Race 13 Day 8: Old Pulteney throws down the gauntlet

After a spectacular win by Henri Lloyd yesterday (pictured celebrating as they crossed the finish line), racing remains tight as Jamaica Get All Right, Old Pulteney and PSP Logistics battle it out for the final points in Race 13 - The Grange Hotels Trophy.

With just over 60 miles left until the shortened finish line Old Pulteney currently leads by just 14 miles over its closest rival, Jamaica Get All Right. With the end in sight skipper of Old Pulteney Patrick van der Zijden continues to push his team to achieve the best results:

“We sailed on and during the day and because of the building wind we added some reefs in the mainsail. Just before darkness the wind indicator came to 30 knots true and it was time to reduce sail, we dropped the Yankee 2 and sailed further under staysail and reefed main.”

Earlier this week it was announced that due to the light fickle winds, Race 13 would be shortened, and because of this Invest Africa, Team Garmin, Qingdao, and Mission Performance accepted twelfth, eleventh, tenth and ninth respectively. This means that the three teams still racing are battling it out for sixth, seventh and eighth place.

Meanwhile, skipper of PSP Logistics, Chris Hollis, remains upbeat and focused on the task in hand after getting an unexpected soaking earlier on in the day:

“So, Old Pulteney is out here somewhere, and at last measure, they had a 4 mile lead over us to the closest point to the finish line, so game on.

“Today the wind was due to build in the afternoon so we changed down Yankee to the 3. This time, I found myself in the bow position! I was prudent enough to wear my full set of Henri Lloyd foul weather gear, as the helmsman, (normally me for this evolution), took great delight in burying the bow through a wave. When I looked back, he face was undisturbed as if to say, sorry mate I couldn’t avoid it!”

 To check the latest ETAs and finish times into New York click here

To read the story on the three podium finishes, click here.