Henri Lloyd claims line honours in Clipper Race 12: The Spirit of Jamaica Chase
Henri Lloyd has retained its overall Clipper Race lead by taking line honours in Race 12: The Spirit of Jamaica Chase after fighting off arch rivals GREAT Britain in a tantalisingly close finale to cross the finish line just 31 seconds in front.
Henri Lloyd crossed the Folly Point Lighthouse finish line in Port Antonio, Jamaica at 20:41:56 UTC with GREAT Britain right behind in second at 20:42:27 UTC. Switzerland took third place, claiming its second podium finish of the Clipper Race so far, finishing at 21:42 UTC.
Eric Holden, Henri Lloyd skipper remarked: “We were leading for the majority of this race, but with about 20 miles to go, GREAT Britain managed to get around us and just managed to pull ahead of us but with just two miles to go, we just managed to pull ahead again.
“It was probably one of our closest races and toughest battles we’ve had together but it was good, everyone was very excited. We love finishes like that. It would have been tough to have lost to GREAT Britain again, three times in a row. It certainly feels like a bit of redemption for us this time.”
Still seeking its illusive podium finish, Team Garmin finished fourth for the second consecutive race at 22:46 UTC. Old Pulteney finished fifth at 23:07 UTC and PSP Logistics crossed in sixth place at 00:04 UTC. OneDLL came in seventh at 02:25 UTC, Qingdao finished eighth at 03:39 UT and Derry~Londonderry~Doire finished ninth at 05:31. At the time of reporting, the wind had died off considerably for the remaining three teams, Jamaica Get All Right, Mission Performance and Invest Africa.
Summarising Race 12: The Spirit of Jamaica Chase, Clipper Race Deputy Race Director Mark Light explained: “This was a fantastic and terribly exciting fight between the two leading contenders of the overall Clipper Race. GREAT Britain led at the turning mark on the eastern tip of Jamaica and under spinnaker carried the edge over Henri Lloyd until the final two miles when Henri Lloyd managed to out gybe its rivals to creep ahead and take the line honours in the final seconds. Congratulations go to both teams for such a hard fought tactical race.
“The race was won and lost over one main decision. Simply, when to tack east. The boats that chose to tack earlier in the race, reaped the rewards as they picked up good breeze and managed to maintain the best speeds along the rhumb line. Jamaica Get All Right elected to tack much later, 48 hours into the race, and furthest to the east where it found its progress hindered by less favourable wind conditions. After dropping to the back of the fleet, it was however able to claw back two positions over the boats furthest west.”
The Clipper Race fleet will be berthed at the Errol Flynn Marina in Port Antonio, Jamaica until 24 May when it will depart in Race 13: The Grange Hotels Trophy to New York which completes Leg 7, the penultimate Clipper Race leg.
