Header image: Henri Lloyd in St Katharine Docks before the race start

Leg 4, Race 5, Albany to Sydney, Australia, across the Great Australian Bight

Race 5 Viewer

Race 5 Viewer

The start of Race 5 saw Henri Lloyd in first place overall with 45 points as at the end of Race 4.

What a drama at the very start of this race! Henri Lloyd was in the lead at the start of this race but GREAT Britain and PSP Logistics had a collision at the starting gate. Both boats had to return to port for damage assessment and repairs.  GREAT Britain was able to complete their repairs and leave port the next day but PSP Logistics took 2 days for their repairs.

Once all of the boats had arrived in Sydney, an independent committee decided on the redress due to PSP Logistics which was awarded redress of its average points in the race so far. GREAT Britain was not awarded any redress and Clipper rules were enforced to award GREAT Britain a 2 point penalty for the incident.

Race 5 is the closest race so far – there were lots of tactical decisions being made, a very close race to the scoring gate and a very close race to the end! Clipper:

After a triumphant end to Race 5 yesterday which saw Henri Lloyd claim the line hours and 12 points, the remainder of the fleet remain focused and upbeat as the race to Sydney, Australia is far from over.

With Old Pulteney due to finish in the next few hours, the second half of the fleet is still in full racing mode, with its sights firmly on the competition. With Invest Africa and Team Garmin continuing to fight for ninth place, skipper of Team Garmin, Mark Burkes, summed up the competitive spirit on board as the remainder of the fleet hunt them down.

“For the last few days we have been stalking Invest Africa and our tussle for a place at the tail end of the fleet is no less fraught and a hard-one just because we won’t be getting any silverware.”

 Simon Talbot, skipper of GREAT Britain which is currently in eleventh place also remains optimistic.

“We still have Invest Africa and Team Garmin within about 50 miles of us, so we still have a chance at a little last minute pursuit, but as the miles to Sydney decrease, our chance at catching and overtaking them diminishes – but that will not stop us trying.”

It was a challenging 24 hours for Mission Performance which experienced it’s very own ‘kitemare’ after the team tried to perform a kite drop swapping  from its lightweight kite, ‘Bruce’, in favour of the medium weight kite ‘Brian’. Skipper Matt Mitchell, describes the disastrous result.

“There was a resounding rip, and the whole middle section of ‘Bruce’ split wide open, causing the foot of the sail to go in the water. All hands (all ten) were called and we started to try and retrieve the bottom half of the kite, as well as pull down the top half which was still attached to the main section by the tape lines.”

PSP Logistics was the final entry to complete the Ocean Sprint yesterday; however it was all in vain as OneDLL’s impressive time of 18 hours 03 minutes could not be beaten. This means that in Race 5 OneDLL will be awarded a total of 13 points after claiming second place yesterday and 11 points and 2 points for the Ocean Sprint, placing them second overall on the leaderboard.

During the race, Eric Holden heard that he had been awarded ‘Canadian Sailor of the Month’ for November by Canada’s national governing body for sailing, Sail Canada.

The award acknowledges sailing achievements by Canadians involved or associated with sailing and was awarded to Eric in recognition of his achievements in leading the overall race standings in “the world’s toughest endurance challenge”, the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

After Clipper Race officials informed him of the news, Eric Holden responded proudly: “The support I have received back home has been overwhelming. We have a great sailing heritage and I am doing everything I can to encourage the development in offshore sailing in Canada.”

Justin Taylor, Clipper Race Director commented: “Our congratulations go to Eric for this achievement. He is certainly making his crew, his country, Henri Lloyd and everyone at the Clipper Race very proud indeed.”

Eric Holden was first introduced to the Clipper Race in 1999 after his sister competed in two legs of the 1998-1999 race. He was the Weather Forecaster for the Canadian sailing team at London 2012 and was part of the first Canadian team to win the Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race in the race’s 106-year history. Eric is now working on his aim to becoming the first Canadian skipper to claim victory in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. 

Eric’s Henri Lloyd team has finished on the podium for three of the four races so far completed and is currently in second place in Race 5, which ends in Sydney next week.

Well done Eric.

So, with 12 points for finishing first plus 1 gate point, Henri Lloyd is still in overall lead with a total of 58 points, followed closely by One DLL with 51 points. This is their first Race win!

What will Race 6 bring?

  1. Tony Plunkett (@KneeloTony) on 6 January 2014 at 04:15

    looks like it will be dark by the time you pass me in Sydney again. Just saw PSP going past but without headsail? Most others are way out. Watch out for that 3kt current going down the coast. Good Luck



    • bbllr87 on 6 January 2014 at 11:07

      Hi Tony I’ve just arrived in Brisbane ready for them to get in and me to join them. PSP would have been without a headship because they have retired from the Race due to boat damage. They and Henri Lloyd are quite close inshore as both are motorsailing. The others would be further out avoiding that current you mention. Henri Lloyd is still south of Sydney so it may be light again when they pass. Anita



ANITA SAILS AGAIN