Clipper Round the World Race fleet prepare for Scoring Gate dash

by Amy Martindale on 18 Jun 2012 Clipper 2011-12 Round the World Yacht Race fleet are on day three of race thirteen from Nova Scotia to Derry-Londonderry. It has been another eventful 24 hours for the teams racing across the North Atlantic.

While the winds have eased off slightly along with the spur of sea sickness, thoughts have turned to tactics overnight. The ten yacht entries are considering when to head north towards the optional Scoring Gate, which could give them vital additional points in these final stages of the world’s longest ocean race.

Visit Finland’s skipper, Olly Osborne says, 'As the weather changes over the next couple of days it will not only provide respite from the choppy upwind sailing, but should see the fleet turning northward toward the rhumb line route. This will hopefully be a chance for us to take advantage of our northerly position, and to get a head start in the dash for the Scoring Gate. But only time will tell who the weather will favour in this notoriously unpredictable region, and for the meantime it's still best course to windward.'

The Finnish entry has slipped back into second place, with only one mile separating them and first-place Gold Coast Australia who remains in a more southerly position with the majority of the fleet.

Singapore has moved back up the leader board in third place ahead of Welcome to Yorkshire, currently in fourth. 'We now have a couple of days of lighter wind up ahead of us and how we play the taking angles will be essential if we are to pop out the other side and get moving to the north again before our rivals,' says Singapore skipper, Ben Bowley.

The Clipper Race fleet is set to arrive into Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland between 29 June and 1 July.

Latest boat positions (0900 UTC)

Position	Team	DTF	DTL
1	Gold Coast Australia	1890NM	0NM
2	Visit Finland	1891NM	1NM
3	Singapore	1902NM	12NM
4	Welcome to Yorkshire	1903NM	13NM
5	Geraldton Western Australia	1906NM	16NM
6	Derry-Londonderry	1914NM	24NM
7	Qingdao	1917NM	27NM
8	Edinburgh Inspiring Capital	1922NM	32NM
9	De Lage Landen	1943NM	53NM
10	New York	1964NM	74NM

Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found online along with daily skipper Clipper Round the World Yacht Race website