Penultimate Prizegiving in Oban

Taking over Corran Halls, Oban, it was a bonny Scottish Prizegiving for Leg 8 Race Crew, as bagpipers guided the way for Race 13: Oban Atlantic Homecoming celebrations.

Some 200 Clipper Race Crew arrived in Oban over the weekend following a gripping 3,000nm final ocean race of the circumnavigation. It is the first time that the Clipper Race has called into a Scottish Host Port.

Opening proceedings of the penultimate Prizegiving of this edition, it was a special appearance from Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Clipper Ventures President and Co-Founder, who welcomed the intrepid crew to the evening.

Sir Robin said: “This is the first time the Clipper Race has ever visited Scotland, and what an incredible destination for our Race Crew.

“The welcome was amazing, with local pipers to greet each boat, representatives from the council, Visit Scotland and Bid4Oban on the dock and a wee dram of local whisky for every crew member. It will be a welcome they won’t forget. And it’s not just our Host Port Partners that have got behind the race, but the entire town is showing its excitement and support for the arrival of our crews and the event.”

Image: A fantastic atmosphere in Corran Halls, Oban, for prizegiving

Provost Dougie Philand took to the stage first to celebrate the charity fundraising on this edition so far. A whopping £412,160has been raised for Charity Partner UNICEF, with Race Crew across all legs constantly coming up with new and ingenious ways to keep the donations coming in. It’s already been a record-breaking edition for fundraising, and with four charity events being held during the Oban stop alone, it’s far from over.

With each team being set a target to raise £33,333, there was nod to teams at the top of the charity fundraising leaderboard. In third places Yacht Club Punta del Este with £43,867 raised, second placed UNICEF with £56,736 and sitting at the top, where it has been for quite some time, Bekezela in first place with £57,850.

As the final Prizegiving of the Clipper 2023-24 Race will be held in Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth, on the Grand Finale Day (Sat 27 July) the Leg 8 Charity Champion and Media Prize winners were awarded at this penultimate Prizegiving.

For Leg 8 the Charity Champion award went to an innovative idea involving selling rubber ducks all around the world and raising an incredible £4,309 for UNICEF. A huge congratulations went to the brains behind the idea, Hamish Mitchell from Perseverance.

Image: Hamish Mitchell celebrates winning the Charity Champion award

Next to join Sir Robin on stage was Pippa Milne, Chief Executive of Host Port Partner Argyll and Bute Council as she presented the thirteenth Media Prize of the edition. Highly commended nods went to Our Isles and Oceans, for its video titled: Oban: The Underdog Race and Barel on Yacht Club Punta del Este for an edit of Race 13, with some amazing racing footage and great soundtrack.

However, it was Paddy Moran on Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam who took home the pennant for orchestrating the team in a reflective one question every day video, covering the highs and lows of racing, and pondering on life’s most poignant questions, such as are crocs for life or just for boats? Well done Paddy and team!

Image: Pippa Milne, Chief Executive of Host Port Partner Argyll and Bute Council presents Paddy Moran with the Media Prize

Next on to stage to present the Scoring Gate results – and reveal the Ocean Sprint winners – was Calum Wood, High Performance Manager from Sport Scotland.

Making them the highest achievers on the Scoring Gate for this edition, it was Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam clinching the top spot.

The Ocean Sprint for Race 13 was between 25°W and 18°W, with the distance on the rhumb line across was approx. 283nm.

As with all Ocean Sprints, the teams had varying conditions on arrival and during the sprint section and this very much depended on how far north or south the teams had positioned themselves when crossing the sprint start and end points. It was a room of ‘dares’ and ‘leads’ as Dare To Lead were revealed as the fastest team to pass through, gaining themselves three extra bonus points. It was the northern yachts that conquered it quickest, with PSP Logistics in second place, taking two bonus points and Bekezela in third scooping up the last one.

The full results were:

21:19:54          Dare To Lead

23:30:25          PSP Logistics

23:52:52          Bekezela

28:16:50          Our Isles and Oceans

34:32:16          Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam

34:43:37          Yacht Club Punta del Este

34:47:41          Perseverance

36:42:16          Qingdao

36:52:02          Washington, DC

37:54:30          Zhuhai

51:48:49          UNICEF

Last but not least, it was over to the racing. With overall positions still all to play for on the racecourse, there was a buzz in the air as the podium placers were announced.

Image: Ha Long Bay Viet Nam team on stage

Stepping onto stage first was Andy Spence, Chief Executive of Host Port Partner, Bid4Oban who invited third placed Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam onto stage. Skipper Bob Beggs and the team have had a fantastic run and find themselves sitting tight at the top of the overall standings after another boost to racing points.

Next up David Adams McGilp, Regional Director, Industry & Destination Development Marine & Coastal Tourism Lead from Visit Scotland was invited to the stage to congratulate Zhuhai on taking second place. The team is now the most podiumed team during the 2023-24 edition!

Image: Zhuhai takes second place

And finally, back at number one for the first time since Race 1, Perseverance team members were welcomed to the stage by Fergus Murray, Head of Development and Economic Growth with Argyll and Bute Council, to celebrate taking home the first-place pennant.

Image: Race 13 winners, Perseverance

It was then over to Neil Owen, Vice President from the Lorn Lions Club, one of the largest service organisations in the World, who presented a club pennant to each Race Skipper. A lovely moment for all of the teams in the room.

And in true Scottish style, once the formalities had concluded, the bagpipes began as the Race Crew put on their dancing shoes for a post-BBQ ceilidh. Slainte!