News » Archived News 2010

You are here: Home » News » Archived News 2010

Cork sets sail for home in Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race

Clipper June

At 1615 local time (1915 GMT) Cork , Ireland, crossed the start line at Royal Cape Breton Yacht Club, Nova Scotia to begin the 2,075 mile race to Kinsale.  For the first time in the Clipper Race’s history this will be a pursuit race after the original Clipper 68 was lost when Cork hit a submerged reef in the Java Sea last January.

The Challenge 67 that the team is now sailing is slightly shorter and also heavier, so the fleet is racing under IRC handicap rules. For Race 12 that handicap is being applied up front, hence their departure from Cape Breton Island today, rather than with the rest of the fleet on Saturday afternoon.  

Before they slipped their mooring lines, the team was invited to a send-off reception at which Burton MacIntyre, a local step dance teacher who will be coming to the stopover in Kinsale and Cork with the Cape Breton Island delegation, put the crew through their paces. For many of the team arriving in Ireland will mark their return home after almost a year away and a quick brush up on their dancing skills in readiness for a huge party in Kinsale was deemed essential. 

The other nine yachts of the Clipper fleet will leave Cape Breton Island, on Saturday 19 June and they and Cork are due to arrive in Kinsale between 1 and 4 July for an eight day festival there and in Cork City. For more information on the festival programme, visit www.corkclipperfestival.com. 

Back to list