First Two Clippers Reach Santa Cruz

The first two Clipper Round The World racers reached Santa Cruz this morning. Uniquely Singapore squeaked past Nova Scotia, finishing at 5:16 a.m. with the latter finishing at 5:51 a.m. despite leading when they both reached a parking lot off Santa Cruz overnight. They’d been locked in a tight, two-boat battle since Hawaii having sailed a more northerly course than the rest of the fleet and breaking free from the pack.

"It seemed like a lot of the crew had settled for second place at the end until we started to see the lights of Nova Scotia on the final approach," said Uniquely Singapore skipper Mark Preedy. "So we kept going as we knew we had a good chance of getting closer. We were the northerly boat so we had an advantage and when the wind died it was a bit of a free-for-all. . . the wind came the right way for us, and we took them just before the line."

The Clipper Race will be exhibiting at Strictly Sail Pacific today and this coming weekend. Representatives will be on hand to explain how prospective crew members can get onboard. To learn how you can become a crewmember in the next edition of the Clipper Round the World Race, contact David Cusworth.