0 Update Thursday 22nd February – 1.07pm
- by David Lawson
- 22-02-2018
Update Thursday 22nd February – 1.07pm
And there it is. PSP cross the finish line at 12.41pm in that most longed for of positions……1st.
Well done team, what a great effort that has been and very well deserved.
So soon it will be Customs and all the things you have to do when you arrive in a new country but fortunately as they are in first there will be no queuing!
There will be a huge amount of adrenaline flowing on the boat but now whilst they’ll be revelling in the moment the crew will be taking the sails down and there will be some time to go yet before that 1st beer…..but my oh my will it taste good.
Enjoy…..
Well barring a disaster PSP are finally going to get that long awaited first 1st place pennant. As I write they have 31.88 nautical miles to go and are 37 miles ahead of Qingdao. Sanya are sitting in 3rd place but will likely be pushed out to 4th as Dare to Lead are to have redress of 1hr 10mins for helping out one of the other boats. The big question is can Unicef, currently 5th, who are only 5.5 miles behind Sanya, catch them up and bump Sanya down to 5th. It would certainly help PSP in the overall standings of the race.
It has been tense watching as Sanya were only 4 miles ahead of Unicef at 6am this morning but if Unicef can catch a bit of wind then they are in with a shout. So that looks like the big play now as this final part of the race comes to an end.
The boys and girls on PSP will be willing every mile to port away and for the ’round the worlders’ this will be a special moment as they will now have a full set of pennants to adorn their walls at home when this epic adventure finally comes to an end in July…’chapeau’. For the new crew members, well there is nothing like starting off with a win and hopefully this will be the first of a few more. Congratulations.
The PSP Crew WhatsApp has been pinging away on my phone as all of us crew at home, wherever we are in the world, share our encouragement amongst each other. Now I wouldn’t say I’m keen to keep an eye on what’s happening during these last few hours but…..
And who says men can’t do two things at once……watching the market and one eye on the race….
So after 23 days at sea PSP should finally dock at lunchtime UK time which will be approx 9pm in Sanya which means they’ll still be in time to get some very well deserved celebratory beers. I’m sure there will be plenty of glasses raised today in support of their result. I’ll let you know how the celebrations go later…
Update later on Tuesday 20th February
So I’ve been watching some YouTube videos of the Clipper race and found this excerpt from the Sydney to Hobart race. We had a french lady on our boat doing some filming. For the eagle eyed amongst you I am on this video (very briefly) on 3 occasions. You’ll do well to spot the 3rd one but its towards the end and I only know its me by my blue sunglasses. Hopefully it will give a flavour of our race. I hope you enjoy………..