Overcoming adversity
All crew have arrived after completing the most challenging leg in Clipper Race history.
28 November 2017
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All the Clipper Race teams are once again in the same place, after HotelPlanner.com completed the arrivals for Race 3: The Dell Latitude Rugged Race to Fremantle, Australia.
HotelPlanner.com crossed the line in eleventh place but will be officially place ninth in the results ladder, thanks to a redress for collecting six Greenings crew members in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Skipper Conall Morrison says, “This race was full of good times and bad times, but plenty of fun times too. Having the Greenings crew on board has added a bit of freshness and just added to the fun. You know, there was no pressure for the race really because we were behind from so early on, but even that just made it more fun.”
As well as points for finishing ninth, HotelPlanner.com will also add three bonus points to their overall tally after winning the Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint.
Unicef crossed the line first in Fremantle Harbour at 19:10:30 local time (11:10:30 UTC) to complete the 4,754 nautical mile race from Cape Town, South Africa.
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Showing incredible courage and resilience, GREAT Britain has claimed its best position of its Clipper 2017-18 Race campaign so far, taking second place into Fremantle, Australia.
The team crossed the Race 3: Dell Latitude Rugged Race finish line in Fremantle Harbour at 18:50:55 local time (11:50:55 UTC) to finish what has been an emotionally charged past week on the Southern Ocean.
On Tuesday 21 November, round the world crew member Erik Hellstrom was medevac’d from the yacht due to a serious abdominal condition, and was safely transferred to hospital in Fremantle where he is now getting medical attention.
Fellow round the world crew member Nell Wyatt, a GP from Wiltshire, provided on board medical care round the clock for Erik while he was unwell. On arrival to port she said: “It was very stressful both medically and professionally. But I felt very well supported by the Skipper and the crew.
“I think we are a very united team anyway and everyone was amazingly supportive. What was realised from the entire incident was how much our Clipper Race training had become second nature. The medevac went very well and everyone knew what they had to do thanks to all the work we had put in whilst training for the race.”
With all teams in, Clipper Race Chairman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston said, “This has undoubtedly been the toughest leg in Clipper Race history. Ocean racing is an extreme sport and the training our crew go through is intense for this purpose, designed to prepare crew for the many eventualities that occur, even in the professional races.
“Whilst these are situations we aim never to encounter, it is always impressive to witness how strong the human spirit is when faced with adversity.”
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