Crews prepare for final Clipper Race

'New York's last glimpse of Halifax, Nova Scotia - Clipper 07-08' Clipper Ventures Plc &copy Click Here to view large photo

The Clipper crews are making last preparations today for their final ocean race of Clipper 07-08. They will set off from Sydney, Nova Scotia, tomorrow at 1300 local time (1800 GMT) for the transatlantic race to Cork, Ireland.

The fleet arrived in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, at the easternmost limit of the maritime province of Nova Scotia on Friday evening following the 200-mile race from Halifax. For the last six hours the yachts were buffeted by gale force winds, a reminder of the conditions they may well face during the Atlantic crossing to come.

The prizes for the Democracy 250 Cup, the race from Halifax to Sydney, were presented at Sydney Marine Terminal on Saturday by former Premiers of Nova Scotia, Dr John Hamm and Russell MacLellan, co-chairmen of Democracy 250, the organisation set up to celebrate 250 years since the establishment of Canada's first parliamentary democracy. The province's Tourism Minister, Bill Dooks, raced to Sydney with Nova Scotia whose crew invited him to sail with them during his visit to the yacht in New York.

Addressing the crews and residents of Sydney who had come to see the yachts, Mr MacLellan said, 'Frankly, with those winds I would have wanted a minister with a little more theological training! I was talking to some of the crew yesterday and I asked them how they enjoyed the trip and there was no comment like, 'I was scared senseless,' or, 'I'm never doing this again.' It was one-word answers like 'challenging' or 'interesting'. These are special people and if I had my hat on I'd take it off to you. You are special people to be able to handle those seas because they were really something.'

Third and second places went to Liverpool 08 and westernaustralia2011.com respectively, with the Democracy 250 Trophy going to Hull & Humber.

Collecting the specially commissioned trophy, skipper Danny Watson said, 'We took part in the Democracy 250 Race with real pride. I think the essence of the D250 is encouraging young people of Nova Scotia and Canada to make their mark by freedom of speech and by voting. On Hull & Humber we have an initiative whereby we're taking the Wilberforce Petition around the world. We've had ten young people from around the region doing it. It's to highlight the abolition of slavery 200 years ago and the fact that there are still 27 million people enslaved today. I think taking both of those initiatives into consideration we should be thankful that we have freedom, freedom of speech and freedom to vote.'

On Saturday Clipper Ventures Chairman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston celebrated the 40th anniversary of the day he set off to set the record for the world's first ever solo and non-stop circumnavigation. Sir Robin left Falmouth with his 32-foot Bermudan ketch Suhaili on 14 June 1968 and returned 312 days later on 22 April 1969 to become the first person to sail single handed and non-stop around the world.

Last year Sir Robin completed another solo circumnavigation at the age of 68 in the VELUX 5 OCEANS, this time in his Open 60 SAGA INSURANCE. Earlier this year Sir Robin was awarded the Yachting Journalist Association's prestigious Yachtsman of the Year Award for an unprecedented third time in recognition of his achievements over the past 40 years.

In 1995, Sir Robin founded Clipper Ventures with businessman William Ward in order to give ordinary people the opportunity to sail around the world. The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is now in its sixth edition, with approximately 400 people taking part in each race.

The crew of Nova Scotia and Sir Robin visited the Canadian Coast Guard College in Sydney on Saturday afternoon. The group toured the facilities at the residential centre including an Olympic-sized swimming pool, radar simulation suite and the largest bi-lingual maritime library in Canada.

Also attending the specially arranged tour was Dan Garnett, Jamaica crew member and Royal National Lifeboat Institution volunteer from Devon in the UK, who presented College Principal Madame Susanne Drouin with an RNLI flag. Upon presenting the flag following the tour, Dan said, 'I'm proud to present this to the College on behalf of the RNLI. Like you, we have also lost lifeboat men over the years and I would like to present this in their honour.'

Sir Robin, who delivered a speech to the students, said, 'I'm very aware of how important good training is at sea. Hands-on experience is crucial and it is good to see that you are maintaining high standards here. Please keep up the good work but I hope that I never have to call on your professional services.'

The Clipper 07-08 fleet will set off on Race 13 from Nova Scotia to Cork, Ireland, on Monday 16 June and is due to arrive at the Royal Cork Yacht Club on 30 June.

For more information visit www.clipperroundtheworld.com