Race 4 in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has got under way.
Sean McCarter.
The 12-strong fleet has left the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa bound for Albany in Western Australia.
Henri Lloyd is currently at the top of the leaderboard after three races, followed by GREAT Britain in second and PSP Logistics in third.
Looking ahead to the Southern Ocean crossing, Sean McCarter, skipper of the Derry “LondonDerry” Doire said he will not be taking “foot off the gas” Race 4.
Looking back over the first three races, he revealed the Derry Clipper did not do as well as had been hoped.
He said: “We have had a game plan from the beginning and in some ways it has come together and in some ways it hasn’t. We planned to push really hard in the beginning as there were quite a few easy points up for grabs when we knew other teams wouldn’t be pushing as hard.
“We did well in the other races, but not quite what we were hoping for. Our plan on the last race was to look after the crew, look after the equipment because in the last two legs of the race forty per cent of the overall points will be won then.
“So, at the moment we are still sticking to that plan, to go out and race as we always do. We won’t take our foot off the gas by any means but we aren’t going to kill ourselves or the boat trying to get a first place.”
Sean said he was delighted with the way the Clipper 70 vessel was performing.
He said: “From the moment I stepped on board the Clipper 70 I have been impressed, but it just continues to impress me.
“They are really solid boats, very fast and safe there haven’t been any technical failures like you’d expect to experience with any new boat but the whole fleet has been solid as a rock.”
Sean concluded: “They continue to exceed our expectations and I know this leg of the race will do the same. One the last race we did 296 miles in one day and I know we will exceed it in this race.”:
