For those who follow the round the world sailing teams, they will probably know about the Clipper race. The current version of this world sailing event, Clipper 2015-16 includes teams that have departed from Northern Ireland, the port of Derry-Londonderry to get onto the first leg of the journey to Den Helder in Netherlands.
All boats are yet to fight it out for the battle to finish at the final stage.
There are 24 points that are available for the teams. The race to the Netherlands is a crucial one and could be pivotal in the final results. The current leading boat is LMAX Exchange from Derry-Londonderry-Doire which is placed second till now. There are eleven points between Garmin and an entry from Northern Ireland which is a team from the Charter in Scotland team.
The home team Derry-Londonderry-Doire stated that they had received tremendous support and motivation at the last stop. The boat had raced hard to reach the home port all the way from New York and they missed out LMAX with a narrow margin. However, he feels that there is a chance that they might win the Clipper race for the year 2015-16. The final races that remain would definitely see the team putting in their very best.
There were several supporters gathered to see the race 13 get underway which took place at 1800 hours in local time. The sea conditions were good and clear skies were present. The south western wind that built helped the boats to get a good start from Greencastle. It was Qingdao that went across first after which Garmin went in second position while LMAX Exchange was the third vessel to cross. The fleet had been resting for about ten days and the crowd was emotional as the race was continued.