BRILLIANT day in London yesterday as part of the UNICEF team on Race Start day. The atmosphere was fantastic and I will blog about it just as soon as I sort through the plethora of photos and screen shots, the latter taken by friends who were tuned-in and watching the live stream I advertised in the previous blog (Blog 74: The 2019-2020 Race Line Up and Starting Stats, published 1 September) on both sides of the Atlantic! As someone pithily commented, at least one of the TV cameramen clearly took a shine to Ruth…… more to follow on all that.
I ‘ve written before about ways to follow the race (see Blog 68: It’s Time ….. almost for me but definitely for YOU, published 26 July) and there is MORE………. you can follow on:
Instagram: #clipperRace
or the UNICEF team in particular #thebigblueclipperboat
or even ME #keith.winstanley.1232
Facebook: Clipper Round The World Yacht Race
or UNICEF at Clipper 2019-20 Round the World Yacht Race – Unicef
Twitter: @ClipperRace
@KeithWinstanle1
BUT if you really want to follow the Race you simply have got to try out the official Race Viewer at http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/race/standings. Having followed the Race Viewer myself during the previous edition I have to admit it can be addictive! During the 2017-2018 Race, Race Viewer received in excess of 4.35 million page views globally, from 162 different countries.
Race Viewer allows you to track all 11 yachts at any time you wish during all 40,000 nautical miles of the race. Bespoke to the Clipper Race, the web based Race Viewer has been tried and tested in excess of 120,000 nautical miles of ocean racing allowing Race Crew Supporters and everyone else to track their loved one’s and friends location 24 hours a day, over all 228 days of racing on both desktop and mobile devices.
For race followers interested in the finer tactical detail, a host of tools are available including brand new additions for the 2019-2020 Race. “We’ve developed a range of tools which give greater context to any tactical decisions made by each team. Weather layers can be activated to show current and forecast wind, swell, air pressure and temperature and even an enhanced rewind feature so followers can catch up on any racing action,” explains George Loader, Digital Marketing Officer at the Clipper Race.
Race Viewer 2019-2020 went “live” as the yachts left London yesterday before the Race Start proper off Southend Pier at 10am this morning. If you go to the official website at http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com you can find the Race Viewer on the drop down menu. Positions are updated once an hour but the yachts themselves only receive position updates relative to the other boats twice a day. Not so much bother when yachts are in sight of each other but its an eagerly awaited update in mid-ocean, as I expect to find out next month! !You can zoom in and zoom out on the map and if you hover your mouse/pointer over each coloured boat symbol you can identify the team, their SOG (speed over the ground), COG (Course over the ground) the DTF (distance to the finish of ther current race) and the time the position was last updated. Below the map you will see the Race Clock – currently in the ninth hour of the race – and the second place will list the current race standings including the distance each yacht is currently behind the leader. Accordsing to the 1800 update the yachts are currently off Ramsgate with Ha Long Bay, Vietnam in the lead. It’s a very close run thing though and only 3.38 nautical miles separates 1st from 11th …… but don’t take my word for it…. get on line and check it out!
