The Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam team has been crowned Champion of the Clipper 2023-24 Race, after an incredible performance on the global circumnavigation. This is the second time that the Vietnamese team has entered the Clipper Race. In the 2019-20 edition of the global yacht race, the team placed third overall, and this year has built on the success and taken the win overall.
The Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam team has been crowned Champion of the Clipper 2023-24 Race, after an incredible performance on the global circumnavigation. This is the second time that the Vietnamese team has entered the Clipper Race. In the 2019-20 edition of the global yacht race, the team placed third overall, and this year has built on the success and taken the win overall.
With over 40,000nm of racing, six ocean crossings, fourteen races and eleven months away on the ocean racetrack, the winner of the Clipper 2023-24 Round the World Yacht Race is Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam! In one of the closest ever Clipper Race editions finishes, it was a fierce fight between three teams for the podium spots on Race 14, which came right down to the wire.
Going into Race 14, just three points separated Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam and second-placed Perseverance, with third placed Zhuhai just four points behind Perseverance, making for an extremely tense final race of the edition. For Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam to consolidate its win, the team could not afford to finish more than three places behind Perseverance.
In the closest finish ever in race history, Bob Beggs and his crew on board Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam took victory. When news was shared with the teams this afternoon that the race would be shortened and finish tonight at 18:00 UTC, Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam was in eighth place and Perseverance was third, meaning an overall win was in sight for Perseverance.
However, in a nail-biting effort by the crew on Bob Beggs’ team back into fifth place over the course of the afternoon, reducing the difference in positions on the Race 14 leaderboard down to two places, enough to secure the overall win of the 2023-2024 race by one single point overall, clinch the trophy and become CHAMPIONS.
Bob said: “Emotions have been running high all day on the anticipation of receiving news of our podium position on arrival in Gunwharf Quays. I’m indebted to the whole team including our First Mate, Cameron McCracken.”
First Mate Cameron added: “I can’t quite believe what we’ve done today. To win this race with this unbelievable team is not something I thought would happen earlier in the race. The crew of Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam has showed time and time again that it’s not over ’til it’s over and are incredibly gutsy in their collective character. They’ve shown that today and they deserve this win more than I. Finally, I want to congratulate Perseverance and Zhuhai for their excellent podium achievements as well and thank them for making it so incredibly nerve wracking!”
” Clipper Race Director Mark Light congratulated the team on its win: “Huge congratulations to Bob, Cam and the entire Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam team for an absolutely brilliant and epic achievement to become Champions of the Clipper 2023-24 Round the World Yacht Race!
“It was so, so close at the end and the racing throughout the whole circumnavigation has been gripping us all the way. Very well done to all the teams and crew who have achieved something utterly fantastic and special. You will have memories for life should all be really proud of yourselves.”
For Bobb Beggs, this is his second Clipper Race win, after he led his Bristol team to victory in the Clipper 2000 Race. This was also the last time the Clipper Race finished in Portsmouth prior to the current edition.
The Clipper Race fleet including the Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam team visited the city of Ha Long Bay in February 2024 as part of the event’s global route. This was the first time the race had visited the city and the second time that the Clipper Race has partnered with Quang Ninh Province with a team entry representing the UNESCO World Heritage site the region is famed for.
The overall Clipper 2023-24 Race standings are:
1st Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam 138 points
2nd Perseverance 137 points
3rd Zhuhai 134 points
4th UNICEF 116 points
5th Dare To Lead 107 points
6th Qingdao 102 points
7th Our Isles and Oceans 98 points
8th Yacht Club Punta del Este 90 points
9th PSP Logistics 73 points
10th Washington DC 53 points
11th Bekezela 41 points
The Grand Finale is to be held in Portsmouth tomorrow (27 July) where the teams’ achievements will be celebrated out on the water with a Parade of Sail and a homecoming heroes’ welcome for the intrepid crew.
Quang Ninh Tourism Information Promotion Center