#ClipperRace - The full Clipper Race fleet has arrived in Derry-Londonderry, with the crews now ready to enjoy an action-packed fortnight and the award-winning Foyle Maritime Festival.

After what has been a thrilling race full of tactical, close racing, incredible whale and dolphin sightings, and a thrilling finish and win by the youngest Clipper Race skipper, Nikki Henderson of Visit Seattle, the final two boats arrived into the Foyle Port Marina.

The third and final day of arrivals started with GREAT Britain after the team crossed the finish line in 10th place at 4.06am yesterday morning (Thursday 12 July).

Having sailed some 3,000 nautical miles from New York across the North Atlantic, the round-the-world crew were very happy to arrive in Northern Ireland and be back in the UK the first time since leaving Liverpool in August last year.

One of them, Phillipa O’Sullivan from Hampshire, said: “As a round-the-worlder, it feels amazing. I didn’t think about what it would feel like to be back in the UK but it’s brilliant and what a lovely warm welcome from everybody here.

“I thought the North Atlantic would be physically harder than it was but psychologically it was tough as we just took the wrong route with the weather and hit a wind hole. But we are here - we made it and crossed the Atlantic for the second time.”

This was the first ocean crossing for crew member Julie Snowdon from North Yorkshire. “It has been my dream for so long and I just can’t believe I have done it,” she said. “The North Atlantic was fantastic, I absolutely love that ocean.

“Now that we have arrived, I am looking forward to catching up with all the other teams and reflecting on what we have done. I also can’t wait to have a look around the Foyle Maritime Festival too.”

All 11 Clipper Race teams were reunited for the first time since leaving New York when Liverpool 2018 made its way up the River Foyle, after crossing the finish line at 1.13pm. A spectacular welcome awaited the eleventh placed team, with friends, family, supporters and fellow Clipper Race crews cheering the bright pink boat into Derry-Londonderry.

On arrival, skipper Lance Shepherd said: “The crew are at the top of their game and very excited to be in Derry-Londonderry, bit of a divert but we managed to catch up 500 miles on the fleet and get three points in the Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint. We saw the wind coming in — the further north we were, the stronger the winds would be, so we put ourselves up there to get a good result. We worked well as team so really well done to the crew.”

It wasn’t the standard Atlantic crossing for the Liverpool 2018 team, who had to divert to Newfoundland in Canada in the early stages of the race to carry out a successful medevac of an ill crew member.

But after leaving Canada, the team banded together and had great success in the Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint, picking up the maximum three bonus points on offer

Watch leader and resident Caymanian, James Macfee, said: “I am very excited to be here. We managed to get here despite some very difficult waters and tumultuous conditions. We had some good weather for the sprint, the boat was fast and it was good fun.”

With just one race to go and the overall leaderboard tight, the crew will be using every moment in Derry-Londonderry to rest and prepare for the final sprint to Liverpool, which will begin on the final day of the Foyle Maritime Festival on Sunday 22 July.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Ralph Morton from the Seattle Sports Commission, and the Visit Seattle team

Meanwhile, legendary sailor Sir Robin Knox-Johnston has praised Derry-Londonderry as the Northern Irish city embraces the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race for a fourth consecutive visit.

Sir Robin, founder and chairman of the Clipper Race, sailed into the walled city on Wednesday (11 July) from Les Sables d'Olonne in France, where he was celebrating the 50th anniversary of when he began the epic voyage that would see him become the first person to sail solo and non-stop around the globe.

“It was lovely returning to Derry-Londonderry and heading up the Foyle, I’m just disappointed that I didn’t beat the entire Clipper Race fleet in!” Sir Robin said.

“I think the partnership we’ve had with the city is why the public give us such great support. This is a place where the city got behind the event and when you get that combination of an enthusiastic city and the spectacle of the boats and crew, you can do so much more. And I think the result has been a major event -- I give the city of Derry-Londonderry full credit for that success.”

Fresh from their win into Derry-Londonderry, the Visit Seattle team and skipper Nikki Henderson cheered Sir Robin into the Foyle Port Marina.

