Singapore take third place in second stage of Clipper 11-12

Singapore overcomes steering issues to secure third place in second stage of Clipper 11-12 © onEdition

Singapore overcomes steering issues to secure third place in second stage of Clipper 11-12 © onEdition

Singapore overcomes steering issues to secure third place in second stage of Clipper 11-12 © onEdition

The yacht representing Singapore in the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race has taken third place in Race 2 of the 40,000-mile, year-long contest. At the end of the race from Madeira to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the team crossed the finish line in the shadow of Sugar Loaf Mountain today at 0320 local time (0620 UTC) after a herculean effort to overcome steering issues and maintain their top three position during the first transatlantic race of the competition. The result puts them second in the overall race standings.

The Keppel Corporation-sponsored Singapore yacht had been in the lead and taken the maximum three bonus points at the Scoring Gate when their primary steering gear broke and they had to resort to the secondary system. Fearing their race was over, the team set about finding a fix and within hours had fashioned a repair that enabled them to resume their race speeds and keep up the pressure across the remaining 2,500 miles of the 3,800-mile race.

Paying tribute to his exhausted crew as they arrived in Rio de Janeiro, skipper Ben Bowley, 26, said, “I think we had a really strong team spirit beforehand but the way the crew really pulled together and dealt with the situation immediately afterwards and the real Can Do! attitude that they came up with just astounded me and it's really gone a long way to galvanise what was already a strong team spirit.”

The Southampton-based yachtsman says it has also brought out a latent competitive spirit among the Singapore crew. He explains, “This has very much strengthened our will to win. We have a crew contract on board outlining what our aspirations are and the top aspiration on there is to ensure we are always finishing in the top half of the fleet. We want to aim to finish the race overall in the top half of the fleet and we wanted to win at least one Leg. It's getting to the stage now where if we don't finish the campaign towards the podium, there's quite a large majority of the team that will be a little bit disappointed – happy with the experience in general, but we're certainly setting our sights a little bit higher.”

In a highly tactical contest between the teams racing the ten 68-foot yachts, the crew of Singapore kept up the pressure on eventual victors, Gold Coast Australia. The pivotal moment in their first transatlantic race was the decision of both Singapore and Gold Coast Australia to take a route directly through the middle of the Cape Verde Islands, off the coast of Africa, utilising the funnel-like effect of the islands on the wind to catapult them through the centre of the archipelago and out the other side into a position of strength.

Daryl Tai, 30, is an engineer and one of three Keppel employees taking part in Leg 1 of the race as part of the company's staff development initiatives. He said, “It was very exciting to race into Rio – and very surprising. I woke up at 5.30 yesterday morning as usual for my watch and discovered that it was light winds and we were only going at 1.5 knots. It was very upsetting, particularly when a turtle overtook us! The turtle was actually faster than us! We were trimming the boat for a while and got the boat moving, handed over to another watch and by the time we came back on watch we had about 40 knots of wind and there was water splashing all over. It was fun – we had an action packed day for our last day going into Rio.

“The experience has taught me to look at things from other perspectives, to never give up and to have trust in your fellow team mates. Our team really did a wonderful job and really embodied the Keppel Can-Do! spirit.”

Clipper 11-12 is "raced by people like you", people from all walks of life who put their everyday lives on hold to sign up to the challenge of a lifetime. More than 40 per cent of them have never sailed before they begin their rigorous pre-race training, between them they have more than 250 professions and more than 40 nationalities are represented by those taking part in the world's longest yacht race.

Against the backdrop of the iconic landmark of Corcovado, topped by the imposing statue of Christ the Redeemer, 19-year-old student from Singapore, Sherlyn Chen, said, “I've really enjoyed the experience. For me crossing the Equator was a really good experience because even though I live really close to the Equator I've never done that on a boat before.” Their third place finish, in addition to their three Scoring Gate points, means Singapore will move up the race leader board to second place overall once all ten teams have arrived in Rio de Janeiro and the results are confirmed by the Race Committee.

Ms Wang Look Fung, Director, Group Corporate Affairs, Keppel Corporation Limited, sent a message of congratulations to the crew, saying, “On the very first leg, our Singapore yacht has flown our flag high with the crew displaying courage, tenacity, teamwork and a strong Can-Do! spirit in meeting all the challenges out at sea. We extend our heartiest congratulations on a well-earned podium win and look forward to more good news. Keppelites from across the globe, together with Singaporeans, are tracking the progress of our little red boat and cheering our crew on.”

Gold Coast Australia has consolidated their overall lead in the race, having scored two wins in the first two stages and two bonus points: one at the Scoring Gate and one for the Ocean Sprint. There are fifteen races in total in Clipper 11-12 with a Formula 1-style scoring system. The yellow, red and blue pennants for first second and third places in each of the races are highly prized by the people taking part and the teams proudly fly the pennants in each of the ports of call. New York is expected to arrive later today, with the remainder of the ten internationally- sponsored teams due in Marina da Gloria by 5 September. The crews will spend time deep cleaning and preparing the yachts for the next race, across the South Atlantic to South Africa, as well as enjoying some well-earned downtime exploring the delights of the Brazilian city, including Sugar Loaf Mountain, Copacobana and Ipanema beaches and the cauldron of the MaracanÞa Stadium where the people of Rio indulge their passion for Brazil's national game, football.