Qingdao claims third place in clipper race to Sanya

A big crowd cheer Qingdao into the Sanya Serenity Coast Marina at late night on Feb 23. Qingdao crossed the line just off the coast of Sanya’s Serenity Marina at 01:36:52 local time. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Qingdao has claimed its second podium of the Clipper 2017-18 Round the World Yacht Race, after a closely fought finish to Race 7 to Sanya in China.

Qingdao, led by German Skipper Chris Kobusch, was the second team to cross the line just off the coast of Sanya's Serenity Marina at 01:36:52 local time on Feb 23. But as Dare To Lead, which had an hour and 24 minute redress for going to the assistance of a competitor, finished just 19 minutes later, Qingdao was bumped to third place.

"It's obviously disappointing but it's just a part of ocean racing," Qingdao Skipper Chris said, "The third should still keep us in the top two in the overall standings so pretty happy with how the team is sitting after seven races."

The redress wasn't the only setback for Qingdao. Midway through the race, Qingdao looked on track for a maiden win and held first place for six consecutive days. But three days before the end of the race, PSP Logistics overtook, and Chris and his team failed to make up the lost ground.

"It was pretty tough," the skipper said, "We thought we had a good lead on the rest of the fleet, I think the closest boat, PSP Logistics, was 30nm behind when we got stuck in a wind hole and slowly the whole fleet started catching up." "It was good that we held on to a podium position but disappointing not to have been able to make the most of our earlier good position."