Hull & Humber has won Race 9 of the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race, crossing the revised finish line at 2022 GMT on Tuesday 6 May. It is the team’s third individual stage victory of the 35,000-mile race.

Skipper Danny Watson says, “It was incredibly close racing from start to finish. Gybing under spinnaker at night with Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper a quarter of a mile away on our beam was pretty exciting stuff! Routing repositioning meant you dropped from first to mid-fleet within a sched. We needed to have belief in our navigation, which ultimately paid off.

Hull & Humber was one of a group of boats which also included New York, Qingdao, Nova Scotia and Uniquely Singapore who have been matching each other move for move in the bid for a podium position and the all-important points to add to their overall tally. For much of the race several of them have been within sight of each other. Qingdao was second across the finish line, followed nine minutes later by New York in third.

The results are provisional until all the skippers have submitted their race declarations for scrutiny by the race committee. If the results remain as they are, Hull & Humber’s victory will take them into overall first position, two and a half points ahead of second placed New York.

Because of the lighter than expected winds that the fleet has been experiencing since leaving California, and the forecast for the coming days, the Race Committee made the decision to shorten Race 9’s course. The finish line is now off the coast of Mexico at ‘Gate Angel’.

Durban 2010 and Beyond are in a wind hole and have managed to cover only 25 miles in the last 12 hours. The Race Committee has offered skipper Ricky Chalmers the option to accept their current position as their final placing on this race in order to allow them to catch up with the rest of the fleet in Panama. The crew voted and has decided to accept tenth place on Race 9. westernaustralia2011.com has fared even worse in the last 12 hours, managing just 12 nautical miles towards the finish. They will now also be offered the same opportunity to accept their current position as their final standing in Race 9.

The rest of the fleet is expected to cross the finish line over the next 36 hours and will then motor sail towards Panama, with the arrival of the first yachts anticipated on 13 May.

POSITIONS AT 1200 GMT 7 MAY 2008:

1. Hull & Humber: Finished at 20:22:25 GMT 6 May
2. Qingdao: Finished at 23:13:15 GMT 6 May
3. New York: Finished 23:22:12 6 May
4. Nova Scotia: Finished 00:25:00 7 May
5. Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper: Finished 02:47:15 7 May
6. Uniquely Singapore: DTF 1175
7. Jamaica: DTF 1218
8. Liverpool 08: DTF 1247
9. westernaustralia2011.com: DTF 1254
10. Durban 2010 and Beyond: Finished 13:00:00 7 May. Accepted tenth place.