“Nikki’s performance was just fantastic, especially as I had Ralph Morton from the Seattle Sports Commission in my crew for the sail to Derry-Londonderry and he was following it avidly,” said the Clipper Race founder.

#ClipperRace - With 13 nautical miles to go as of 9am this morning (Tuesday 10 July), Conall Morrison’s HotelPlanner.com leads the five Clipper Race boats still battling to the finish of Race 12: The LegenDerry Race.

Yesterday’s arrivals were completed at 6.12pm local time when Dare to Lead finished in fifth place — some 90 minutes after Qingdao claimed fourth, and a possible leg up to an overall podium spot, in the penultimate race of the 2017-18 edition.

“The last twelve hours were very frustrating,” said Qingdai crew member Rory Rhind on arrival in Derry-Londonderry. “We had Dare To Lead 35 miles behind us and then after hitting an area of light airs in the bay they were five miles behind, so it was tight to the finish we thought they might catch us.

“Considering we were last for a fair amount of the race, we are very happy to come through and with our final position.”

Meanwhile, Race 12 is ongoing for almost half the fleet, and some impressive battles are taking place as teams strive to join the celebrations Foyleside.

PSP Logistics crossed the finish line at 8.27am this morning, finishing in sixth place — and will have its points doubled after playing its Joker Card.

Next in line is HotelPlanner.com, skippered by Derry local Conall Morrison and crewed by a number of Irish team members who will no doubt receive an emotional welcome when the team sails up the River Foyle later this afternoon.

Among those supporters will be dairy farmer Patrick Merrick, whose wife Mary Frawley has crewed HotelPlanner.com on every leg of the Clipper Race circumnavigation.

The couple haven’t been separated for long, however, as Patrick has been there to cheer Mary on at stopovers in Liverpool, Uruguay, Cape Town, Australia, Seattle and New York.

We must be getting close to the British Isles as it is grey, very grey and a bit drizzly

The tightest match race currently stands between Sanya Serenity Coast, in eighth, and Nasdaq which is just 7nm behind in ninth.

Sanya Serenity Coast skipper Wendy Tuck, currently 30nm from the finish line, explains: “In typical race finish fashion, it will be a close finish between us and Nasdaq, they are currently a couple of miles behind us, but sometimes they are faster, sometimes we are…

“We must be getting close to the British Isles as it is grey, very grey and a bit drizzly. So, this is our last ocean crossing drawing to an end.

“It’s been a different sort of race, I don’t think I have ever reached as much as this, been tough not being fast and watching boats we normally are faster than pull away from us, it’s been a bit sad, no more days out on the big blue, I really do love just being out on the ocean. Sad to think this big adventure is nearing its end.”

The most remarkable duel is playing out between the final two teams, however. Despite its diversion to Canada, the Liverpool 2018 team has managed to cut its deficit on the tenth placed GREAT Britain from over 500nm, to just 40nm this morning, though now finds its progress in the final miles halted by a dreaded wind hole.

In his blog today, Liverpool 2018 skipper Lance Shepherd explains: “Sailing wise I would title today, Man vs Wind hole!

“We are currently locked in battle with the blue dots of doom. Both of us trying to outwit each other. We gybe, wind hole counters with an immediate wind shift. We gybe back, wind hole then shifts the wind to exactly where we wanted it on the other gybe.

“This time, we stick to our course and success, the wind bends round and starts to build. It’s a will power thing and I am stubborn and tenacious, I will not let the blue dots of doom beat us!

“However, I do fear this is not the last blog of the race. We are doing our best to hurtle towards the Guinness and our friends in Derry-Londonderry. Big congrats to Nikki, Bob, GT and your teams for the podiums, well deserved.”

The GREAT Britain team has been experiencing satellite communications issues over the past few days of the race which has meant skipper David Hartshorn has been unable to send his daily blogs through. But the team has been in contact with the Race Office and all on board are safe and well.

#ClipperRace - While the battle for the Race 12 podium was settled earlier this morning by victorious Visit Seattle, second-placed Unicef and Garmin in third, the pressure remains on for the rest of the Clipper Race fleet as teams push for their best possible race results.

