Liverpool 08 take fourth place ahead of Hull & Humber - Media

Liverpool 08 take fourth place ahead of Hull & Humber

18 October 2007

Liverpool 08 crossed the finish line at 15:50 local time (19:50 GMT) to claim fourth place in Race 2 of the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race from La Rochelle to Salvador, Brazil.  By crossing the line ahead of Hull & Humber, Liverpool 08 has put to bed the hard fought battle between the two teams from the North of England.

Hull & Humber crossed the finish line at 01:32 local time (04:32 GMT) to gain a respectable fifth place into Salvador.  Although Hull & Humber have lost out to Liverpool 08 on this occasion, only half a point now separates them on the overall leader board, following Hull & Humber’s win into La Rochelle at the end of Race 1.

Joff Bailey, Race Director: “Liverpool 08 and Hull & Humber have been battling for days and by tactical prowess Liverpool 08 managed to gain the upper hand on Hull & Humber”.

Liverpool 08’s turning point came when they decided to head further east than the rest of the fleet.  Tacking away lost them considerable miles in terms of distance to finish but gave the team from the North West a better angle on the South Easterly trade winds.  This meant that Liverpool 08 stayed further offshore than the rest of the fleet and enabled them to have a faster sailing angle.

Ben Galloway, skipper of Liverpool 08: “It was a gamble, we were in fifth position and we weren’t happy, but we knew that if we played follow the leader that’s where we were going to stay.  So, there was only one option and that was to play the wild card, it was a risk but we were confident that it would pay off and we would overtake Hull & Humber and the battle would end in victory.”

On arrival, Danny Watson, skipper of Hull & Humber, was warmly greeted by Ben: “It’s fantastic to be back here in the state of Bahia,” said Danny.  “It has been a challenging first leg especially through the Canaries and the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone but we’re looking forward to a wonderful stopover and to carry on to the second leg.”

Competition aside seasoned yachtsman Danny Watson was keen to offer support to young skipper Ben Galloway when they were both becalmed amongst the Canary Islands:

“Danny phoned me up when we were stuck in the Canaries and said, “don’t worry it will be alright and you’ll come through.” Then four or five days later there was one boat ahead of me and it felt great to be in good company,” Ben said.

Now that Hull & Humber has arrived in Salvador and a crew changeover is imminent, it is the poignant responsibility of the ONE HULL Tag Team to handover the Wilberforce Petition on the next stage of its journey around the world.  This occasion will be marked by a ceremony whereby the Governor of the State of Bahia, Jaques Wagner, will add his signature to that of many signatories across the globe to show their support of the abolishment of modern day slavery.

Despite their rivalry on the water the two teams will unite on Saturday to support England’s bid to win the Rugby World Cup, especially since the South Africans were victorious into Salvador on Durban 2010 and Beyond.

On 24 October 2007 the fleet will depart from Salvador for Race 3 to Durban where the English boats will once again battle it out for supremacy on the water.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

For media information contact:


Zoe Williamson, Communications Coordinator
Email:
Mobile in Salvador:  +55 71 91185242

Anna Wardley, Head of Communications
Email:
Mobile in Salvador + 55 71 91185193

High-resolution Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race images including aerial shots of the race 2 restart in La Rochelle are available for free media use at:
http://www.w-w-i.com/clipper_0708_race/

For the latest race news, blogs, images and video clips log on to http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com