WYE Valley sailor Eric Froggatt and his crew mates sailed into Seattle in triumph as their boat won the longest leg of the Round the World Clipper Race across the North Pacific, from China to the US.

Victory by nearly a day in 25 days 19 hours was Ha Long Bay, Vietnam's, fourth win in the global race, and saw them leap to second overall after playing their joker and doubling their 11 points.

Eric - a member of Monmouth Rowing Club – is going the whole way round the world in the 40,000 nautical-mile race, with the 11 yachts skippered by a professional, but crewed by amateur sailors.

With stand-in skipper Bob Beggs taking over from Josh Stickland for the leg, Eric’s boat soon zoomed clear to win the most epic ocean crossing of the circumnavigation by nearly 150 miles.

The team also added a further three points after a Scoring Gate win, taking them within five points of Perseverance.

Also making the global trip is Old Monmothian Angus Whitehead, 21, the youngest professional sailor in the race as the first mate on Yacht Club Punta del Este.

After 27 days and nine hours of racing, they finished fifth after a near dead-heat, overall race leader Perseverance pipping them for fourth by just four seconds.

Eric's boat had already won the 4,700nm Cape Town to western Australia Roaring 40s leg, followed by taking the next 2,500nm leg around South Australia to New South Wales.

They tripled up by taking the 600nm Sprint from their 'home port' of Ha Long Bay to Zhuhai in China.

While Eric and his crew mates finished well ahead, followed by Qingdao in 26 days 17 hours, third to 10th remarkably all finished within 42 minutes of each other after a night of intense racing.

The Clipper fleet, which set off from Portsmouth last September, set off again on Saturday (May 4) on the next leg to the Panama Canal.