CLIPPER 13-14 ROUND THE WORLD YACHT RACE

01.September 2013 - 2014
www.clipperroundtheworld.com - Oceanracing 2013

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02.09.2013
CLIPPER 13-14 ROUND THE WORLD YACHT RACE GETS UNDERWAY

The 12 strong fleet of racing yachts competing in the Clipper 13-14 Race have officially started their 40,000-mile adventure off the English coast this morning.

PSP Logistics and skipper Chris Hollis crossed the line first with Team Garmin and OneDLL closely behind on a running start with the yachts soon flying their new asymmetric spinnakers.
The new generation of Clipper 70s are racing to Brest, France, before sailing onto 2016 Olympic host city Rio in Brazil to complete Leg 1.

There were spectacular scenes yesterday as an estimated 120,000 people lined the banks of the River Thames yesterday to witness a colourful parade by the fleet in front of Tower Bridge ahead of Race Start this morning. After an emotional send off each of the skippers took a moment last night to reflect on the day and what may lay ahead during the next 40,000 miles.

What an enjoyable day and a memory I will always cherish. It was a time to put all the preparations and even race thoughts out of my mind, to live in the moment and soak it all in. On my part there was a complete absence of any nerves or butterflies, only a relaxed calmness that I believe helped the crew who were understandably a bit nervous and excited.

Gareth Glover – Qingdao
The sun is rising and the crew are up early, for Race Start later this morning. Some of the team are drinking coffee looking over the rest of the fleet talking about what lies ahead of them from today.

Start vor englischer Küste nach Brest
Foto: www.clipper-venture.com

Weeks of boat prep, months of training and years of saving and Race Start is only a few hours away for Qingdao. After what must have been the biggest send off in London this year, on the banks of the River Thames were lines of people waving us off and as we made our way out to the race starting area yacht clubs were calling us up on the VHF to wish us and the fleet good luck.

No more talking about the Clipper Race and who is going to win the first leg to Rio de Janeiro, I know for sure that Qingdao are trained and ready to race hard and fast.

We would absolutely not be here today without help from the crew of Qingdao with all their hard work leading up to this point, so a massive thank you must go out to the team who has made this happen.

Matt Mitchell – Mission Performance To follow shortly Vicky Ellis - Switzerland

Tremendous send off today, the crew here are still absorbing the event. Big well done from us to everyone back in the office, the hard work that has been put into this event showed, it looked amazing! Still pinching ourselves that we were a part of it, in the middle of it, it was of a magnitude that we doubt will be repeated in a lifetime!

Thanks to all our supporters onshore and afloat who came to send us off, Swiss flags were being waved from windows, balconies and boats everywhere along the River Thames!

We are now moored safely for the night in Queenborough. The excitement of tomorrow is already starting to build, bring on Race 1 start!
PS It still doesn't seem real! Rich Gould - Invest Africa (IVA)

What a day it's been - exciting, exhilarating and emotional. For everyone on board today this has been a long time coming, and the last week in London has been great but I sure am glad that we are moving now.

The atmosphere in St Katharine Docks was electric, team songs pumping out as boats were manned. Friends, family and loved ones waving and shouting their final goodbyes as we squeezed into the lock 4 boats at a time with inches to spare.

As the lock gate dropped below the surface of the River Thames you could feel the excitement in the air, I felt strangely relaxed amongst the melee of the crowd surrounding us, and for a few seconds I contemplated what lies ahead of our team and our fine steed 'IVA'. 'Springs off please' then 'slip the bow, slip the stern' and we are off, Pushing out into the river the first few feet of our 40,000-mile journey passed under our keel, I simply cannot describe how incredible it felt as we made our way out passing all the spectator boats as we dropped in to line for the parade.

All in formation we ran up and downstream in the river, the whole crew waving and cheering up on the foredeck to the thousands that had turned out to watch us leave, media boats flying around capturing the start of the ninth edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

Now a few hours later after passing the O2 at Greenwich and the Thames Barrier, the spectator boats have peeled away and returned home, the buzz of helicopters has dissipated and we and our competitors are alone on the river. The crew are making some final tweaks to 'IVA' and strange feeling of calm contemplation has descended over us. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, for now we have started the watch system and dinner is being prepared.
I guess the only other thing left to say is...LETS GO GET EM!
Simon Talbot – GREAT Britain

Well, I am sitting here at just gone midnight at the end of what without doubt was one of the most incredible days I have ever experienced. If someone had told me this time last year, that I would be leading a pageant on the river Thames, consisting of a fleet of 12 brand new racing yachts and a myriad of spectator craft with 40,000 plus spectators lining the banks of the river and then getting Tower Bridge to lift for me, not once but twice, so I could lead the pageant through, I would have packed them off to the nearest appropriate institution to have their brains thoroughly examined!

