Derry yacht ‘floating trade mission’ for city

Even before the Derry City Council-sponsored yacht won the home leg of the Clipper Round the World race, the council said their £1.8 million (€2.25 million) investment has been well worth the expenditure.

Aeidin McCarter, investment and enterprise officer at Derry City Council, said yesterday the politically correct named yacht, Derry-Londonderry-Doire, has served as a "floating trade mission" for the city.

The crew, with Derry skipper by Sean McCarter, went on to take the 2,800 mile leg from New York to Derry, the 14th stage in the 16 series race.

The win puts the crew in fourth place and in contention to challenge for the third spot on the podium.

They will sail into Londonderry this morning as part of its week-long maritime festival.

Derry City Council hosted the 2012 Clipper festival as a race stopover.

It generated £3.7 million for local businesses, with more than £267,000 alone spent on local accommodation, the council reported.

Singapore

Derry then agreed a two-race £1.8 million sponsorship deal to name and adopt one of the 12-strong Clipper race fleet. The 70ft Derry-Londonderry-Doire set sail last September under the leadership of 31-year-old Derry skipper, Sean McCarter. It has sailed almost 40,000 miles.

Derry City Council's Aeidin McCarter said the council is using the yacht's stopovers around the world to promote Derry as an investment opportunity. The stopover in Singapore in February this year coincided with the first ever joint British-Irish trade mission to the city state.

Ms McCarter said the council’s team took the opportunity to plug into all of the “showcase events” in Singapore with the presence of the yacht bolstering that promotion.