Tight At The Top As Clipper Race Fleet Prepares For Final Stage

20th July 2018

The Clipper Race fleet moored at Foyle Port Marina Credit: Clipper Ventures

#ClipperRace - The race points on the overall Clipper Race leaderboard have been updated for the final time before the final stage to Liverpool, and the fight for the podium is going to be fierce.

Despite finishing eighth in Race 12 to Derry-Londonderry, Sanya Serenity Coast remains on top of the overall standings on 137 points. But Visit Seattle and Qingdao are just 14 points behind, level on 123 points.

PSP Logistics and Garmin are also tied on 112 points, meaning any of the top five teams are in with a chance of standing on the final podium at Royal Albert Dock on Saturday 28 July.

“This whole Clipper Race has been highly competitive right from the off,” said race director Mark Light. “We have had some tremendous finishes and one that sticks in my mind is a photo finish between Nasdaq and GREAT Britain racing into Sydney.

“No single team is running away with it and this only adds to the excitement for anyone watching. You only have to look at the Race Viewer to see the fleet racing side by side for days on end. It really is match racing but across oceans and a credit to the skill across the fleet.”

Adding to the excitement for the 13th and final race is that Visit Seattle is yet to play its Joker Card. If skipper Nikki Henderson and her team decide to play the Joker, they will be in the box seat to leapfrog Sanya Serenity Coast and take out the overall win.

The Joker Card will double any race points earned on the way to Liverpool, but as usual, it won’t apply to the bonus points on offer in the sprint.

The sprint will be the final feature of Race 13, with the race up the Mersey to potentially decide the top three.

“The tensions are mounting for lots of teams as we enter the final Race with the overall podium positions still to be decided,” Light added.

“Race 13 is made up of two parts – the race from Derry-Londonderry to Liverpool Bay for full race finishing points, and then a Le Mans start leading to the sprint finish all the way up into the finish line off Albert Dock. The sprint finish offers bonus points for the first three teams across the line – three points for first, two for second and one point for third.

“Seeing the Clipper fleet racing their way up the River Mersey in front of thousands of onlookers will be spectacular and knowing that the bonus points on offer could actually decide the overall Clipper Race winners adds an extra dimension that will have supporters, skippers and crews all on the edge of their seats … It is too close to call and we will all have to wait and see how this final race unfolds.”

Race 13 from Derry-Londonderry to Liverpool will begin this Sunday 22 July.

Published in Clipper Race

Tagged under

Clipper Race

About The Author

MacDara Conroy

Email The Author

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

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven’t put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full–time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

You might also want to read...

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.