Fourth place looks to be Qingdao’s to lose at it makes good headway towards Derry-Londonderry, despite nearest competition Dare To Lead maintaining a 1.5 knot speed over ground (SOG) advantage.

In what should be the final blog of the race for Qingdao, skipper Chris Kobusch reported: “For once the dreaded wind hole was not too bad and we made steady progress over the past 24 hours. We are now less than 30nm away from the finish, the breeze is still blowing with 10 knots from the north and it looks promising that we will arrive in Derry-Londonderry today.”

Racing is just as gripping further down the leaderboard and it will be interesting to watch how the final 200nm of Race 12 plays out for HotelPlanner.com, Sanya Serenity Coast, Nasdaq and PSP Logistics.

HotelPlanner.com, led by Derry-Londonderry local Conall Morrison, and PSP Logistics, led by Matt Mitchell, are descending upon the finish line from a northerly course, with the latter team waiting to see how well the bold northerly tactic will have paid off.

Morrison is also looking forward to racing into his home port after a fast and frustrating race. He reported this morning: “It is disappointing to see boats that we were ahead of sail in more breeze and pass us during the last couple of days mostly due to routing decisions made a week ago, that is ocean sailing for you.

“Big shout out to skipper Matt Mitchell and the PSP logistics team for making the bold decision and sailed a lot of extra miles to avoid this high pressure.”

Further south, the match race between Nasdaq and Sanya Serenity Coast continues and it will be down to the wire for the two teams.

Nasdaq skipper Rob Graham said: “What a tortuously slow end to the LegenDerry Race. Nasdaq has hardly moved in the past 23hrs as we drift around the windhole under a ridge of high pressure. Sanya Serenity Coast has just appeared on AIS, so after two weeks and 3,000nm our little race-within-a-race comes down to this!”

For GREAT Britain and Liverpool 2018, which are pushing through the final 330nm and 550nm respectively, the end to Race 12 is in sight.

Despite sitting in 11th place, Liverpool 2018 has done remarkably well in making up ground on the fleet after diverting to Newfoundland, Canada to medevac a crew member earlier in the race.

The Liverpool 2018 team also received the excellent news that it has scooped the maximum three bonus race points as the winners of the Race 12 Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint this morning. Garmin was second and picks up two points whilst third fastest team, Qingdao, picks up the final bonus point.

Stay glued to the Clipper Race Viewer today to watch how the battle for Race 12 leaderboard positions plays out.

Nikki Henderson, 24, from Surrey, UK, has led her Visit Seattle team to an impressive victory in Race 12 to Derry-Londonderry, the penultimate race of the 40,000 nautical mile Clipper 2017-18 Round the World Yacht Race.

Visit Seattle crossed the finish line in an area north east of the entrance to Lough Foyle at 00:21:57 UTC on Monday 9 July to complete the 3,000 nautical mile race across the Atlantic Ocean, the fast-paced sixth and final ocean crossing of the eleven-month circumnavigation, in just over 12 days.

Victory in the race from New York to Derry-Londonderry has set up a thrilling duel for the overall Clipper Race Trophy against Sanya Serenity Coast Skipper, Wendy Tuck, 53 from Sydney, Australia, with the pair now vying to be the first female winner in the 22-year history of the Clipper Race.

Nikki said: “I am so proud of how hard my team worked to get this win. The crew never let up over the past two weeks and really deserve this result.

“We will certainly be celebrating the result in Derry-Londonderry but we all know the job isn’t done yet. The leaderboard is very close so the final race to Liverpool will be very exciting.”

The Clipper Race is unique in that it trains non-professionals to be ocean faring sailors. Established in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to sail solo, non-stop around the world, 40 per cent of Clipper Race crew have no previous sailing experience before signing up and undergoing the compulsory four weeks of training.

In total, 711 people representing 42 different nationalities and from all walks of life are taking part in the Clipper 2017-18 Race. In Leg 8, the Visit Seattle crew represent six different nationalities - Netherlands, UK, France, Germany, USA, Canada – with the ages ranging from 26 to 66.

