JAMAICA in the lead at the start of Race 10

The JAMAICA clipper team welcomes you from Port Antonio, Jamaica, where we have moved for the start of Race 10, from Panama to our home port.

We are delighted to announce that at the start of Race 10 which took place at 10:00 this morning local time, 16:00 UK time, JAMAICA was first past the post. The fleet is due to arrive overnight Wednesday / Thursday where JAMAICA will arrive to a hero's welcome.

The small town of Port Antonio is slowly filling up today and the Clipper race team will arrive shortly. Other crew members from JAMAICA as well as the rest of the fleet are arriving through the course of the day.

It will be a short turn around for the fleet as a VIP welcome supper has been arranged by the Jamaica Tourist Board for some 250 people on Thursday night. On Friday, there will be a celebrity chef cooking on board JAMAICA as well as visits from local school children and a film crew from ITV and the BBC.

It means that the new crew will only be able to do their training sail on Saturday morning just before the race start when the boats will muster at mid-day (6pm UK time) for the start of race 11 to New York.

Meanwhile the finely tuned atheletes of the JAMAICA crew who have arrived in Port Antonio have been aclimatising themselves to local conditions. Just as JAMAICA clipper has started race 10, we are delighted to report that the arriving crew and families have been practicing their skills on the River Grande, as this picture shows.

After 3 hours of rafting, the occasional red stripe beer and some swimming training for good measure, the crew met later yesterday evening to enjoy a traditional Jamaican supper at Woody's International Acclaimed restaurant.

Keep watching http://www.jamaicaclipper.com/ for further updates throughout the course of the week