“She believed she could, so she did.” – R.S. Grey
It’s hard to believe that it is just over a year since Andrew went overboard from the Derry~Londonderry~Doire in the North Pacific. Andrew has written a book, called ‘179W‘, about his experience in which he details his fight for survival during the hour and forty minutes he was in the water and pays tribute to the training, team and equipment that saved his life.
All proceeds from the book will be split equally between The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and The Newmarket Day Centre.
And they are off! The 12 Clipper 70´s have joined the 2 Clipper 68´s (Including Sir Robin Knox-Johnston onboard CV10, which was the Derry-Londonderry entry in the 11-12 Clipper Race) and the other 80 entries, heading for Hobart.
There are two options for tracking the boats this race, the official Sydney Hobart race tracker showing the positions of all competing yachts and the Clipper race tracker.
If nothing else, your fingers will be getting a workout over the next few days, with both of the race trackers updating every 10 minutes instead of the usual 3 hours!
News | Sydney Hobart Race Start | derry-go-round (the world).
Fleet converging on Cape Town (Derry~Londonderry~Doire due in Saturday evening)
The Derry-go-round arrived in Rio late last night, 5th across the finish line but likely to be a final result of 6th place after redress is given to Henri Lloyd for the time taken to complete their water transfer all the way back in the Doldrums. Congratulations!
News | Arrival in Rio | derry-go-round (the world).
Half of the fleet have now arrived in Rio, but there are still six boats out there racing, so keep an eye on the race tracker over the coming days.
Invest Africa have accepted a twelfth place in the race which will allow them to motor-sail the remaining miles to Rio and allow them to have a few days to rest, recover and get themselves ready for the crossing to Cape Town that starts on Saturday.
Over on the Derry~Londonderry~Doire crew supports site, Jon Shelley-Smith talks about why he is taking part in the Clipper Race. I had the pleasure of doing my Level 2 training with Jon, and will meet up with him and the rest of the crew in Cape Town at the end of this month.
One of the most commonly asked questions of crew members and Skippers alike is “Why?”. Jon tries to explain his motivations and fears as he gets ready to join the crew in Rio in just 7 days! When questioned if sea sickness would be one of the challenges he simply said “ah yes, the joys of seasickness, I am not counting that amongst the challenges l look forward to overcoming.”
Crew Diary | My CV30. “Are you mad?” | derry-go-round (the world).