Derry-Londonderry is a much-anticipated stopover on the global Clipper Race circuit, with each of the 232 crew given a starring role in the award-winning Foyle Maritime Festival. Over the next fortnight, locals and visitors to Derry-Londonderry will be able to get up close to the 70-foot ocean racing yachts and take part in an exciting programme of diverse events in celebration of the Clipper Race crew and their adventurous spirit.

The Foyle Maritime Festival will come to an end when the Clipper Race fleet departs for the final race, to Liverpool, on Sunday 22 July. The circumnavigation will come to an end at the Royal Albert Dock in Liverpool on July 28.]

#ClipperRace - With just 100 nautical miles remaining for the Clipper Race leaders, Race 12: The LegenDerry Race is playing out for the podium and certainly living up to its name as a tense battle, which could finish today.

Visit Seattle, leading the fleet for the third consecutive day, is aiming for its third race win. But with a dreaded wind hole ahead, and Unicef and Garmin hot on its heels — just 15 and 30nm behind respectively — skipper Nikki Henderson is not starting any early celebrations.

“We just started to slow down after a great 24 hours heading in the right direction - straight lining Northern Ireland… The dreaded wind hole looms, so it’s anyone’s guess as to how well we will do — but either way — it’s been an epic race and they have done brilliantly,” she said.

Spirits are high on board Unicef, which is playing its Joker Card on this race and is set to pick up the biggest points haul of the fleet.

Skipper Bob Beggs, hoping this will be his last blog of the race, explains: “The pace has been good despite the forecast and we have managed to stay ahead of the ridge of high pressure for much longer than we expected, but soon we will be slowing as the wind eases back and veers (moves clockwise).

“Just over a hundred and fifty miles to go and having played our Joker on this race we are hoping for a good result, the pressure is on to make the finish line within the next twenty four hours and avoid parking up for too long!”

After leading for times in this race, and after being overtaken by Unicef during the night due to a kite-mare, Garmin is feeling a little unlucky though is still in a strong position to claim its third podium result.

Skipper Gaetan Thomas says: “We can see Visit Seattle escaping slowly on our positions report. The more ahead you are, the more wind you have and less chances to finish in a wind hole very close to finish! Nail biting!”

The leaders may have opened up quite a gap on the rest of the fleet, with some 60nm separating third placed Garmin and Qingdao in fourth, but there is still plenty to play for amid the rest of the fleet in this final ocean crossing and penultimate race of the 2017-18 Clipper Race series.

Skipper Dale Smyth of Dare To Lead explains how the fleet got separated: “The boats that split to the south after the Ice Gate seemed to have fared much better weather wise and have made some good advance on the rest of the fleet. Those of us that went north got punished with a couple of lighter patches but that’s often the gamble of ocean racing.”

Nasdaq overtook Sanya Serenity Coast this morning to take sixth, and has since extended its lead by almost 20 nautical miles. Sanya, the overall race reader, has struggled in this race compared to its usually strong form, but skipper Wendy Tuck is trying everything to gain ground on her competition, and keep those behind her at bay.

“Hard to believe that this last ocean crossing is nearly done, still even harder to believe now is that we are having problems with boat speed. I changed to my lucky crocs and even my lucky sunnies and that didn’t seem to help, still scratching my head over it.”

Behind Sanya in eighth is HotelPlanner.com, whose homeward-bound skipper Conall Morrison blogged earlier today: “It is bitterly cold both on deck and below as we chase the remnants of the front east towards the Donegal coastline. From this time yesterday, we’ve been through the spinnaker wardrobe and are now on our lightweight, trying to squeeze as many miles as possible out of each knot of wind. We have a long following swell which initially makes helming difficult but then pushes you onto a surf as each wave passes.”

Morrison added: “We haven’t seen another Clipper Race boat in over a week, I wonder who we will meet up with before the finish? We remain 300 miles to go and ekeing every last bit of speed out of the good ship HotelPlanner.com and regardless of our finish position we know we've all had a good time and a tough challenge.”

