Caribbean – New York - Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia - Cork – the Humber, UK
On the classic race route back across the Atlantic there is potential for some very fast sailing
The last Leg and the longest, with several sprints and the final transatlantic race.
Leaving the Caribbean for New York the steady trade winds will give way to variable winds produced by the depressions coming off the North American continent and you and your fellow crew will have to stay on your toes, performing many sail changes to keep the boat moving as fast as possible. The Gulf Stream current, which can reach more than three knots, will also affect your speed, particularly when it mixes with the cold water of the Labrador Current to produce fog banks and unpredictable, eerie calms.
Leaving Sydney, Cape Breton Island, for the classic race back across the Atlantic there is potential for some very fast sailing, although the weather has been known to confound the most experienced of ocean racers and produce a long, slow crawl home.
If you can clear Newfoundland without going too far north you will sail over the Flemish Cap, made famous in the book and film, The Perfect Storm.
After a stopover in Cork, where the craic will be great, the fleet will be racing towards the finish line in the Humber and the hero's welcome that awaits you there. The yachts contesting the Clipper Race are identical and that makes for some seriously close racing. After a 4,000-mile race they can be separated by just hours – in one case, during Clipper 07-08, by just 45 seconds. The final race home is very often the decider. It's not over until it's over.