The Clipper yacht race came to the Hunter for the first time when Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam arrived at 3.26am at Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club (NCYC). They completed the 2500-nautical mile race from Fremantle, Western Australia, in 13 days, nine hours and 26 minutes, ahead of Dare To Lead, which arrived almost 12 hours later. It was back-to-back wins for Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam, which was seventh in the 11-yacht regatta before the fifth of 14 races.

The Clipper, the brainchild of the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, was first held in 1996 and offers people from all walks of life the chance to be trained then compete in legs or the entire 40,000-nautical mile circumnavigation race.

Organisers supply 11 identical 70-foot ocean racing yachts, each with a fully qualified skipper and first mate, to guide the crews.

NCYC is hosting the teams, the rest of which are expected to arrive over the coming days, before they embark on the next leg, to Airlie in the Whitsundays, on January 10.

Strickland, an English sailing instructor who skippered Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam to third in his debut in 2019-20, was relieved to get the victory after a testing race which featured winds in excess of 40 knots.

"I'm running on probably a quarter of a tank," Strickland said. "It was a long night but we're very glad to be in.

"It's my first time in Newcastle and I'm looking forward to trying to get a little surf in. I've been told about Merewether Beach. It's apparently the beach to go to.

"For this leg we have 14 crew and they span from all over the globe. From America, Ireland, Scotland, England, Germany, Poland and obviously a few Poms chucked in for good measure.

"It's all new to them. No one has been to Newcastle before but we're told you are a foodie place, so we're looking forward to trying all your restaurants and getting a good, earned rest.

"It was quite a leg and we had only 14 crew, compared to others who had I think 18, so every watch you are two bodies down so they worked ever so hard to cover each other."

The yacht was last then second-last twice through the first three races.

"I don't really know because we haven't really changed much," Strickland said of the turnaround. "Maybe the others are making more mistakes.

"But we put a lot of time and effort into trying to get the crew to a good standard. That does take time, and it did affect our results but hopefully now and onwards it will pay dividends.

"We're not halfway through yet so there's a long way to go. I'm always a bit pessimistic rather than being optimistic because it's a hard fall from grace, so we'll get out heads down, get rested, get reset and get some maintenance done."

Strickland said he had never raced before doing the Clipper. He was over the moon to get third on debut and to get another chance.

"I'm a sailing instructor by trade, so I just teach people how to sail a boat and get it in and out of the dock," he said.

"But I feel when you are teaching someone to sail, you are teaching them to sail the boat to the best of its ability and that's kind of just racing really.

"The most exciting and interesting part is getting a crew, watching them grow and learn, and I'm hoping by leg five they will be quite self-sufficient and they'll be able to sail, trim and race that boat with minimal input.

"That means I've done my job as an instructor and skipper."

Representatives from the NCYC greeted the crew with cold beer, meat pies and a champagne spray.