The Derry “LondonDerry” Doire is in second place in the fifth race of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race from Albany in Western Australia to Sydney.
Sean McCarter.
After a terrifyingly close start to Race 5 yesterday and with less than 2000 miles until the fleet reach Sydney, the teams are already staging one of the most tactical races to date.
With the crews struggling to gain their sea legs after facing the Southern Ocean for the second time, OneDLL is currently leading the fleet by just one mile from the Derry clipper, with Qingdao and Henri Lloyd hot on its heels.
Sean McCarter, skipper of the Derry Clipper, said he was “relieved and happy” at the outcome of race four in which local yacht finished in eighth position despite losing valuable time diverting to South Africa to drop of an injured crew member after it was hit by a large wave from the crossing from Brazil to Australia.
Sean said: “It was actually a very good race, even though we had to double back to drop off Michelle after the boat was knocked down, which was an experience.
“The guys did really well and despite a 500 mile detour, when we could have thrown in the towel, the crew got up every watch in the Southern Ocean in really tough conditions; you just couldn’t ask more of them and they did really well.”
He concluded: “Just to finish it off by pipping a couple of boats into the finish was just unbelievable. It was such a close finish which was just special.”
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