Clipper Round World Race 07-08 www.clipper-ventures.com - Übersicht Race Viewer mit Google maps ! 16.04.2008 http://www.w-w-i.com/clipper_0708_race/ First Clipper 07-08 victory for Uniquely Singapore Santa Cruz, California, USA Uniquely Singapore, has managed to steal line honours from Nova Scotia by crossing the finish line at 05:16 local (12:16 GMT) Wednesday morning at the end of Race 8 from Hawaii to Santa Cruz in the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race. In a nail biting finish in light airs the Singaporean team managed to overtake Nova Scotia, the team representing the east coast province of Canada crossing less than an hour later at 05:51 local (12:51 GMT). The victory for Uniquely Singapore, sponsored by Keppel Corporation with Singapore Tourism Board as Race Partner, marks their first win of the Clipper 07-08 Race series and their first podium position of the race so far. Foto: Terry Way/onEdition Skipper Mark Preedy and his crew were clearly elated as they pulled alongside. ³I¹m over the moon!² exclaimed a delighted Mark. ³It seemed like a lot of the crew had settled for second place at the end there until we started to see the lights of Nova Scotia on the final approach. So we kept going as we knew we had a good chance of getting closer and we kept pushing hard. We were the northerly boat so we had an advantage and when the wind died it was a bit of a free for all. They chose to fly the spinnaker whilst we went for the windseeker and the wind came round the right way for us and we took them just before the line.² A tactical decision to head north paid off for Singaporean team as they achieved more favourable wind angles and avoided the wind holes that beset the rest of the fleet further south. Uniquely Singapore crew member Xinmei Zheng said, ³I¹m really, really happy that we finished this because we were actually lagging behind Nova Scotia for a while. It was really at the last minute that we pushed through and not giving up is really the point because we were just inching and it was light winds and we inched our way in. It was great, really great!² Uniquely Singapore was the first of the ten internationally-sponsored yachts competing in the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race to arrive in Santa Cruz at the end of the latest 2,080-mile stage from Honolulu. They were closely followed into Santa Cruz Harbour by second placed Nova Scotia and both teams were greeted by a group of local volunteers and representatives from the Santa Cruz Yacht Club, who welcomed the crews and skippers to the Californian port. The majority of the fleet are expected to arrive over the next couple of days with the US entry, New York, expected to take the final podium position and arrive in Santa Cruz Harbour later today. Durban 2010 and Beyond and westernaustralia2011.com will complete the fleet by arriving in Santa Cruz early next week. The two southern hemisphere teams were delayed leaving Hawaii due to essential mast refit work as a result the dramatic dismasting of both yachts during Race 7 from Qingdao, China. Clipper 07-08 is the sixth edition of the biennial Clipper Race and the Santa Cruz stopover marks the first time the race has visited a port on the west coast of the United States. During the teams¹ short visit the fleet is being hosted by the Santa Cruz Yacht Club who will also host the prizegiving ceremony on Monday 21 April. SCYC Commodore Bret Grippenstraw said, ³It was great to see the boats arrive this morning and we¹re really excited about being involved in the stopover. It¹s a great thing for Santa Cruz and the harbour and we¹re really happy to have the Clipper yachts here.² The Clipper Race is the only round the world yacht race for non-professional sailors and the amateur crews, representing 27 different nationalities across the ten teams, are each led by a professional skipper. As well as performing the routine indextenance required to keep their 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 California during the stopover. The Californian stopover of Clipper 07-08 has also been timed to coincide with the Strictly Sail Pacific boat show, which begins today at Jack London Square, Oakland, California. The Clipper Race will be exhibiting at the show today and this coming weekend and Crew Recruitment Manager David Cusworth will be on hand explain how prospective crew members can get onboard and take on the challenge of a lifetime. To find out more about the race and how to become a crew member on Clipper 09-10 please contact David Cusworth on +1 (831) 239 5116, or email oceanracer@clipperroundtheworld.com . ENDS NOTES TO EDITORS Media organisations are invited to send representatives to cover the yachts¹ arrival in Santa Cruz Harbour. For more information please call Communications Coordinator Zoe Williamson on (808) 228-2646. The Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race began on 16 September 2007 in Liverpool. The race lasts ten months and takes in 35,000 miles of ocean racing. The overall race is divided into seven legs and a total of 14 individual races. Points are accumulated according to each race position, and the yacht with the highest total at the finish on 5 July 2008 wins the race trophy. For media information, photographs and interviews with skippers, crew or Race Team, please contact: Zoe Williamson, Communications Coordinator (in Santa Cruz) Mobile in Santa Cruz (808) 228-2646 (from 15 April) Email: zwilliamson@clipper-ventures.com Heather Ewing, Communications Coordinator (in UK) Tel: +44 (0) 2392 526000 UK Mobile: +44 (0) 7792 408 695 Email: hewing@clipper-ventures.com For further information log onto www.clipperroundtheworld.com Kind Regards Martin Silnevs World Wide Images T: +44(0)20 7498 9100 F: +44(0)20 7978 1469 E: info@W-W-I.com W: http://www.W-W-I.com Our on-line image library World Wide Images can be viewed at: http://www.W-W-I.com Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE