Deputy Race Director Dan Smith.

David, who was dockside to wave his team off as they re-joined the race, said: “The crew are far stronger, and far more determined than ever before because of this experience.

“They’ve got the rest of this race with Dan Smith now, who led his team to second place the last Clipper Race, and I know they will benefit from that experience. They are a great crew, with lots of self-belief and I know they will put everything into doing very well, not just in the remainder of this leg, but in all future races.

“I’m gutted not to be with them now but I’ll be back as soon as I can!”

Andrew Greening, Founder of Greenings International who sponsors the team, said: “We are immensely proud of how the team has come together to keep things as smooth as possible through this rough patch. For now, we wish all the crew purely a safe passage on to Punta del Este and want to warmly welcome aboard Daniel Smith as our Skipper in Dave’s absence.”

Continuing his praise of the team’s actions in the circumstances, Mark Light added: “As well as thanking the Greenings crew who reacted incredibly well and remained composed under tough circumstances, we would also really like to thank PRAXES, our remote medical support partner, the helicopter crew from the Portuguese Rescue Services, and the staff at Hospital de São Sebastião.

“As one of our team Skippers, David is incredibly important to us and our race success and together, the care and attention the hospital staff provided David helped him get the treatment he urgently required which we hope will allow him to return to the race and lead his team once again.”

Greenings is now motorsailing to the position of 40°12.395N, 009°29.969W which is exactly 1923.8nM from the midpoint of the Doldrums Corridor. This is the same distance that the yacht was at from the Doldrums Corridor midpoint when the incident occurred.

The overall time for Greenings for Race 1 will be calculated as the elapsed time from Race Start in Liverpool, until the time the team crosses the finish line in Uruguay.

The rest of the Clipper Race fleet is currently racing through the Atlantic and is expected to arrive in Punta del Este, Uruguay, between 20-25 September.

To track the teams 24/7 as they race, go to www.clipperroundtheworld.com/raceviewer.