This will be short and to the point (for once) as it’s too darn hot to spend much time at the computer. If you are keen you’ll probably have the results tattooed on your arm already but for the record here they are.
The first three boats in were not necessarily the three on the podium as Punta del Este, Visit Sanya China and Unicef were exactly 48 hours after the other eight boats, racing on elapsed time. We had to wait for all to go through the Scoring Gate and the Ocean Sprint before we knew those results. In fact, the Ocean Sprint results were not announced until the prize giving. This was a bit of a subdued affair again, as Dare To Lead only just arrived in time, and four other boats were still sailing or motoring in: Zhuhai, Unicef, Punta and Sanya. If you were watching the Race Viewer you’ll have seen that three of these (Zhuhai, Punta and Sanya) went close to the shore, hoping to catch favourable conditions. Unfortunately for them this was not to be and they all were becalmed, to the extent that both Punta and Sanya opted to stop racing and motor in, accepting tenth and eleventh place respectively.
If you had been studying Race Viewer you’ll also have seen Qingdao heading inland before suddenly veering off towards New Zealand to avoid being stuck. This cost them places but did mean they were not truly becalmed. For the first time in this Race, they were not on the podium. The good news was that there was still a Dawson there (sort of) as Unicef were belatedly awarded third place the day after the prize giving when they sailed in, almost the last to arrive (Visit Sanya were about half an hour after them). Once again, the first person to be interviewed from the boat was JD (see below!). They interviewed George as well but I didn’t manage to get a photo of him.
With all the boats now accounted for, the results for race 5 are: Scoring Gate Punta three points, Sanya two and Zhuhai one. Ocean Sprint Sanya three points, Unicef two and Korea one. The race saw Ha Long Bay take 11 points in first place, Imagine Your Korea ten points in second place, Unicef third on elapsed time with nine points, GoToBermuda eight points, Seattle seven points, Qingdao six points, WTC Logistics five points, Dare To Lead four points, Zhuhai three points, Punta del Este two points and Visit Sanya China one point.
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For the end of Leg 4, the full results (reflecting one penalty point for repairs to Qingdao and two to Seattle) are: Qingdao still in the lead with 67 points, closely followed by Ha Long Bay with 62, Punta with 41, Sanya with 38, only one point behind is Unicef, still fifth with 37, Korea sixth with 34, Dare To Lead seventh with 29, GoToBermuda eighth with 27, WTC and Zhuhai joint ninth with 25 points each, and Seattle bringing up the rear with 22 points. Only the top three have used their Jokers and there are still ten races to come so nothing is certain.
George and John's boating trip no longer 