Race 16 Day 1: The fight for final points gets underway

It’s been a night of close match racing as the fleet embarked on the final race of the Clipper 2013-14 Round the World Yacht Race, as the teams battle it out for the final points up for grabs in the 16 race global series. 

A fierce dual between OneDLL and Derry~Londonderry~ Doire has begun as both teams battle it out for third place, the final and all important podium position as just 3 points now separates the two teams. Skipper of OneDLL, Olly Cotterell describes the tense conditions:

“After a tough start, which saw us towards the back of the fleet, we are now right up in the thick of it at the front, with good friends and closest rivals Derry~Londonderry~Doire in our rear-view mirror. Let's just hope it stays that way. As I'm sure that all you casual Race Viewer fans are finding, this race is nail bitingly close - far too close to call - but rest assured that the crew and I are pulling out all the stops to finish ahead of Derry~Londonderry~Doire and hang on to the podium position that we have all worked so hard for, for so long.”

Although light winds had been forecast during Race 16 to London, the fleet have been battling against 25 knots of wind and a lumpy sea state in the short coastal race that has seen some crew battling seasickness. Skipper of GREAT Britain, Simon Talbot explains the last 24 hours:

“Racing wise we have had considerably more wind  than we thought we might see so we are making excellent progress, but it has meant  the unwelcome return of a bout of Mal de Mere for a few of our crew as we beat in a lumpy sea up towards Cromer on the north Norfolk coast overnight. Thankfully we have now made our turn round the top of the course and are heading down the East Coast and currently sitting in fourth position just behind Henri Lloyd and just ahead of Jamaica Get All Right who are definitely snapping at our heels.”

The fleet will arrive in St Katharine Docks in London tomorrow (Saturday 12 July) for the homecoming of the Clipper 2013-14 Round the World Yacht Race.

The Race Village is open from 09:00 - 18:00 on Saturday and 10:00 -17:00 Sunday. On Saturday the twelve 70-foot state-of-the-art racing yachts will parade up the River Thames to Tower Bridge, into St Katharine Docks.

You can watch the on the water action tomorrow here: www.clipperroundtheworld.com/livestream

To read all the skipper reports, please click here