Day 3 Panama Arrivals

Washington, DC and Bekezela motored into a sunny Flamenco Island Marina on Saturday afternoon and completed the arrival of the fleet in Panama following Race 11.

Due to the nature of the race, the yachts were batched together for the motor down from the Mandatory Finish Gate, meaning tenth placed Washington, DC and eleventh placed Bekezela made the six-day journey in each other’s company, stopping off in Costa Rica to refuel along the way.

Washington, DC, placing 10th on Race 11, moored up in Flamenco Island Marina first, greeted by the Race Office, fellow crew and supporters to wave them in.

Image: Washington, DC arrival

Skipper Hannah Brewis said: “I think this is the longest we have been at sea! The race started off really well, but the wind got lighter and lighter and we were quite unlucky at the end. We had a good race but the end wasn’t what we wanted. But that’s sailing! It is what it is, and you can’t control the wind.

“The start was very windy, we had 40 knots on the nose on the first or second night! It was certainly a bit of a shock to the system for the new joiners. It got warmer and warmer, the boat got flatter and flatter and slower and slower as we went south. It’s what this race always is!”

Image: Hannah Brewis

Ella Hebron, First Mate, added: “The ultimate highlight from this race was the wildlife. From halfway, we had birds following us and dolphins every sunrise and sunset, plus sharks and whales. It’s always amazing to see it.”

Image: Hannah and Ella

Once the Panama Canal transit is done, the next stop for the team will be a special one as the crew will be racing into the US capital, and their home port of Washington, DC.

Hannah commented: “We’re going into our home port finally after so long, so we have to really take in the next amount of time. The Panama Canal is such a special thing to do, and then sailing through the Caribbean into DC, there’s so many exciting things and we just need to take in every bit and enjoy it!”

Round the worlder Liz Decasare, who is from the east coast of the US said: “That race was great, very hot at the end! But really cool with lots of wildlife. The boat is really our home at this point, and you’ve seen big waves and weather conditions at this point so we just enjoy the sailing.”

Image: Liz Decasare

“It’s really exciting to be going into the Atlantic side next and to get back to the east coast of the US is going to be amazing.”

Image: Well earned arrival beers

Image: Washington, DC team

Next, Bekezela was welcomed into port. The crew were buzzing to get into Panama and celebrate a race filled with wildlife and some good downwind racing, with lots of new crew on board for this leg.

Image: Bekezela

Skipper David Hartshorn reported on the race: “It was warm, quite windless at times, and actually we have had more wind coming in today than we’ve seen for last 1300 miles!”

Image: David Hartshorn

“It was a shock for the crew, especially those who did Leg 6 who thought it was going to be a walk in the park. But then the heat hits, and that's completely different. We learnt a lot, and the motor in was an amazing opportunity for a really in depth debrief, so hopefully now we can put it forward and actually what we want to do for the next race is build for the final leg.”

Image: Bekezela arrival

Image: Cheers and beers

Maisie Bristow, AQP, added: “The race started off cold, which is a shock to people, as you see a lot of photos of this leg and it’s all sun, wildlife, flat boat etc. But no, it’s pretty tough at the start. We had a lot of upwind, and we were at a heel for quite a while. Then we had a lot of kite work, in difficult sea states. Then as we came further south, the boat got flatter, and it got easier, then warmer and warmer and the heat didn’t stop.”

Nakyung Lee, who is circumnavigating on board Bekezela added: “It was interesting! Lots of wildlife, and we were followed by dolphins for a day which was cool, and a lot of boobies were sat on our bowsprit, I loved all the wildlife. The heat was really testing us, but we stayed cool with bunk fans, staying on deck, or sometimes we would get squall showers, which was bliss.”

Image: Celebrations on arrival

Image: Bekezela team

The Clipper Race fleet is now docked in Panama, with the teams set to transit the incredible Panama Canal over the next few days. The teams will be grouped together and transit through to the Atlantic Ocean over the course of four days. We’ll be posting photos and videos from the crossing over on our social channels, and you can watch the fleet via a live webcam here.