Clipper Race Arrives in Hawaii

Honolulu, Hawaii - Hull & Humber, winning yacht of leg 7 in the Clipper Round the World Race, arrived in Ala Wai harbour, Honolulu, today at 0745 (1745 GMT). The yacht was followed just ten minutes later by the yacht New York, who finished second in the 4,400-mile race across the Pacific from Qingdao, China, to Hawaii.

Skipper Danny Watson had this to say about today's victory: “It’s good to get a podium, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? We had first place in La Rochelle, then line honours in Durban and went down to fourth and we seem to have been consistently fourth since then. But great for us to get in. The guys have always believed that one of the objectives is to strive for a podium position, so it’s nice to get it. It really has been some time.”

Round the world crew member, Quentin Thompson from Beverley, East Yorkshire, said, “It’s excellent, it was well deserved and we’ve fought hard all the way. For all the race was cut short, it didn’t detract from that and it was really hard.”

A beaming Thea Clifford, one of the members of the ten-strong ONE Hull Tag Team sailing on Hull & Humber, said, “It was a lot harder than I expected it to be, I wasn’t expecting it to be easy by any measure but I’m really proud I’ve got through it without kicking anyone or crying or even shouting at Danny and the crew has really helped push me up. I can’t believe I’ve done it. It’s been absolutely brilliant.”

Rachel Axcell, another round the worlder from Caistor, Lincolnshire, said, “The best thing was the variety of the sailing. We anchored, we had snowball fights and now we’re here in the sunshine.”

The yacht, representing the Hull and Humber area of the north east of England, is crewed by amateur sailors and led by a professional skipper and is the first of ten internationally-backed yachts competing in the race to arrive in Hawaii. The other nine yachts, including the US entry and the two that were dismasted during the rigorous Pacific crossing, will arrive during today and tomorrow, with the final entry, westernaustralia2011.com expected at the weekend. She left Midway Island yesterday afternoon following a short pitstop to allow the crew to take on more fuel and provisions for the final 1,000-miles of their journey.

Durban 2010 and Beyond is expected in the marina at 1600 local (0200 GMT Wednesday 18 March) following her dismasting last Thursday. The crew includes Hull university lecturer Mandy Brown from Pocklington.

The Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race is a 35,000-mile circumnavigation which began in Liverpool, England 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, including the United States, will compete during the race, approximately a quarter of them competing in the entire circuit of the globe.

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. With half of the races completed, the American entry, New York, is shooting up the table following a second place on this latest race to add to three first places the team has already won. New York arrived in the Ala Wai shortly after Hull & Humber this morning.

Skipper Duggie Gillespie said, “I’m more than happy with second place – we just could not catch that boat in front, Hull & Humber, they’ve done brilliantly.”

The ten yachts are a spectacular sight both racing and in port. During their stay in Honolulu 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 Oahu during the stopover. 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 overall race leader, 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.

• Photo Above: Hull & Humber, winner of leg 7 in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. Heather Ewing/onEdition
• Story Photos: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race Heather Ewing/onEdition
• Photo Below: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race Heading into Ala Wai harbour. Heather Ewing/onEdition