The Derry entry is on course to lead the Clipper Round the World Yacht race into its home port.
The Derry-Londonderry-Doire holds an 11 mile lead over Garmin and missionperformance who are neck-and-neck in the battle for second place on day two of leg 12 of the round the world challenge – the 3,000-plus mile race from New York to Derry,
Derry skipper Daniel Smith reports despite a few setbacks everything has been good so far.
He said: “Towards the end of the night spinnakers popped up on the other Clipper 70s and we lost a few miles not getting ours up first.
“After light I sat on the rail wondering whether to swap our medium weight spinnaker for the heavyweight.
“I then watched the closest yacht flog theirs and it explode into tatters so we quickly swapped ours over.
“The swaps continued throughout the morning until the wind finally settled this afternoon and remained windy.
“We raced side by side other yachts equally matched until a mistake or a rip would cause their spinnaker to come down. In our local group we held ours for longest finally dropping it when a sheet failed.
“We are now back under white sails reaching towards the ice marks. Top speeds and averages so far have been good.”
The fleet is due to arrive in Derry between July 7 to 11, the third and last time the Clipper Race will visit the city.
Photo shows the Derry Clipper making its way to the leg 12 starting line in New York.
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