The fleet of the 2011-12 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race called in at the Singapore port on Saturday for the official award presentation ceremony of Race 7.

The yacht Gold Coast Australia won the 4,600-mile (7,360-kilometer) Race 7 from Australia to Singapore, which is the first part of the 5th leg of the trip around the globe. It was 79 minutes ahead of runner-up Derry-Londonderry.

Geraldton Western Australia finished the race by arriving in Batam on Monday in third position, followed by Qingdao and Singapore in the fourth and fifth places, respectively.

The Singapore yacht, sponsored by the world's largest rig builder Keppel Corporation, sailed into the Keppel Bay on Saturday morning to the applause of Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and a large crowd.

Organizers said the race across the South Pacific has proved challenging for the whole fleet and the yachts motor-sailed in company for the last week due to lack of winds and increased piracy risks. The race committee decided to finish the race earlier than originally planned.

It was a disappointing result for the Finnish boat Visit Finland, which finished in the eighth place out of ten. The team had appeared on the podium four times in the previous six races.

"We decided to go for a more direct route to the other teams, which unfortunately didn't work in our favour. But we are looking forward to a spectacular welcome ceremony in Singapore, which I'm sure will be a big morale booster," said skipper Olly Osborne.

Ian Conchie, the British skipper of the boat Qingdao, said his team had the speed needed to overtake Geraldton Western Australia but unfortunately the time was running short.

"A bit of more time, we could have been the third. We had the boat speed, we just need the bit of time that we did not have," he said.

Conchie said his team has got "every incentive" to do their best as the boat set sail on Feb. 4 towards its home port of Qingdao on the next race.

"We've got the speed in the boat. We are just gonna work hard as a team, bring it all together, and try and pull it to Qingdao," he said.

Over the last leg, the team on Qingdao celebrated many of the festivals in Eastern and Western traditions. The weather was tough on Christmas, which was the first on the sea for most of the sailors, so the celebration was postponed for about two days, Conchie said.

Brett Qu Zhiguo, a Chinese sailor on the team, helped arranged the Chinese New Year celebrations in the traditional manner.

"Brett even cooked us the amazing dumplings. The fourth position, believe me, is not a small achievement, and we celebrate it as close as possible to the proper Chinese Way," Conchie said.

Qu, who were selected from among many applicants and sailed in the marathon race for the first time, said he was excited to experience the unusual weather conditions such as the terrifying storms and the fascinating rainbow in the night with the moon in the sky.

He said he was hoping for a good result on the next race from Singapore to Qingdao, too.

"We will be expecting tailwinds most of the time. So the speed is going to be fast. It is going to be challenging," he said.

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is known for the world's longest route at about 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometers), with 15 races on 8 legs. The fleet sailed from Southampton in the United Kingdom in late July last year and is expected to return to Britain in July this year.

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