Competitive Match Racing for Clipper Race Skippers in RTI

It was an exhilarating day of racing for the full fleet of twelve Clipper 70s over the weekend in the 84th JP Morgan Round the Island Race (RTI) as the Clipper 2015-16 Race skippers competed against each other in a live regatta for the first time.

The twelve Clipper 70s raced alongside three Clipper 68s in the eleventh Clipper Events outing in the classic RTI race. There was stiff competition in the Clipper Yacht class for the Vaphio Cup which was clinched by Clipper 70 CV29 Derry~Londonderry~Doire, in close match racing, with an elapsed time of 07:22:59.

The team crossed the line just a minute and a half ahead of CV24, which was followed a further minute and a half later by CV31. Winning skipper, Daniel Smith says: “It was a close day of racing with great conditions on the Solent. The elapsed times prove that you have to keep going and that it’s anyone’s race until you cross the finish line. The crew on board worked hard and gelled really well together as a team and we are delighted at the result.”

The twelve Clipper 70s were crewed by 144 guests from Round the Island title sponsors JP Morgan Asset Management. The three Clipper 68s were crewed by a range of private clients and companies including Standard Chartered Bank and Henri Lloyd.

The matched fleet of Clipper 70s are faster and more dynamic than previous Clipper Race yachts, with a top speed of 35 knots reported in their debut in the Clipper 2013-14 Race, creating some exhilarating ocean racing.

The RTI course was 50 miles, yet finishes have been even tighter in the Clipper Race. Just 19 seconds separated the top two teams into Rio in the 2013-14 edition after 5000 miles of racing in the first Atlantic leg; and less than four minutes separated four teams at the finish line of the 23-day Southern Ocean leg from Cape Town to Albany, WA with only seconds between positions.

The Round the Island results provide a timely reminder that skippers and crew will have to work hard against their competitors in this year’s Clipper Race in order to earn maximum points in the battle to win the coveted Clipper Race trophy.

Full results for the Clipper Yacht Class can be viewed on the Round the Island official website here.

Anyone keen to try out the Clipper Race experience for a day can discover more at www.clipper-events.com