Race 14 Day 12: Derry ~ Londonderry ~ Doire still leading in race to its home port

Derry~Londonderry~Doire is the first team to finish the Ocean Sprint with a time to beat of 24 hours 20 minutes, 56 seconds and is still leading the fleet in the battle to break the home port curse and be first into Northern Ireland.

The boats in the north have been putting in better runs than the southerly yachts. But with a high pressure system centred west of Ireland and wind coming from where the boats need to go blocking progress, the leading yachts could be forced in to a much longer beat in the final throws of the race. 

GREAT Britain has moved up into second, leapfrogging Jamaica Get All Right, now in third position.

Gareth Glover, skipper of Qingdao, in tenth, said: “With us opting for more of a north easterly than northerly course, boat speeds were lower than the rest of the Clipper 70 yachts to our north which means we have lost more miles to them.

“But at some point they will all have to tack east as they reach the edge of the high pressure system just west of Derry-Londonderry. We hope that is where we will pick back up the lost miles and make gains on the rest. With over 800 miles to go, all upwind, a lot will still happen on this race yet.”

Old Pulteney has requested to go into Stealth Mode and its position will be hidden from the fleet from 0600UTC today until 0600UTC tomorrow. 

Skipper Patrick van der Zijden said: “We managed to gain more on the boats in front of us and are currently positioned ninth. 

“The conditions are not ideal for the Ocean Sprint as the wind is coming from the direction we would like to go to make it a fast passage across. The crew are working hard to keep us going, so let’s see what the next schedule brings us.” 

OneDLL, PSP Logistics, Henri Lloyd, GREAT Britain and Jamaica Get All Right have now entered the Ocean Sprint course, and are vying for the two bonus points for the fastest time across the section marked at the lines of latitude 27W and 24W. 

To track the fleet's progress, click here.

To read all the skipper reports, click here.

To read the crew diaries, click here.