For a London boy like me, this on its own would truly have been a once in a lifetime experience, but to be doing all this with my team, for my country, as skipper of GREAT Britain just pushed the whole day higher, well up into the stratosphere. It was a day so full of superlatives that it is incredibly hard to put all the emotions and experiences that we were all feeling into words, but needless to say it is a day that the whole team will carry with them forever.

The passing of today does however bring us to another truly momentous point, the first race of the first leg of our round the world adventure, which starts in just over nine hours from now. I think it is fair to say, that getting to this point has been a monumental effort by all concerned on board GREAT Britain, but we are here now, ready for battle and thrilled at the prospect of finally getting on with the job we have all been building up for, so now the bravado can be put to one side and the hard work can begin. Game on. Go GREAT Britain.

Damian Parnham - Team Garmin
To follow shortly Chris Hollis – PSP Logistics

What an amazing day. It has to be one of the highlights of my life so far. Ever since I applied for the job, this day was on my mind. I asked myself many questions months ago about how I would feel, how I would react and how my crew would be feeling.

Well, these questions are finally answered. It was truly an amazing day, one I will never forget. My crew were cool under pressure as we slipped our berth into through lock with precision, all with our team song, ‘Right here, Right Now’ blasting away in the background. Some tight timing and slick manoeuvring by al the skips, not forgetting the Clipper Race planning made for a prefect day.

When we had our final brief on board on Saturday night is when it really hit that we were about to set off on the epic journey. The emotion surprised me as I started my address to the crew, and I could barely get a word out. An endearing cheer when let out by my crew... it was a lovely moment.

All the focus has turned to tomorrows start. We are now sitting at anchor, busily making all the final trimming and preparations for tomorrow. There is a great vibe on board, everyone is excited and pumped, and we all can’t wait to get going tomorrow.
We have a tricky race ahead with light, changeable conditions ahead. We are up for the challenge. Let’s go Team PSP Logistics!
Patrick van der Zijden- Old Pulteney

Everyone has gone to bed except the anchor watch, we are rafted next to PSP Logistics at Queenborough Moorings.
Today was D-day (departure day for us) for the Clipper 13-14 Race. It has already been an amazing week, once for the stunning location and also for the challenge to get the boats ready for the start.

It was truly an unforgettable day that flew by like a dream would - one moment I left the hotel where I enjoyed the last night with my partner, the next moment I am standing on stage with my team that will sail with me to Rio de Janeiro and beyond, followed by an amazing large crowd welcoming us to the River Thames and then we were off, leaving the spectator boats behind and slipping into the silence.

Now reflecting on today, I can say this is a great day to start a round the world yacht race. Bring on tomorrow....GAME ON!

Sean McCarter - Derry-Londonderry-Doire

We hope you enjoyed today as much as we did! The support in St Katharine Docks was fantastic, emotional and unforgettable. Thanks to everyone for making it so special.

After leaving Tower Bridge in our wake, the crowds on the river banks and aboard the support boats continued to blow us away. Luckily we have light winds forecast for the first race as the crew are exhausted from five hours of constant waving!

We are presently tied up between two mooring buoys in Queenborough. We plan to slip at 0630 BST tomorrow to allow time for a tune up and some pre-start manoeuvres.

We are going to give this race to France one hundred per cent as its 385NM count for the same amount of race points as the whole Southern Ocean (exc. Ocean sprints/scoring gates). We are under no illusion that the competition, light conditions and strong tides will all combine to make this a very tricky race.

Pete Stirling – Jamaica Get All Right
Sunday 1 September, 2013 is surely a day that none of the Clipper 13-14 Race crew will forget for the rest of their lives. Today was the day that the brand new fleet of 12 Clipper 70 racing yachts departed St Katharine Docks in London to race around the world. The event was planned to perfection with timings down to the second and went off without a hitch. All credit to everyone involved for making the event such a massive success.

The atmosphere in St Katharine Docks was electric with thousands of people lining the dockside and the embankment of the River Thames. It was billed as being one of the biggest events staged on the River Thames in many years and it certainly lived up to every expectation and more. All 22 crew on board our yacht Jamaica Get All Right were overwhelmed with the immense support we received, it certainly feels like we have the biggest fan base of any of the teams!