Day 1 proved to be a totally thrilling first day of close-hauled racing with a jostling of positions and leads as the fleet raced along the south east coast of England, making for addictive Race Viewer action from the off.
After flying first over the line ahead of GREAT Britain, LMAX Exchange lost its spinnaker early, allowing Derry~Londonderry~Doire to take the early lead until the turn at Margate, whereupon GREAT Britain took it on the inside with an early gybe. It held this lead until Dover where Qingdao’s decision to take a closer inshore route edged itself into a short-lived lead. After another unplanned spinnaker drop which plunged it into eighth place, the LMAX Exchange team righted the problem and strived to hunt down the pack. A successful comeback complete, the team is currently leading by just over 0.1NM as of 0900 UTC.
