Battle to be first Clipper to arrive in Jamaica

by Event media on 22 May 2008 The first of the Clipper 07-08 teams are expected in Port Antonio, Jamaica, just before midnight tonight local time (0500 GMT) at the end of the 590-mile sprint from Colon, Panama.

Race Director, Joff Bailey, says 'The racing over the last few days has been fast and furious with the smallest mistake costing places in the standings. Hull & Humber and New York have renewed their battle at the front of the fleet as the each try to gain the advantage. Just eleven nautical miles separate the first eight yachts so the other teams aren't far behind, waiting for one of the top two to make a mistake so they can pounce.'

Duggie Gillespie summed it up in his morning report to the Race Office. 'All very close and expecting it to get closer as we near Jamaica,' said the New York skipper.

On such a short race the teams will mostly be in sight of each other and sleep will be scarce as the skippers ask for more effort from the crews.

Jamaica skipper, Simon Bradley, says, 'Just losing a single mile against the rest of the fleet can change your standing by several places as we're so close together. It's great to see the other yachts, it really keeps everybody on their toes! We're racing hard to Jamaica, looking for our first podium of the race. We had a fantastic Le Mans start fighting for position with the rest of the fleet. We've sailed through several heavy squalls and are now making good speed to the finish where we know there'll be a huge welcome from friends, family & our Jamaican supporters. One Love!'

All of the teams have been making very fast progress towards Jamaica in the moderate F5 easterly wind, however Nova Scotia and westernaustralia2011.com were trapped for several hours in their own personal wind holes and now lag behind the pack.

Joff says, 'The current good winds will continue until the teams reach the eastern corner of Jamaica and then the final 30nm to the finish will be light and fickle and we will see lots of position changes on the finishing straights.'

The first of the yachts is expected between 2200 and midnight local time (0300 and 0500 GMT) with the rest of the fleet arriving through the night.

In Port Antonio, the short stopover will be action packed, with prizegiving on Thursday evening and a visit by Jamaica's Minister of Tourism on Friday.

A crew brief will also take place on Friday evening and several of the yachts will go out for refresher training sails to familiarise the 54 joining crew who completed their Clipper Training last year.

Race 11 to New York will begin on Saturday 24 May at 1400.

Berths are now available for the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race. For more information email oceanracer(at)clipperroundtheworld.com or call +44 (0) 2392 526000

For more information visit www.clipperroundtheworld.com