Race 10 Day 25 Update

It’s all cloak and daggers as we start the beginning of the end of Race 10: The Ultimate test of Perseverance.

On Sunday at 10:00 UTC, which is the middle of the night local time for the boats nearing Seattle, four teams are in Stealth Mode, with our leading pack having all recently emerged from their stealth modes.

What's exciting is this is the first time in Race 10 across the Pacific we have been able to say "leading pack", because Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam who had a 200-mile lead when they went into Stealth a few days ago, have seen their margin reduced to just 45 miles, as the former chasing pack of Qingdao, UNICEF, Perseverance, and Zhuhai are all within 140 mile and closing. And that's after having what looked like an unassailable lead of 300 miles just ten days ago.

For now, the only other boats we can still see on the race viewer are Yacht Club Punta del Este and Our Isles and Oceans which are neck and neck 350 miles behind the leader, while the remaining four boats, Dare To Lead, Washington DC, PSP Logistics and Bekezela will be invisible for a while depending on whether they selected a 24 or 48 hour Stealth period.

All the teams will now be focusing their attention on the eastern horizon where the famous Seattle Space Needle will hopefully emerge in the coming days, but before that sailing's oldest foe Murphy’s law, is lying in wait in the form of a potential wind hole.

Our on board reporter Meredith, who will be returning to her home country for the first time since August last year, had this to say from onboard UNICEF “The wind hole at the end (so classic) is the last tactical decision to be made and it seems like it could be anyone's race if we all park up. Exciting things to come!”

After 25 days at sea, this will be the last thing the crews wanted. But they’ll all agree this is what makes the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race so exciting for fans and crew.

Before we end though, let's take a glance at what’s at stake on the overall leaderboard. Firstly keep in mind that both Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam, and UNICEF have played their joker this race and will double their finishing points. Both of them are also currently ahead of all the boats above them on the leaderboard, a perfect scenario for them.

Overall race leader Perseverance and third placed Zhuhai are in the chasing pack in fourth and fifth currently and will be hoping the potential wind hole offers them a last gasp to try and catch the boats just ahead.

But the biggest mover looks like it will be second on the overall leaderboard Dare To Lead, who when they went into Stealth Mode was 500 miles back and fighting with Washington, DC for seventh place. With such a massive gap and what could be a few days difference over the finish line, Ryan and his crew on Dare To Lead may see themselves tumbling down the leaderboard.

So fans, the race viewer updates every hour, so keep hitting that refresh button and keep an eye on those gaps and that potential wind hole just off the finish line in Seattle.