Clipper Round the World Race Update

Published 16:19 on 22 Jul 2026

The Race into Oban from Washington DC was hard fought.  Team Great Ormond Street Hospital won - they are now the overall series winners and cannot be beaten.  However they got into Oban just before the onset of a wind hole on the approach to Oban off the coast of Mull.  Teams Tong Yeong  and Unicef stopped dead in the middle of the channel with about 10 nm to go to the finish. Team Qingdao ( with Michael Olliff) had managed to get some 30 nm ahead of Punta as they rounded Rockall in thick fog.  They saw the second and third place boats stationary and opted to go north.  they were storming towards the stopped boats and there was a chance of passing them and coming in second until they too hit the wind hole and stopped.  Punta ( with Simon Fraser) rounded Rockall and saw what was happening and tried going south - it worked! They kept going - slowly . Tong Yeong took second, Unicef third then Punta overtook Qingdao to take fourth and fifth place.  The RC Yachts claimed the victory in the CYC battle, RC Dinghies proclaiming it was pure luck and using bad words to describe the light winds.

On Sunday the fleet left Oban heading for Portsmouth and are due into Gun Wharf on Saturday 25th July.  Race start was in beautiful sunshine off the beach at Dunstaffenage in a decent breeze.  Punta had an excellent start, Qingdao a bad one, however the fleet sailed straight into a wind hole pretty  much in the same place as on the way into Oban and Qingdao caught up and sailed straight passed into first place.  Racing is currently very close off the Fastnet Rock and with light winds forecast in the channel anything could happen!  Watch the action on the tracker here https://clipperroundtheworld.geovoile.com/2025/tracker/ on facebook live as the boats enter Portsmouth between 13.00 and 15.00 on Saturday.