Clipper Race confirms Host Ports for its final legs
Host Port destinations that will form the penultimate ‘US Coast-to-Coast’ leg of the Clipper 2019-20 Race along with its momentous ‘Atlantic Homecoming’ Leg have been revealed.
Firm race route favourites, Seattle, New York and Derry-Londonderry, have been announced as Host Port Partners for the upcoming edition of the global sailing event along with Bermuda which is making its debut appearance on the circuit as both a Host Port Partner and a team entry titled GoToBermuda.
From New York, the competition will really start to heat up for the Clipper Race Trophy as the final ‘Atlantic Homecoming’ leg gets underway. Teams will be raring to go for the short 700nm sprint that will take them to the brand new Clipper Race Host Port of Bermuda. A destination made for adventure-seekers, explorers, romantics and originals, Bermuda is the perfect match for thrill-seeking Clipper Race Crew. The island is set to become a favourite for those lucky enough to experience its charm when the race calls into Hamilton, the capital city of the island, at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, in July 2020.
Bermuda Tourism Authority’s (BTA) Team entry, GoToBermuda, will be led by professional skipper David Immelman, from Cape Town. David, 48, is a Clipper Race Skipper with extensive offshore racing experience and has recorded more than 350,000 nautical miles in his log book.
Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland, will welcome the fleet for a final stop before the grand finale. Returning for the fifth consecutive edition makes Derry-Londonderry the most visited European city in the 23 year history of the event and the Clipper Race will once again play a starring role in its Foyle Maritime Festival.
The stopover in July 2020 will herald a decade long partnership between Derry City & Strabane District and the Clipper Race. The relationship has seen the rejuvenation of the waterfront and continued growth of the Foyle Maritime Festival, while also allowing the city to engage positively with both a local and global community.
Regarded as one of the world’s toughest challenges, the Clipper 2019-20 Race, takes almost a year to complete. It is the only event of its kind which trains everyday people to make six ocean crossings, covering six continents, testing them to their absolute limit. Fewer people have sailed around the world than climbed Mount Everest, and with 40 percent of crew having no previous sailing experience before signing up, the achievement is all the more incredible.
There will be ten Seattle residents taking part as crew in the Clipper 2019-20 Race, double that of the previous edition, with three signed up to do the complete 40,000 nautical mile circumnavigation. A further nine will hail from Washington State, two from New York City and 26 are Irish.
Clipper Race Founder and Chairman, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, who this year celebrated 50 years since becoming the first person in history to sail solo and non-stop around the world, says: “With podium positions often undecided right up until the overall finish line, there is often much excitement building in the final two legs of the Clipper Race circumnavigations. I am very pleased to see firm favourites Seattle, New York and Derry-Londonderry return, and very much look forward to welcoming Bermuda to the Clipper Race and exploring this new stopover destination.”
The eleven teams will begin the circumnavigation at St Katharine Docks on 1 September 2019, racing from London, UK, to Portimão, Portugal; across the Atlantic to Punta del Este, Uruguay; the South Atlantic to Cape Town, South Africa; across the Southern Ocean’s Roaring Forties to Fremantle, Western Australia; around to the Whitsundays on the east coast of Australia, back into the Northern Hemisphere to China where teams will race to Qingdao, via Sanya and Zhuhai; across the mighty North Pacific to Seattle, USA; to New York via the famous Panama Canal; to Bermuda and then it’s a final Atlantic crossing to Derry-Londonderry before arriving back to London as fully proven ocean racers.
