Clipper Race arrivals complete in New York

All of the Clipper Race fleet is now in Liberty Landing Marina after a busy day of arrivals into the Big Apple.

Having crossed the LMAX Exchange - RACEof THE AMERICAS finish line at 2137 local time last night (0127 UTC this morning), Da Nang – Viet Nam arrived into Liberty Landing Marina as the warm sun rose above the Manhattan sky line at 0630 local time. David Grainey, Da Nang – Viet Nam round the world crew member from Hobart, Australia said the crew are happy with their race despite hoping for a higher finish.

“I really enjoyed Leg 7, especially how well the crew sailed the boat. Our result doesn’t quite reflect how well we sailed. I think this leg is actually the best we sailed apart from winning the Sydney Hobart Race. Tropical Storm Colin certainly blew a bit and we had a lot of time spent in the company in other boats.

“Sail trimming and adjusting is part of what I enjoy most on board so that’s another reason why I’ve particularly enjoyed this leg, as it has required a lot of energy and focus on racing techniques. I’ll be pleased once it is over in one way but I’ll also be really sad. There are certainly times where I’ve really wondered what I’m doing but it really has been great overall. For now though we are all really pleased to be in New York,” David added.

Eighth placed Qingdao arrived three hours later and Skipper Bob Beggs talked through the challenges the LMAX Exchange – RACE of THE AMERICAS threw at the fleet on the nine day race from Panama.

“Race 11 was very interesting, very tactical and there was also a lot of luck as you could see by how the positions kept changing. There were a lot of wind holes and often the weather forecast didn’t play out as expected so you would position yourself for the weather and then it would be different to what you had anticipated.

“The proximity of the fleet made it very exciting because until the last night there was always someone on AIS to race against which required a lot of focus. It’s been absolutely fantastic sailing into New York today because with the clear visibility we could actually see the skyline from about 30 – 40 miles away. In the early hours of this morning we could even see the light pollution as it is called, that’s the light in the sky. The Manhattan skyline is always impressive but today was certainly very good.”

After podium finishes in the two previous races, Unicef finished in ninth place in the LMAX Exchange – RACE of THE AMERICAS but upon arrival into Liberty Landing Marina around midday, Skipper Martin Clough explained it was a case of bad luck that the team had slipped down the standings this time.

"Race 11 had its ups and downs. We regretfully finished with a poor position in the race, we had some problems at the start but recovered from that until a halyard went, just like GREAT Britain, but then we had a problem with our mainsail during the storm so we sought shelter to sort that out safely.

"One on one I am really pleased with how the boat is performing, competing with the other boats under spinnaker especially and being able to pass them. It was just a list of unfortunate circumstances in this race but we will put it behind us and move forward to the next one," Martin added.

One of the highlights of arriving into port for many of the crew is the first sight of a family member on the dockside and for circumnavigator Kate Whyatt this was even more special when her mum surprised her. Anne had not seen her daughter since Race Start in London last August so it was very emotional for the pair.

"I said to the other crew as we drove in 'That looks like my mum' but it was only once we were about to berth that I realised it was her. I couldn't believe it," said Kate.

To see the rest of the photos of this family reunion and many others that have taken place during the arrivals check out the galleries on our facebook page.

Tenth-placed Mission Performance arrived in rafted alongside PSP Logistics, eleventh, at 1830 local time Friday.

Mission Performance Skipper Greg Miller was pleased with his team's performance and said: "To start with, we were slow with our prop problem that was creating drag in the water. We had lots of warning ahead of Tropical Storm Colin and I prepped the guys. They were all ready for it and knew what to expect and embraced and enjoyed it.

"During Tropical Storm Colin we had a really good run and managed to feather the prop which meant we didn't have the drag anymore and the boat was running really fast. That was during the Ocean Sprint and we took the two points and managed to overtake PSP Logistics and IchorCoal.

"It was a downwind storm so it was a little more benign than if we had been going upwind. I made 26.1 knots surfing, and I have the boat record.

"We have three races to go and we are after Qingdao and we want to get ahead of it. We are on a roll and we are going to do well," Greg added.

The crew of Max Stunell, Skipper of PSP Logistics, were in fine form when they arrived in. “The guys saw a bit of everything - the sunshine and kind weather, wind holes and then some bad weather too. The storm was pretty exciting and people enjoyed it, especially our crew member Colin. It wasn’t as bad as we expected and the guys weathered it really well.

“It only seems like yesterday we were in St Katharine Docks, and now we are here in New York nearing the end of the journey, so the crew are really behind to think about what they have achieved,” Max added.

Finally, a high-spirited IchorCoal arrived in in twelfth position. Skipper Rich Gould: "We’re really pleased to be in New York after a very challenging close race. The weather was often unpredictable with wind holes a plenty. But we kept our spirits up on IchorCoal and it was great to see Manhattan just now and the Statue of Liberty as we made our way into Liberty Landing. The crew have worked very hard which sadly isn’t reflected in the final result," Rich added.