WINCHESTER’S Ben Bowley has led his Singapore team to its first win of the Clipper 2011/12 Round the World Yacht Race.

Bowley and his crew won the penultimate leg in the Netherlands yesterday.

At 27, he is the youngest skipper in the Clipper Race.

“It feels absolutely fantastic on Singapore today, we’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” he enthused.

“Everyone’s been awake for the last 36 hours or so, it’s been a hard race and very challenging. It was neck and neck all the way through, right down to the wire.

“The atmosphere when we crossed the finish line was electric, I’ve never seen the crew get so excited before.

“We had an honest jubilation; there were tears and laughter.”

Singapore crossed the finish line just over half an hour ahead of Visit Finland and Gold Coast Australia respectively.

Bowley’s Singapore team is now in serious contention to finish third overall in the eighth edition of the 40,000-mile Clipper Race, but is up against stiff competition from Dutch entry De Lage Landen.# The two yachts are neck and neck on points, so the final sprint to the race finish back in Southampton on July 22 will clinch which team is on the podium.

The Clipper Race fleet will leave Den Helder in the Netherlands next Thursday, arriving in Southampton three days later after 51 weeks of ocean racing, visiting 15 ports of call on six continents.

This will complete the world’s longest ocean race, seeing around 500 people from all walks of life celebrating their remarkable achievement after nearly 12 months at sea.