Yachts leave Den Helder for start of Race 16, the homecoming to London

The boats have set off from Willemsoord marina, Den Helder in The Netherlands, and will form a Parade of Sail off the Dutch coast ahead of the start of the final race of the series, Race 16 to London.  

The Parade of Sail will take place between 12:00 and 12:45 local time (11:00-11:45 BST) and the yachts will do a turn in front of Dutch Naval ship RNLNHMS Tromp which will also act as the start line.

The start will take place at 13.30 local time.

De Lage Landen employees said goodbye to the team of OneDLL which has its headquarters in The Netherlands and has been a sponsor of the Den Helder stopover. 

OneDLL skipper Olly Cotterell said: “Defending our podium position from Derry~Londonderry~Doire means there is a lot of pressure now, so I am excited and nervous for my team. 

“The guys are going to give it everything they have and the team deserve the podium. They have gone through amazingly rough conditions, not only surviving in them but excelling in them. The last couple of races have been fairly light which isn’t really our kind of weather, but we will put our best foot forward and hope that we get the result we want.

“There have been a few tactical errors and lost out on Race 15 after a wind shift, luck hasn't always gone our way. Obviously we really want to beat Derry~Londonderry~Doire, it will be a match race and we just want to focus on covering them and maintaining our podium position on the leaderboard.”

Deputy race director Mark Light said added: “It will be important to get a fast start on this point of sail as it is such a short race. This race will be intense tactically and physically, with the teams needing to trim and helm constantly. They won't be getti8ng a lot of sleep. There are big tidal steams in the North Sea and around the UK coast, and the sooner they reach the UK coast the better, because then the wind will start to die off." 

To track the fleet’s progress on Race Viewer during Race 16, click here. The Race Viewer will update every half hour during the race, and then every 10 minutes during the Parade of sail up the Thames.