​ Race 2 Day 17 Final 500 miles for LMAX Exchange and Qingdao

LMAX Exchange and Qingdao are sailing close hauled in the final 500 nautical miles to Cape Town, making good speed of 10.8 and 9.1 knots respectively on their very different routes to the finish.

Unicef has crossed the finish line this morning at 0813 UTC.

Igor Gotlibovych, Skipper of Qingdao, described the tactics deployed by it and LMAX Exchange.

“With less than 500 nautical miles to go, the wind isn't really following the forecast and we are sailing close-hauled where we were expecting to be hoisting the spinnaker.

“In our ‘match race’ with LMAX Exchange, we are now further apart than we are away from the finish - our final route into Cape Town couldn't be more different. Still everything to play for and watching the weather developments with curiosity.”

As of 0700 UTC, 430 nautical miles remained until the finish for LMAX Exchange, and 490 nautical miles for Qingdao.

Estimating the overall race standings, Race Director Justin Taylor updates: "Based on average speed so far LMAX Exchange is currently in eighth place and Qingdao is tenth. Although Qingdao took a dive to the south in order to avoid the high pressure system, it has still encountered light and fickle winds last night. LMAX Exchange decided to bite the bullet and go for the more direct route to Cape Town and has inevitably hit the light winds of that high."

To follow LMAX Exchange and Qingdao’s finish, see the Race Viewer here.