​Race 11 Conditions

Race 11: #SailConnected with SENA is one of two races that forms the seventh leg of the global route, and will see the eleven-strong fleet race over 4,000 nautical miles from Seattle down the west coast of the USA to Panama.

Starting at 1700 LT on Friday 3 May, a Le Mans style start will see the teams embark on the next stage where they could expect to see some classic Pacific conditions and swell as they set off, before they turn and head south.

A race of tactics, Race 11 will stretch teams in very different ways. Routing will play a key role in success; teams will need to decide if they should take a line closer to the shore and benefit from the tide, or head offshore where winds are likely to be stronger.

As the teams run parallel to Mexico, winds will drop and heat will increase. A race that will favour teams with strong light helming and trimming skill sets, it certainly has the capacity to shake up standings on the leaderboard.

As always, there will be opportunities to scoop extra race points through a Scoring Gate and Ocean Sprint. The Scoring Gate will be placed off the Rhumb Line and teams will need to decide if it is worth the additional miles to achieve up to three bonus race points.

The Finish Line for Race 11 is located 220nm from Flamenco Island Marina, Panama. A unique feature of Race 11 is that the yachts have six Mandatory Finish Gates in place along the race route in the run up to the Finish Line. The first set of gates are around 200nm wide and placed around 250nm apart, with these becoming narrower and closer together as they go on. The final Mandatory Finish Gate is located 105nm from the Finish Line.

These Mandatory Finish Gates are in place as further south along the route the winds get lighter and can shut down completely. All boats must pass through all of the Mandatory Finish Gates, however, to avoid yachts getting stuck if the wind should cease, any of the gates can become the finishing point of the race. This can either be called ahead of time or retrospectively by the Clipper Race Committee. If a retrospective decision is made all yachts must have passed through the final gate.

Heading into the penultimate leg of the global race circuit, there is still much to play for across the leaderboard.

Holding onto first place overall is Perseverance with 98 points and its Joker Card still to play. Chasing them down is Race 10 winner Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam with 93 points while Zhuhai and Dare To Lead both have 87 points.

Fighting for overall podium spots, the fifth place goes to Unicef which holds 81 points while Our Isles and Oceans and Yacht Club Punta del Este hold 71 and 69 respectively.

Qingdao is currently in eighth place with 63 points but with a second place victory in Race 10 and the Joker Card still to play, the team will be looking to continue its strong performance and push its way up the leaderboard.

The final places on the overall leaderboard are similarly undecided; PSP Logistics sits in ninth place with 51 points while Washington, DC and Bekezela will battle it out with 38 and 37 points respectively - and both with Joker Cards still to play.

On the coming days of sailing, Dale Smyth, Deputy Race Director said: “The weather is looking like the fleet is going to have some really nice downwind conditions which is typical on this leg. The teams will be racing down, each day getting warmer and warmer as they head south, and then it will get unbearably warm. The teams will then start to approach the intertropical convergence zone and enter the doldrums.”

A challenging and tactical race for the fleet, Race 11 promises to be an exciting one for Race Viewer addicts and armchair sailors at home! Keep up to date with the latest via the Race Viewer, News Hub and social media channels.

The race is just over 4,000nm which will see the teams at sea for about three and half weeks.