Furthest back, Liverpool 2018 also has its eyes on the Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint and the finish, remaining positive despite its diversion.

Skipper Lance Shepherd says: “When we left St John’s in Newfoundland we were over 500 miles behind the fleet and our race was technically over. Had we gone south west to the position we stopped racing then we would have been about 800 miles and at least five days behind the fleet.

“So, we’re racing ourselves and trying to do the best we can in terms of boat speeds and performance. We can still participate in the ocean sprint and intend to do our up-most to gain as many points as we can.”

The latest ETA (as of 1.45pm this afternoon) sees Visit Seattle and Unicef reach Derry-Londonderry between midnight and 6am early tomorrow morning (Monday 10 July). Stay glued to the Race Viewer to see if the dreaded wind hole causes any shake ups.

#ClipperRace - The first few Clipper Race teams have commenced the Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint as of this morning (Friday 6 July) but with two boats in Stealth Mode and some tricky weather conditions, it’s an edge-of-the-seat kind of sprint for Race Viewer fans.

Clipper Race meteorologist Simon Rowell has advised the 11-strong fleet of the changeable conditions they will encounter over the next 24 hours. Liverpool 2018, who is in catch up and approximately 400 nautical miles behind, could expect a ‘quite fruity’ 30-40 knots.

The rest of the fleet, Rowell says, are in “various stages of the decaying front. This is not a very useful one either. Ahead of it there are reasonable SSW (ish) winds, behind it useful NW, but under it all sorts of patchy, shifty, opportunity-rich breeze.”

Unicef and Qingdao have both chosen to activate their invisibility cloak on Day 10 of Race 12: LegenDerry Race. Before this, standings showed Visit Seattle and Garmin racing in the leading pack, with Unicef’s last known position in the top three, too, so it will be an exciting wait until we can discover the pace they have managed in the sprint.

The fog has descended on Nasdaq as they race in the southerly pack. Speaking about the conditions, skipper Rob Graham says: “Well, it’s a good thing we have GPS - because on days like this, that’s the only way of knowing that we've moved. Nasdaq actually made some decent mileage, all of it through a featureless grey waterscape. Without a horizon, the dark grey sea blended into a mid grey sky, with an unrelenting grey drizzle throughout, and nobody else on AIS or radar.”

And the weather has been keeping the crew of GREAT Britain on its toes, albeit in a different way, due to the frequent sail changes the changing wind has brought about.

Skipper David Hartshorn has had a frustrating day with “the exclusive rights to two wind holes” and says: “It started so well yesterday morning, with the Code 3 (heavyweight spinnaker) up and reaching speeds of 16 knots. We then hit our first wind hole and wind shift putting us back to white sails. Then back to the Code 2 (mediumweight spinnaker), another wind hole, wind shift back to white sails.”

He continues: “The wind has veered from 165 to 325 degrees over the course of the day and has now backed to 260 degrees.”

Sanya Serenity Coast has been making the most of the fast conditions over the past day but the team is mindful of what is up ahead and the impact this can have on their overall leading position in this 2017-18 edition of the Clipper Race.

Skipper Wendy Tuck reports: “Today has been a fast blast sail - awesome fun overnight and today. It has been awhile since it’s been really fast and furious - there were a lot of wide eyes on board.

“Now the breeze has dropped a fair bit but we are still sailing along nicely and back in the correct direction. This race is proving to be one of the most tactical and stressful with so much on the line for all of us, and the great wind lottery about to come into play yet again.”

The Clipper Race fleet is estimated to arrive in Derry-Londonderry between 10-14 July – just in time for the Foyle Maritime Festival.

Meanwhile, the Clipper Race Committee has finalised the penalty points to be given to teams following assessment of damages and repairs needed after Races 10 and 11 (Leg 7) till the New York stopover.

Liverpool 2018 picks up one penalty point for equipment damage during Leg 7, Nasdaq gets four penalty points for sail repairs, while HotelPlanner.com has been levied with eight penalty points for replacing its Code 3 heavyweight spinnaker — an unfortunate cost for Conall Morrison and his largely Irish crew as they head towards their home port.

