THE CREW of Cork had the honour of leading the Clipper 09-10 fleet into her home port of Kinsale on Sunday night with festivities surrounding the round-the-world race set to continue for the rest of the week.
A large flotilla of boats escorted Cork into Kinsale as the team arrived home at the end of Race 12. Kinsale yacht club will host the crews in the race until July 7th.
Hannah Jenner, the skipper of Cork, said they did everything in their power to arrive in first over the line. “I don’t think anybody out of the skippers or crew in Cape Breton would have believed that we were going to have held them off.”
Michael Lewis was given the helm as the team crossed the finish line. “It was fantastic – it was one of the toughest races we’ve done – physically and mentally,” he said. “We really pushed the boat the entire way. It was fantastic fun and it’s great to be in here. What a welcome.”
A flotilla of about 40 boats greeted Cork as she rounded the headland while some 2,500 people lined the banks of the harbour to watch the team arrive home.
The Irish entry has experienced difficulties over the last few months. In the early hours of January 14th, the yacht struck a submerged reef in the Java Sea and had to be subsequently abandoned. On the advice of marine surveyor and salvage experts, she was deemed unrecoverable. However, after Clipper sourced a replacement yacht, Cork rejoined the fleet in Panama at Race 9 start.
The Clipper 09-10 race started on September 13th, 2009, from the Humber river on the UK’s east coast and will return there in July after 35,000 miles of ocean racing. No previous sailing experience is required to take part as full training is provided. Crew can sign up for the whole circumnavigation or one or more legs.
Kinsale is planning a major party to toast the arrival of the final leg. The Clipper Stopover Carnival gets under way this Friday and runs until Sunday. One of the centrepieces of the carnival weekend will be the artisan food market on Long Quay.
On July 7th the fleet will make its way in a parade of sail to Cork city. To celebrate the Cork Clipper’s homecoming in style, Albert Quay, beside the Custom House, will be transformed into a race village for three days from 10am to 10pm daily with food, drinks and crafts stalls.
For more details on the exhibition or the Clipper race visit kinsaleartsweek.com or corkclipperfestival.com