New York wins shortened Clipper Race 11

by Clipper Event media on 1 Jun 2008
Breaking what has been referred to as the ‘home port curse’, skipper Duggie Gillespie and his team have achieved an historic victory by winning into New York at the end of the 1,420-mile race from Jamaica of the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race.

With the exceptionally light winds due to continue along the whole coastal region for some time the Race Committee took the decision to shorten the course, finishing Race 11 at 00:00 UTC 31 May (20:00 30 May local time in New York). The final results were taken from the positions that were reported at that time and the distance to finish to Ambrose Light, the location of the original Race 11 finish line.

This elusive accolade of a home port win has only been achieved once before in the history of the biennial round the world race, by Canadian entry Victoria Clipper, in Clipper 05-06.

In what has been one of the closest races of the ten-month series, the New York team was able to hold its nerve and clinch victory in a nail biting finish that saw the top six teams finishing within eight nautical miles each other.

Skipper of New York, Duggie Gillespie, said, 'I am extremely pleased with our win. The team worked really hard under busy light wind conditions and I am very proud of them all. It is a new experience for me to go to New York and what better way than to lead the fleet into our home port.'

New York was just three and a half points behind overall race leaders Hull & Humber at the start of Race 11 from Jamaica and, subject to protests upon the fleet’s arrival in port, the result catapults the US team to the top of the leader board. A disappointing eighth place result means that Hull & Humber has now slipped into second place overall and they now find themselves with a three and a half point deficit on the new race leaders.

On hearing the news of New York’s victory, Ken Podziba, New York’s Sports Commissioner, said: 'The city of New York is proud of New York’s victory in the latest leg of the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race. We’re excited to have the opportunity to personally show the skipper and crew of New York how much we appreciate them when they arrive here in a few days. Moreover, we look forward to welcoming all the teams from around the world to our city who, through this amazing and gruelling competition, have united countries through the great sport of sailing.'

westernaustralia2011.com scored their third podium position of the Clipper 07-08 Race by finishing in second place, less than 3 nautical miles behind New York. Skipper of the Western Australian team, Martin Silk, said, 'What a fantastic but well deserved result for my team; they have worked so hard for every minute of this one and I feel very proud of them all. In my experience of ocean racing, this has been by far the closest result ever, with excitement and tension all the way. We’ve had a few setbacks in the past few months and it feels so good to prove we haven’t lost the plot and are back up to speed again. I’m also very thankful for the boats that raced us so hard and kept us pushing to the end. Once the celebrations are over I shall sleep very well tonight.'

Less than one nautical mile behind westernaustralia2011.com was Liverpool 08 who finished in third place to also achieve a third podium of the Clipper 07-08 Race series. The result is a return to form for the team representing the north west of England and comes just five weeks before their biggest test when Liverpool 08 will attempt to repeat New York’s recent achievement by winning into their home port next month. Skipper of Liverpool 08, Ben Galloway, said, 'Suspense and anticipation were killing myself and the rest of the crew. It's definitely been the most intense race so far, especially the last fifteen minutes not knowing whether we stood in first, second or third. We were waiting for the emails to come in but as the cards unfolded they didn’t turn up at first, but then they flew in revealing that we had
came third to westernaustralia2011.com. Still, a triumphant victory over some boats that we needed to place well against. Having not been on the podium since Singapore, despite our efforts and sometimes not reflecting the efforts that we have put in, the result has come has a huge moral boost to the team.'

Despite some fast reaching conditions at the beginning of the race, the teams found themselves hampered by frustratingly light winds over the last 48-hours, clocking an average of around 50 miles a day. With these exceptionally light winds due to continue along the whole coastal region for some time and the projected ETA in New York at these speeds pushed out to another two weeks, the Race Committee took the decision to finish Race 11 at
0000UTC 31 May (2000 30 May local time in New York).

The final results for Race 11 have been taken from the positions that were reported at that time and the distance to finish to Ambrose Light, the location of the original Race 11 finish line:

1 New York 456.50 nautical miles
2 westernaustralia2011.com 459.18 nautical miles
3 Liverpool 08 460.19 nautical miles
4 Qingdao 461.73 nautical miles
5 Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper 461.99 nautical miles
6 Jamaica 463.80 nautical miles
7 Uniquely Singapore 467.81 nautical miles
8 Hull & Humber 469.73 nautical miles
9 Nova Scotia 473.23 nautical miles
10 Durban 2010 and Beyond 484.65 nautical miles

Race Director, Joff Bailey, said: 'Overall this must have been the closest fought ocean race of Clipper 07-08 as at any time six or seven of the leading boats were fighting for the podium positions and there were lots of place changes right up to the last minute.

'This has been a great race with many of the teams being within sight of each other since the start of the race in Jamaica. The closeness of the racing is a testament to how well all of the crews are performing and how much they have developed as sailors since the start of the race last September. The next five weeks of racing will be very exciting to watch as the Clipper 07-08 Race draws to its climax in Liverpool on the 5 July, during the height of the city’s celebrations as European Capital of Culture 2008.'

The fleet is now making best speed towards New York, with the first boats expected to arrive on Sunday evening (local time). The entire fleet will be berthed at North Cove Marina, Battery Park City for the duration of the three-day stopover.


Clipper - Overall - Position Team Points (provisional ref penalties)

1 Hull & Humber 72
2 New York 68.5
3 Glasgow:Scotland with style 63
4 Durban 2010 and Beyond 59
5 Liverpool 081 52.5
6 Uniquely Singapore 47
7 Qingdao 46.5
8 Nova Scotia1 42.5
9 westernaustralia2011.com 42
10 Jamaica3 25.5

Clipper Race founder and legendary solo sailor, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston has launched the search for skippers for the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race. More details can be found in the Race News section of www.clipperroundtheworld.com and candidates are invited to email sirrobinknoxjohnston(at)clipperroundtheworld.com for more information on how to apply.

Berths are now available for the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race. Those interested in participating in the world’s only round the yacht race for non-professionals can find out more by contacting Clipper Ventures on or email oceanracer(at)clipperroundtheworld.com