#ClipperRace - It may be the 4th of July but it’s not so much independence day for the Clipper Race fleet, as they are still racing in two fairly tight packs.

Five teams went for the Scoring Gate but with only points on offer for the first three to cross, the competition was closely fought.

Unicef was back in first place earlier today, and according to the race viewer it looked like the team’s decision to go for the Scoring Gate paid dividends.

Speaking on his birthday, Unicef’s additionally qualified person on board, Guy Waites, said: “Together we celebrated the day in style, we've gybed more times than there were candles on the cake (slight exaggeration) and just in time to pip Visit Seattle to the scoring gate.”

Nikki Henderson and her Visit Seattle team had their sights clearly on Unicef as they were just over one nautical mile behind the bright blue boat, and as of this afternoon had taken the lead by the same short distance.

They, too, went for the Scoring Gate, and being in Stealth Mode meant their sneaky progress was a surprise for their follow gate chasers. Again, official results are to be confirmed, but two bonus points will be very important to Henderson’s team, currently third on the Overall Race Leaderboard.

Skipper Nikki has high praise for the team, saying: “It felt like finally after a year's hard work training everyone - blindfolded helming, ripping spinnakers, whiteboard sessions, reef after reef after reef - and so much more, this team did some real racing. Like really classy racing - slick gybes, everyone getting involved in the tactics, a massive team effort with everyone pitching in.”

Dominic Littlewood, from Liverpool 2018, is now safely back in the UK and recovering well. His team have set sail from St John’s in Newfoundland and are now back racing.

Meanwhile, the weather has changed for the Scoring Gate pack. Rob Graham, skipper of third placed Nasdaq says: “We're now heading north-ish through some very tricky weather - big wind shifts, rain and limited visibility.”

But Clipper Race meteorologist Simon Rowell has predicted low-pressure driven wind by the end of today and looking ahead towards the end of this Race 12: LegenDerry Race, there is a strong chance of light winds.

With six days to go until the Derry-Londonderry arrival window, the race is still wide open for teams to scoop victory.

#ClipperRace - A split is starting to divide the fleet as if Tuesday 3 July as the Clipper Race teams make their Scoring Gate decisions. But with only 21 nautical miles (nm) separating first and fifth, it’s still anyone’s race.

Unicef skipper Bob Beggs, whose team had slipped from first to third before regaining the lead this afternoon, said this morning: “The competition is still tight with six yachts all within VHF radio range and five of the close competition visible on the horizon around Unicef. The wind and weather being amenable with easy good sailing but requiring concentration on course and sail trim.”

Unicef, Garmin and Nasdaq all look to be going for the Scoring Gate, though they could face competition for the bonus points on offer from Visit Seattle. However, its intentions remain unknown until later today as its track is hidden from public view until 7pm Irish time while in Stealth Mode.

Garmin skipper Gaetan Thomas said: “The team is working hard and my pirates are motivated to get some miles back but Captain Bob and his Unicef team are sailing well. We still have them on AIS and on sight but they haven’t done any mistakes (yet) so it’s pretty much cat and mouse now.”

HotelPlanner.com, like Visit Seattle, is also in Stealth Mode, but skipper Conall Morrison reveals his team is still making good progress to his home town of Derry-Londonderry, saying: “We’ve had a great day’s sailing yesterday under Code 2 (mediumweight spinnaker). Dare To Lead has been behind us most of the day and would gain some and lose some all day. It is definitely keeping us focussed on maximising our speed.”

Dare To Lead and Sanya Serenity Coast have both broken away from the main pack, gybing north as soon as they passed the final Virtual Waypoint for the Ice Limit. And the move paid dividends early, with Sanya Serenity Coast jumping from seventh to first place (the team has since slipped back to fifth) while Dare To Lead is now second, up from fifth.

