Irish Skippered Yacht Resumes Clipper Race After Medevac Diversion

5th November 2017

MacDara Conroy

HotelPlanner.com sailing in Table Bay, South Africa Credit: Clipper Ventures

#ClipperRace - HotelPlanner.com has departed Port Elizabeth in South Africa this morning (Sunday 5 November) after the successful medevac of crew member Greg Adams, who suffered a suspected broken arm.

The 59-year-old took a fall below deck on Friday (3 November) which prompted a precautionary but necessary diversion for medical treatment from the third leg of the Clipper Race.

Northern Irish skipper Conall Morrison and the onboard medic crew maintained constant contact with ClipperTelemed+ by PRAXES Medical, the races’s remote support physicians, for advice as they rerouted.

The team was met early this morning in Port Elizabeth by Clipper Race officials including deputy race director Tom Way and race office Manager Sarah Hoare, and Adams has now been transferred to hospital for X-rays.

Meanwhile, six new crew members from the grounded Greenings team joined HotelPlanner.com in Port Elizabeth before they set sail to the point at which they ceased racing early this morning to then resume their race to the port of Fremantle, near Perth in western Australia.

Elsewhere, the Clipper Race fleet enjoyed a more settled 24 hours yesterday (Saturday 4 November) after a testing Friday in the Southern Ocean.

The leaderboard was anything but settled, however, as the previously split fleet began to converge south of the rhumb line.

Sanya Serenity Coast is still leading the fleet, more than doubling its advantage over its competitors, and is nearly 120 nautical miles ahead of Liverpool 2018, which has just pipped two miles past PSP Logistics into second place – a remarkable improvement from their sixth position on Friday.

Overnight, Qingdao lost fourth place to Dare To Lead, which has been “slipping along on a flattish sea” according to skipper Dale Smyth.

Visit Seattle holds sixth place, with Garmin 9nm behind in seventh and GREAT Britain hot on their heels by just half a mile as of this morning. Unicef are another 22 miles behind, with Nasdaq trailing some 211 miles from the leaders.

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MacDara Conroy

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MacDara Conroy is a contributor covering all things on the water, from boating and wildlife to science and business

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About the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is undoubtedly one of the greatest ocean adventures on the planet, also regarded as one of its toughest endurance challenges. Taking almost a year to complete, it consists of eleven teams competing against each other on the world’s largest matched fleet of 70-foot ocean racing yachts.

The Clipper Race was established in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo, non-stop, around the world in 1968-69. His aim was to allow anyone, regardless of previous sailing experience, the chance to embrace the thrill of ocean racing; it is the only event of its kind for amateur sailors. Around 40 per cent of crew are novices and have never sailed before starting a comprehensive training programme ahead of their adventure.

This unique challenge brings together everyone from chief executives to train drivers, nurses and firefighters, farmers, airline pilots and students, from age 18 upwards, to take on Mother Nature’s toughest and most remote conditions. There is no upper age limit, the oldest competitor to date is 76.

Now in its twelfth edition, the Clipper 2019-20 Race started from London, UK, on 02 September 2019.