 The crew of Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper arrived in Hawaii this afternoon to celebrate another podium finish that sees them move into joint second place overall in the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race.
The team had been shadowing Durban 2010 and Beyond, one of two yachts dismasted during the 4,400-mile Race 7 from Qingdao, China for the last day and arrived in the Ala Wai harbour shortly after the South African yacht at 1600 on Tuesday 18 March (0200 GMT Wednesday 19 March).
Round the world crew member Sue Smith said, “I’m delighted to be here – the slamming into the wind and motoring was driving me insane! As a crew we’re happy with another podium place – disappointed the race finished early because we reckon we’d have got New York. We were only seven miles behind them with a better angle to the wind. Hull & Humber maybe not, but I think we would have got New York.”
The yacht, which represents the Scottish city around the world, is crewed by amateur sailors and led by skipper Hannah Jenner, the only professional yachtsman on board. The Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race is a 35,000-mile circumnavigation which began in Liverpool on 16 September 2007 and will finish there on 5 July this year. More than 400 crew drawn from all walks of life and representing 27 nationalities will compete during the race, approximately a quarter of them competing in the entire circuit of the globe.
Earlier today Race 7 winners, Hull & Humber, and second placed New York arrived in the Ala Wai. Until all the skippers hand in their declarations the positions are provisional, but if they stand Hull & Humber will move into the overall lead, just two points ahead of Durban 2010 and Beyond who slip back into second place, level on points with Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper.
 The Clipper Race is made up of 14 individual races. Points are awarded for each race and the winner is the team which has accumulated the most points when the fleet of 68-foot ocean racing yachts arrives back in Liverpool in July.
During the stopover in Hawaii the crews will be hosted by Waikiki Yacht Club, Hawaii Yacht Club and Magic Island Petroleum. As well as performing the routine maintenance required to keep these ocean racing yachts in top performance condition and shopping for food for the next race, the crews will also have some time to enjoy the sights, sounds and flavours of the island of O’ahu. The Clipper Race Team will also be calling on the skills of local companies to aid the repairs to the masts and rigging of westernaustralia2011.com and Durban 2010 and Beyond, the two yachts dismasted during the race from Qingdao. No-one was hurt in either incident.
This is the sixth edition of the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race and it has called into Hawaii on all but one occasion, the Clipper 05-06 Race being the exception. This race marks a return to the Ala Wai following the Clipper 2002 Race fleet’s stopover in Ko Olina Marina.
First run in 1996, the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is the brainchild of renowned yachtsman, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to sail solo non-stop around the world. He wanted everyone to be able to experience the sheer exhilaration of ocean racing which, until then, had been the preserve of the rich and professionals. More than 1,400 people have now competed in the six Clipper Races, the circumnavigators becoming members of an elite group of sportsmen and women: more people have climbed Everest than have raced around the world in a yacht.
Sir Robin says, “Everyone who takes part in the Clipper Race has their own reason for doing so; some to experience the adrenaline rush that comes with taking on nature in the raw, some to push themselves further than they thought possible and others to compete in the largest global yacht race in the world.”
He continues “More than 1,400 people have made the Clipper experience a turning point in their lives. We want people to finish the race thinking that it’s the best thing they have ever done. You could join these people.” He adds that anyone over the age of 18 can enter – and there is no upper age limit. Competitors taking part, 40 percent of whom had no sailing experience before signing up, include a banker, a vicar, a farmer, a taxi driver, a stockbroker, a barrister, a housewife and a postman.
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