However, with the path to Derry-Londonderry anything but smooth, Dare To Lead isn’t getting too comfortable at the top of the standings, as skipper Dale Smyth explains: “We took the decision to gybe north but the northerly or easterly gybe look pretty similar in terms of gain towards Ireland. The weather looks pretty complex for the next week with a range of pressure and systems all playing a role. It is definitely going to be a good dose of tactical decision and perhaps also a fair dose of luck.”

“Amazing to think that there is only around 1,300nm left of this race! In Clipper Race terms, that is next to nothing although these miles will be a lot harder earned than the first 1,500nm of this leg.”

PSP Logistics and Qingdao remain the most southerly of the teams, though PSP Logistics has now gybed north, with Skipper Matt Mitchell conceding: “The southerly strategy hasn’t paid off as well as I'd hoped which is a bit of a shame but I’d rather we'd done it than not and end up wishing we had.”

Despite the tactical loss, the team is relishing reaching the halfway mark of the race, with Matt adding: “We are now clear of our northerly limit which leaves the rest of the Atlantic as our playground. Today we received Met office charts once again, it feels lovely having the UK sat in the same bit of water that we’re sailing in. It’s felt like a long time since we were last at home.”

As well as sending the UK Met Office weather charts, Clipper Race meteorologist Simon Rowell has also delivered the good news that the fleet is unlikely to hampered by the movement of the high and should continue making good progress to Ireland.

Meanwhile, Liverpool 2018 has spent the night in St John’s in Newfoundland after successfully delivering ill crew member Dominic Littlewood for medical treatment. The team was expected to depart to rejoin the race at first light today.

Race 12: The LegenDerry Race is expected to take up to 19 days, with the Clipper Race fleet estimated to arrive in Derry-Londonderry between 10 and 14 July – just in time for the Foyle Maritime Festival.

#ClipperRace - It’s been a bumpy time for many of the Clipper Race teams as they braced themselves for a second day on the ‘rollercoaster’ Gulf Stream.

The competition remains tight on Saturday 30 June, day four of Race 12: The LegenDerry Race, with less than 14 nautical miles between first and fifth position, currently held by Conall Morrison’s HotelPlanner.com and his largely Irish crew.

“Yesterday was a day of bigger sea states and enough wind to require a reef at times,” Morrison wrote in his blog earlier today. “I am again impressed with crew resilience and hidden talents. All jobs are getting done and three meals prepared each day even though we've been bouncing around and over at 45 degrees.

“Big shout out to Simona Springer for her helming accuracy and to Julie Hesketh who drives it like she stole it every watch! Also a shout out for Maeve Hutchings who loves the pit and grinding winches so much she even brought a winch handle into her bunk.”

Another race milestone has been reached, too, as teams have passed the longitude of Punta del Este in Uruguay — meaning they have crossed every line of longitude on the earth’s surface.

Garmin skipper Gaëtan Thomas is keeping a close watch on his leading position as the standings are prone to change quickly.

“It was interesting to see some boats flying in the Gulf Stream, hopefully not for long so we will not lose too much ground,” Thomas said. “In a few days we will really see the verdict of what was the best course. The Scoring Gate is the next target, fingers crossed we get some extra points!”

For Joker-playing Unicef, it’s been life on a 35-degree angle and they are fully aware of just how close this race is. Skipper Bob Beggs said: “We are still in tough competition with HotelPlanner.com, Dare To Lead, and Sanya Serenity Coast.

“And the competition to the south seem to be having a battle with each other in stronger winds and fair current. There is soon to be the first mix up on the leaderboard in preparation for the final battle to be fought on the approach to Ireland in ten days from now.”

Seeking out the Gulf Stream has played into the hands of the Nasdaq team who welcomed the extra knots it rewarded to keep them ahead of their close competitors.

“You've got to love that Gulf Stream,” skipper Rob Graham said. “After a beautiful sunny day full of respectable progress at around 11 knots, Nasdaq came back into some very favourable current and our speed jumped up to 15! We needed it too, because Visit Seattle is in sight and chasing hard.

