Londonderry yacht in with a chance of winning Clipper after pipping LMAX into finish in Holland

The Derry-Londonderry-Doire finished Race 13 of the Clipper Round the World Race from its home port to Den Helder in North Holland in fourth place, significantly ahead of rival and overall leader LMAX Exchange.
By The Newsroom
Published 22nd Jul 2016, 10:04 BST
Updated 22nd Jul 2016, 11:08 BST

Derry-Londonderry-Doire started the race nine points behind LMAX Exchange in the Overall Race Standings but with the announcement from the Race Committee that LMAX Exchange had been allocated two penalty points for the cost of sail repair in Race 12 and the local yacht’s strong performance into Den Hleden that gap has now narrowed with a very exciting finish in London in Race 14 with the top spot on the podium up for grabs, in prospect.

Speaking during trying wind conditions in the North Sea on Thursday, July 21, Londonderry skipper Daniel Smith said: “We’ve had a very hard day with wind strength ranging from 0 to over 30 knots.

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“The day started with reefing. As soon as a reef went in or came out it was time to change it back again. Then it felt like the same with spinnakers. “We ended up constantly working to try and keep ourselves moving but at any one time half the visible fleet would be stopped while the rest was doing 10 knots.

“We put ourselves in the south and the wind has now filled in. The important questions are: Did we get the wind before all the others? How fast are they going? Who is in the best position? We’ll get the answers to all these questions once the boats finish this extremely tricky race.”

Related topics:ClipperDaniel SmithDerryLondon