PSP Logistics finishes Leg 6 arriving into San Francisco

PSP Logistics has sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge to complete Race 10, finishing at 07:49 local time (14:49 UTC) and coming in 10th place overall. 

The yacht had been racing under elapsed time after leaving Qingdao, China 36 hours later than the rest of the fleet following some setbacks on Race 9, Singapore to China. 

The boat also had to divert to Japan early on in Leg 6 to medevac off an injured crew member. 

Skipper Chris Hollis said on arrival: "Leg 6 – the mighty Pacific - was nothing like as bad the Southern Ocean but it was nice not to have to deal with that. We had pretty steady winds. The crew are very self-motivated on this one as we were a small crew of 13 after we had to medevac  Angie off in Japan early on. Everyone knew what was expected and did over and above their fair share of watches. We had to shift watches around when people got sick or injured on passage as well. We had to time our manoeuvres and do everything slowly and everyone did fantastically well.

“At the start of the race we were storming down the Yellow Sea and had a great run and we were in first place. We wanted to pip Team Garmin in today and we would have had a good shot of winning the race up until about a week ago. There were two incidents – one when the low pressure system came through and we were positioned  perfectly, but the wind never came through. And at 1000 miles to go, we were trying to stay ahead of the high pressure system but there was just not enough wind. The fleet had more wind and we were always trying to play catch up and it was too hard to do.

“We are very happy to be here after a long race and we have 11 new crew joining for Leg 7 which will be very refreshing.”

PSP Logistics managing director Frank Dixie praised the team upon arrival. "It is magnificent to see PSP Logistics sail underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, following Tower Bridge in London and the Sydney Harbour Bridge,” he added. 

The global logistics firm will sponsor Race 11, the PSP Logistics Panama 100 Cup, which starts from San Francisco on 19 April and sees the teams transit the Panama Canal in its centenary year. They will then cross through to the Caribbean side to carry on racing to Jamaica before finishing this US coast-to-coast leg in New York. 

“Looking forward to the next leg, the Panama Canal is one of the world's great engineering projects and a lynchpin of global trade,” said Frank. 

“We understand this more than most as a global logistics specialist and are proud to be associated with the project.

"We are also proud of the huge efforts of the captain and the crew of PSP Logistics, who have faced disappointment and battled the elements resolutely throughout the entire race and are a fantastic example of teamwork."