“By one measure Nasdaq completed our circumnavigation today, since we have crossed every line of longitude and are now further east than back in October when we arrived into Punta Del Este. Having Visit Seattle so close keeps the pressure on, and means that no-one feels they have finished - we're definitely still racing.”

The weather conditions will continue to be tricky for the fleet over the next few days. Clipper Race meteorologist Simon Rowell has reported to the teams that after a ‘busy and bumpy 24 hours’, with many teams reporting squalls coming in, “satellite images show the cumulus developing rapidly, so these will continue and be strong.

“This band of wind [will be with you] for the next 48 hours, then just as you are approaching the end of the ice gates it will get very light and tricky for about 24 hours.”

Meanwhile, the Liverpool 2018 team is currently diverting to St John’s in Newfoundland so that crew member Dominic Littlewood can receive medical attention.

Littlewood is a Type 1 diabetic who has been suffering with sea sickness, which has affected his management of blood glucose levels. All other crew are safe and well.

Writing in his blog today, skipper Lance Shepherd explained: “I sat down with the crew and explained what was happening and why we needed to stop racing, everyone understood and was extremely supportive. The safety of the crew on board always comes before the racing.” More information can be found here.

#ClipperRace - There’s been plenty of movement on the leaderboard, but none of the Clipper Race teams have broken away amid the tight racing conditions on Day 2 of Race 12 from New York to Derry-Londonderry, Thursday 28 June.

The split that appeared shortly after Tuesday’s Le Mans start became less noticeable overnight, with less than 20 nautical miles (nm) separating first from 10th.

However, that spread did widen almost four-fold over the next 24 hours, with a clear break between the first five teams, within 30nm, and the chasing pack from sixth to 10th.

Eleventh-placed PSP Logistics, meanwhile, is 30nm from its nearest competitor as the team persists in its search of the Gulf Stream with its southerly route.

While no stranger to taking a different tactic to the rest of the fleet, PSP Logistics skipper Matt Mitchell knows he is taking a risk, commenting: “Hopefully over the next 24 hours coming south will start to pay off.”

With the majority of the fleet in AIS range, there is little room for error, as Dare To Lead skipper Dale Smyth explains: “We are still tightly packed as a group so any small decision cannot be taken lightly.”

The pressure to make the right call is weighing on the skippers, especially as the results of this penultimate race of the circumnavigation could go a long way to deciding what teams will be on the podium at Race Finish in Liverpool.

Visit Seattle skipper Nikki Henderson shone a light on her thought process, saying: “There is positive current down south - but that’s sailing more miles and last time we sailed for current we ended up 150nm behind the fleet.

“There is a better wind angle up north - but 4 knots of current for 200 miles, I mean, are we really going to pass that by? And there is negative current where we we’re going - but at the time it was faster.”

Race 12 has special significance to Derry-Londonderry local Conall Morrison, and so far, the HotelPlanner.com skipper is enjoying the race home across the Atlantic, reporting: “What a lovely sailing day on Hotelplanner.com: it is thrilling to see the whole fleet so close together and be able to trump each other or see them pull away.

“The fleet seems to mix up quite a bit on the way along the northerly Ice limits. It seems to have separated into two major groups, one staying further south and the other following the rhumb line a little to the north.”

Being back in the North Atlantic is driving home how much the teams have accomplished over the past 10 months. Unicef skipper Bob Begg reflects: “In two and a half days from now, we will pass due North of Punta Del Este in Uruguay, which means we will have circled the planet crossing every line of longitude. This is the first benchmark for the round the worlder crew onboard Unicef.”

Those onboard Nasdaq are also celebrating the milestone, with skipper Rob Graham commenting: “We sailed off the edge of the coastal chart today and are now marking our position on the ‘North Atlantic, Northern Part’ chart that still shows our positions from Leg 1 back in August. A cause for excitement that we're getting closer to the finish and reflection on how far we’ve come, how much we've learned, and how much has happened in between.”

The good breeze is set to continue for the coming days and will help drive the fleet to what will be their final destination before the 40,000 nautical mile, 11-month circumnavigation comes to an end in Liverpool on 28 July.