PENALTY POINTS ANNOUNCED FOR LEG 8

The Clipper Race Committee has finalised the list of penalty points that will be deducted from the teams following the assessment of damages and repairs needed for Leg 8 – Washington DC to Oban in the Clipper 2023-24 Race.

It is very difficult to assess any equipment damage and losses, or sail repairs, on the final Race 14, from Oban to Portsmouth, and so this will be the final time that Penalty Points need to be considered for this current Clipper Race edition.

So far, the Clipper Race fleet has covered over 40,000nm since departing from Portsmouth, UK until arriving in Oban, UK. This has taken almost 11 months and along the way, the fleet has taken in 14 stopover locations around the world in the Puerto Sherry, Punta del Este, Cape Town, Fremantle, Newcastle, Airlie Beach, Ha Long Bay, Zhuhai, Qingdao, Seattle, Panama, Washington DC and Oban.

Legs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 have already been accounted for and so this latest information covers Leg 8 only.

The penalty points for sail repairs and equipment damage and losses have now been finalised and are as below

SAIL REPAIRS

As per the Sailing Instructions, two penalty points will be awarded to the relevant yacht when the running total of sail repair and replacement costs exceeds £500 and a further two penalty points will be awarded for every subsequent £500 for the duration of the Clipper 2023-24 Round the World Yacht Race. This applies to all sails and is cumulative.

Following the Oban stopover, there are NO penalty points for Sail Repairs to be issued.

EQUIPMENT DAMAGE AND LOSSES

As per the Sailing Instructions, one penalty point will be issued when the running total for equipment damage exceeds £500, with a further one penalty point to be issued for every subsequent £500 on the running total.

Safety equipment is not included in this.

Following the Oban stopover, penalty points for equipment damage and losses have been issued to:

• Dare To Lead - 1 penalty point for exceeding the £1000 barrier on equipment damage and losses (Oban) (Note: 1 penalty point issued previously)

This means that Dare To Lead and Unicef will now be tied on points on the overall leaderboard. However, Dare To Lead will remain fourth due to the fact that the team has one win whereas UNICEF doesn’t have a win, yet.

Given the fact that the fleet has now almost completed the entire circumnavigation of the globe, they have experienced a huge variety of weather conditions and sea states, whilst getting to grips with the reality of ocean racing, everyone has done a great job of looking after their sails and equipment on board. I’m pleased to say that this is a trend that is continuing throughout every Clipper Race; this one is no exception. The fleet will be rightly congratulated for excellent seamanship.

Regarding sail repairs, a special mention must go to two teams in particular – Yacht Club Punta del Este and also to Washington DC as they did not accrue any sail repair costs at all over the entire race – a testament to good seamanship and their Sail Repair Teams.

Moving on to equipment damage and losses, commendations are due to two teams Yacht Club Punta del Este and also to UNICEF both accrued totals less than £200 across the whole race. Again a brilliant effort and example in racing well and looking after their yachts and equipment.

All teams have been informed of this update by the Clipper Race Director, Mark Light.

You can view the overall standings on the Race Viewer.

A full explanation of penalty points can be found in our Sailing Instructions and FAQ section - When and why are Penalty Points applied?.