Clipper Race: Qingdao wins standoff in South Atlantic Showdown

The second stage of the Clipper Race’s global circuit, The Spinlock South Atlantic Showdown, delivered an intense standoff between the eleven identical teams played out along the entire 3,555 mile racecourse before Qingdao clinched the win at 07:06:12UTC on Friday 8th November.

Crossing the finish line beneath Cape Town’s iconic Table Mountain after 16 days of racing, Chris Brooks, Skipper of winning Qingdao team, says: “I was looking for an opportunity to get back into the fleet and then the two low pressure systems came together and it was the perfect opportunity to take one low pressure up, and the other around, which proved to be the perfect turning point of the race for us. It’s fantastic to win Race 3 and the welcome into Cape Town has been perfect.

“The crew just keep on going, they are gelling as a team and it becomes more fluid. I can’t ask for more. All you can do is start each race with the outlook that you can win it and that’s what we are going to do and we will keep trying to win every one.”

With confidence gained from the first two races, the Qingdao team went boldly into this test, which started from the Uruguayan resort of Punta del Este on Wednesday 23rd October, when it made the tactical decision to split off from the main pack after just 30nm of racing.

The teams will birth at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront before starting the third leg on Sunday 17th November.