​Penalty points issued for Legs 1 and 2

The Clipper Race Committee has finalised the list of penalty points that will be deducted from the teams. This is following the assessment of damages and repairs needed since leaving Portsmouth at the start of the Clipper 2023-24 Race, and throughout Legs 1 and 2.

The Clipper Race fleet have covered well over 10,000nm since departing from Portsmouth, UK until arriving in Cape Town, South Africa. This has taken approximately 2.5 months and along the way, the fleet has docked in stopover locations in Puerto Sherry, Punta del Este and Cape Town, and so this covers Leg 1 and Leg 2.

Given the fact that the fleet has raced the first two legs of this Race across the North and South Atlantic Oceans and 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 and the fleet will be rightly congratulated on this.

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.

After examining the level of sail damage and repairs needed at the conclusion of the Cape Town stopover, the Clipper Race Committee has no penalty points to issue.

Only five teams out of the fleet have needed professional loft repairs and these have been relatively minor after the great work carried out in advance by the respective sail repair teams, with the assistance of Martin Newman from Hyde Sails.

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 Cape Town stopover, penalty points for equipment damage and losses have been issued to:

CV20 Dare To Lead

1 penalty point for exceeding the £500 barrier on equipment damage and losses (Cape Town)

CV21 Our Isles and Oceans

1 penalty point for exceeding the £500 barrier on equipment damage and losses (Cape Town)

CV22 Bekezela

1 penalty point for exceeding the £500 barrier on equipment damage and losses (Punta del Este)

CV27 Qingdao

1 penalty point for exceeding the £500 barrier on equipment damage and losses (Punta del Este)

CV29 PSP Logistics

1 penalty point for exceeding the £500 barrier on equipment damage and losses (Punta del Este)

CV30 Washington, DC

2 penalty points for exceeding the £1000 barrier on equipment damage and losses (Punta del Este and Cape Town)

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

Penalty points have been applied to the overall Race Standings, visible on the Race Viewer on the Clipper Race website

A full explanation of penalty points can be found in our Sailing Instructions and FAQ section (under ‘The Race’, subsection: ‘When and why are Penalty Points applied?’).