Race 11 The LMAX Exchange - RACE of THE AMERICAS

The LMAX Exchange – RACE of THE AMERICAS from Panama to New York is due to get underway on Monday 30 May with a Le Mans start.

At 1930 nautical miles, Race 11, is less than half of the length of the last race down the west coast of the USA from Seattle which was over 4000NM. Similarly to Race 10, tactics will play a major part in this race as the teams negotiate their way through the Caribbean islands but this time round they’ll be beating upwind before hitting some light winds and hoping to finish with a kite run into ‘the city that never sleeps’.

As it stands, all teams should be through the canal and in Shelter Bay by the evening of 29 May and ready to start racing the following day. In order to conduct a Le Mans start, the fleet will motor for approximately 100 nautical miles where the start will be led by the appointed Lead Skipper Rich Gould on IchorCoal.

Race Director Justin Taylor outlines the route and conditions the teams can expect on their race to New York where they are expected to arrive between 12- 14 June, under the watchful eye of Statue of Liberty.

“The wind on the western side of the Caribbean Sea is usually driven by the Trade Winds coming from the east of the Atlantic. By the time they reach the fleet though, they will almost certainly be quite light. So, the first section of the race up to the windward passage to the east of Cuba will be a close reach with the wind forward of the yacht’s beam. The sea should be quite calm with small wavelets which means that those teams that helm the best will reap the rewards. It is all about sailing the absolute best course in order to clear Cuba on one tack.”

In a race that is essentially divided into three sections in terms of tactics and conditions, Justin goes on to describe the next two phases.

“After that, the fleet picks its way through the northern Caribbean islands and the Bahamas which can be characterised by fluky winds accompanied by spectacular displays of lightening. The third section of the race will be greatly influenced by the south-westerly corner of the Atlantic High with its clockwise circling winds. This will bring the wind onto the starboard quarter of the yachts and we should see some fast kite runs into New York.”

With the LMAX Exchange – RACE of THE AMERICAS finishing in one of the world’s premier financial cities it was the perfect fit for the UK’s fastest growing technology firm and the leading innovator in foreign exchange trading to sponsor this race.

David Mercer says: “The US is a new and exciting frontier for LMAX Exchange and we look forward to welcoming all the crew, supporters and wider Clipper Race family in June. New York will be a temporary but worthy ‘home of the brave’ for our courageous sailors as they near the end of their circumnavigation.”

There will once again be bonus points on offer for the first three teams through the Scoring Gate and another two for the fastest team through the Ocean Sprint. Details of where these are positioned will be revealed in the Race Start story on Monday.

The daily race reports will recommence on Tuesday after the teams have completed their first day of racing. As the teams continue their passage to and through the Panama Canal, progress can continually be tracked on the Race Viewer and you might even catch a glimpse of them on the locks’ live webcams.

With a client base in over 90 countries, LMAX Exchange is at the forefront of the FX industry’s transition to exchange style, ultra-low latency trading. The ‘Americas’ feature strongly as part of its global business expansion strategy - especially so with the impending milestone of launching a new matching engine for the US in New York before the end of 2016.

For more information on LMAX Exchange, visit the team page.