Clipper Race: From Seattle to Panama
07/05/2024 02:02
The 2023-24 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is on the move again for the 4200nm leg down the western coast of North America from Seattle, WA to Panama. The 11 teams departed Bell Harbor Marina on May 4 where they had been berthed since their arrival, transiting the Puget Sound to the offshore location for the start on May 5, 2024.
The Seattle stopover saw one of the biggest crew changeovers of the edition, as the circumnavigation progresses into its final quarter. With yachts seeing a turnover of nearly all their leggers, there was a buzz of fresh-faced crew, excited and ready to join the rest of their teammates rejuvenated after an incredible stopover in Washington state.
Following the North Pacific crossing, the conditions the crew will face on the next race will vary greatly as they go from the cold to heat near the Equator.
"The joke is you start the race, hoist up your Code 3, the heaviest spinnaker that you use for the windiest of wind, you sail until you can't fly it anymore," said Washington, DC Skipper Hannah Brewis. "Then you hoist your Code 2, then you hoist your Code 1, which is the lightest spinnaker, once you can't fly that, then you hoist your Windseeker which you use for the really really light winds, then you fly that till you can't and the race ends…"
