Another successful but varied race for Qingdao as it crossed the line at03：54：47 UTC （05：54：47 local time）， finishing sixth just shy of its close－fought rivals Liverpool2018 and Visit Seattle．

After another strong start， where it was second to cross the start line back in Punta del Este， Qingdao made the bold decision to take the northerly route aiming for the Scoring Gate． Successfully securing maximum Scoring Gate points for a second consecutive race and adding another three bonus points to its overall total． With the Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint times still to be finalised， it could potentially add more．

IMAGE： Skipper， Chris Kobusch， gives the honour of spraying the Stormhoek Sparkling Wine to Qingdao Ambassador Xiaoyu Luo．

Crossing the line under the shadow of Table Mountain at the break of dawn was a special moment for skipper， Chris Kobusch， who previously lived and worked in Cape Town and said：“It was lovely， it’s so good to be back． It’s a sort of homecoming for me so it’s fantastic to be back in Cape Town．”

But the Stormhoek Race to the Cape of Storms has not been without its difficulties for Qingdao． Chris went on to say：“There have been ups and downs during this leg． We had a really quick start， slowed down in the middle， and then finished quite quick in the end． It was a good race， less wind than anticipated， we thought the Southern Ocean was just going to be super－fast all the way to Cape Town but we hit quite a few wind holes again which was interesting．”

For Al Jay， a roofer from Brighton， who has already sailed over10，000 nautical miles on his Clipper Race adventure on Legs1 and2， said：“It was great， nice quick crossing． Two weeks， couldn’t have been any better．

“Really enjoyed that， as ever， we went a different way to everyone else and came good at the Scoring Gate． However， we came out a bit slack and at the back of the pack． It was really tight last night， we should have pushed harder through the night to be honest and we realised this morning how close it was again． So， sixth this time， something to aim for next time．”

It was a long distance to sail and it was very exciting． I was a little seasick so I didn’t feel good whilst racing but after finishing the race， I feel really good．

We had very peaceful conditions and very tough conditions during the race． So we had a little bit of everything， it was very different．