ClipperTelemed+ wins Race 11, The LMAX Exchange – Race of the Americas

by Marina Thomas on 10 Jun 2016 2015 -16 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - ClipperTelemed+ has won Race 11, The LMAX Exchange – Race of the Americas, its first overall Clipper Race win and second podium of the global series.

The team, skippered by Matt Mitchell, crossed the finish line at 1442 UTC, 9 June after overtaking Garmin in the night following a fraught battle between the two teams at the top of the leaderboard over the last four days.

ClipperTelemed+ beat Garmin to the finish of the race from Panama by nine nautical miles. Garmin was also seeking its first overall race win, despite achieving five previous podiums already during the series so far, and finished in second place at 1535 UTC.

Celebrating the win at Liberty Landing Marina New Jersey, ClipperTelemed+ Skipper Matt Mitchell said: 'The team is ecstatic about winning the LMAX Exchange - Race of the Americas. We've been putting in 110% every minute of this race, coupled with a couple of good decisions along the way means that we have secured victory for the first time since leaving London. It's a very special moment for us and we couldn't be more pleased,” Matt added.

ClipperTelemed+ celebrated its first podium of the series when the team finished second into Panama on the previous race, Race 10, the PSP Logistics Panama Cup.

Speaking about his team's performance on Race 11, which included an extra three Scoring Gate points, Garmin Skipper Ash Skett said his crew had sailed really well throughout this race.

'Although we are disappointed after once again finishing second having led for the majority of the race, it is still a brilliant result and credit should be given to the team for staying focused and working hard. That meant very little sleep trying to spot the wind changes and changing sails constantly. We were always pushing and for a lot of the race it looked like we would grab it but ClipperTelemed+ had a better wind angle in the final stages.

'Congratulations to Matt and his ClipperTelemed+ team, they were pushing just as hard as we were and it was a very close finish in the end. We couldn’t have pushed any harder and one tactical decision made the difference and we finished 40 minutes after them.

'For us, we can take solace in the fact that we took more points from this race than anyone else with our three extra Scoring Gate points and there are still three races left to clinch that elusive race win,' Ash added.

US-sponsored yacht Visit Seattle has recorded its first podium and best result of the series so far, finishing Race 11 in third.

Skipper Huw Fernie said: “The team worked hard for this and we are all ecstatic to be crossing the line in third place in this LMAX Exchange - Race of the Americas. We had a huge boost from visiting our home port of Seattle and managed to keep that energy into the last race and this one too.

“It's been a very tough few days with boats getting closer and the weather throwing up everything from storms to flat calms and all of those with their own wind shifts, so it's been a tactical nightmare and a physical challenge. Now we are looking forward to a few days of normality in New York to recharge and recover and then we'll do it all again.”

The remaining teams are due to finish the race by around 1500 local time (1900 UTC) tomorrow, Friday June 10 and will make their way to Liberty Landing Marina.

The final leg of the odyssey, New York to London via Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland and Den Helder, The Netherlands, starts on June 20.

For the latest ETAs for all teams, click here.