Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - Crews Push hard towards the end

by Clipper Ventures on 25 Oct 2013 At the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, the crew are pushing hard during the final miles into Cape Town, with the conditions close to the shore near Table Mountain on skippers’ minds.

Great Britain is leading the fleet, followed by Invest Africa 30 miles behind, and Henri Lloyd nine miles behind the African entry, ensuring a very close finish over the next 24 hours.

Invest Africa skipper Rich Gould said he was analysing the local conditions close to the shore line in Table Bay, with fears of a wind shadow being created by Table Mountain.

'The finish line for this race is just outside the harbour, with one end of the line being the harbour control tower and the other being one of the buoys that mark the main shipping channel. The geographical location of the line means that we may have one last tricky bit of no wind to tackle between us and the cold beers shore side.

'With the breeze coming from the current direction, Table Bay is likely to be in the wind shadow created by Table Mountain, so this could make the final few miles very tricky indeed.

'For now, it looks like we have managed to outrun the ridge of high pressure that seems to be plaguing some of the fleet that are slightly further south west of us. I'm just hoping we manage to maintain this progress,' he added.