Clipper Race: Onward around Australia

Fremantle, Australia (December 22, 2019) – The Australian Coast-to-Coast stage of the Clipper 2019-20 Round the World Yacht Race got underway today as Leg 4/Race 5 takes the fleet 3415nm from Fremantle, Australia to The Whitsundays, Australia.

The race, expected to take around 20 days, will see the teams sail down Western Australia, towards the infamous conditions of the Roaring Forties, turning the corner at Tasmania before heading north across the Bass Strait and up the East Coast. This is when the teams will need to keep an eye out for Southerly Busters, a weather phenomenon which sees an abrupt and violent change in the weather.

As three of the teams were late in finishing the previous race (see below), only eight of the eleven started today with reigning champions Qingdao crossing the line first, shortly followed by Ha Long Bay Viet, Nam and Dare To Lead.

After rounding Rottnest Island, the bows of the yachts will point south, as the fleet tracks along the coast of Western Australia, out of the Indian Ocean and back to the challenge of the southern latitudes. Cape Leeuwin marks the south western tip of Australia and is one of the three Great Capes, the second of the Clipper 2019-20 Race route.

“The first stage down the west coast of Australia is going to be a tough beat upwind, then as the teams round Cape Leuwin, one of the world’s great capes, there is a bit of a light patch on the forecast,” explains Clipper Race Director Mark Light.

“Once they are clear of that and head south, on the great circle route, they can expect to pick up the normal westerly winds of the Southern Ocean they can expect some pretty hefty weather systems and some good downwind surfing.

“As the teams then turn the corner, underneath Tasmania, it will be very varied; upwind, sometimes choppy across the Bass Strait. Teams should not forget the East Australian current and always keep an eye out for the Southerly Busters, shifts in conditions which can sneak up and be pretty violent.”

Queensland-born crew member, Jane Lever, sailing on board Seattle, said: “I signed up to Leg 4 (and Leg 5) as they have the widest variety of weather conditions and I wanted to learn how to deal with the extremes of being at sea.

“It’s good to be sailing from one side of Australia to another. I think once we get south, it’s going to get chilly and possibly lumpy, down the bottom of Tasmania where it could be very cold with some big swells too. We’ll go up past Sydney into big summer storms and then the East Australian ‘Nemo’ current and beyond.”

Following a later arrival into Fremantle, a further three Clipper Race teams will depart on December 24, exactly 48 hours later than the first eight. They will race on elapsed time against the rest of the fleet.

The eleven teams are expected to arrive at the Whitsundays between January 9 and 12.

Race details – Skipper list – Race route – Tracker – Facebook

Eight of the 11 teams set off on December 22 for the Leg 4/Race 5 of the Clipper 2019-20 Round the World Yacht Race, which takes the fleet 3415nm from Fremantle, Australia to The Whitsundays, Australia. Three of the teams were delayed in Leg 3/Race 4 (see below) with issues requiring them to return to port, finally finishing between December 19 and 20. They will begin Leg 4/Race 5 on December 24. The eleven teams are expected to arrive at the Whitsundays between January 9 and 12.

Delayed: After starting Leg 3/Race 4 from Cape Town, South Africa on November 17, Unicef diverted course on November 22 to Durban for crew member Andrew Toms to disembark and receive medical treatment for a suspected appendicitis, with the team returning to the race on November 27. They finished in Fremantle, Australia on December 20 (12:24 UTC).

Collision: Punta del Este and Visit Sanya, China were in Cape Town, South Africa for repair after an incident at the start of Race 4 on November 17 resulted in significant damage. Their race finally got underway on November 28, finishing in Fremantle, Australia on December 19 (07:50 UTC) and December 20 (03:11 UTC), respectively. A review of the facts found Sanya, China to be at fault after a clear breach of the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) 10 ‘On Opposite Tacks’. Details.

About the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race:
The Clipper Race was established in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world in 1968-69. His aim was to allow anyone, regardless of previous sailing experience, the chance to embrace the thrill of ocean racing; it is the only event of its kind for amateur sailors.

Held biennially, the Clipper 2019-20 Round the World Yacht Race gets underway September 1 for the fleet of eleven identical Tony Castro designed Clipper 70s. This 12th edition has attracted 688 crew representing 43 nationalities for the 41,000+ nm course. The race finishes on August 8.

The course is divided into 8 legs and 15 individual races, with some of the crew in for the entire circumnavigation while others will do individual legs. The team having the best cumulative score over the entire course will win the Clipper Race Trophy.

The Clipper 2019-20 Race Route:
The fleet departs from London, UK to Portimão, Portugal; across the Atlantic to Punta del Este, Uruguay; the South Atlantic to Cape Town, South Africa; across the Southern Ocean’s Roaring Forties to Fremantle, Western Australia; around to the Whitsundays on the east coast of Australia, back into the Northern Hemisphere to China where teams will race to Qingdao, via Sanya and Zhuhai; across the mighty North Pacific to Seattle, USA; to New York via the famous Panama Canal; to Bermuda and then it’s a final Atlantic crossing to Derry-Londonderry in Northern Ireland; before arriving back to London as fully proven ocean racers.

Source: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race