Breaking what has been referred to as the ‘home port curse’, skipper Duggie Gillespie and his team have achieved an historic victory by winning into New York at the end of the 1,420-mile race from Jamaica of the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race.
This elusive accolade of a home port win has only been achieved once before in the history of the biennial round the world race, by Canadian entry Victoria Clipper, in Clipper 05-06.
In what has been one of the closest races of the ten-month series, the New York team was able to hold its nerve and clinch victory in a nail biting finish that saw the top six teams finishing within eight nautical miles each other.
Skipper of New York, Duggie Gillespie, said, “I am extremely pleased with our win. The team worked really hard under busy light wind conditions and I am very proud of them all. It is a new experience for me to go to New York and what better way than to lead the fleet into our home port.”
