The crew of the Derry Clipper celebrate winning the race from New York.
Derry is all set to party today as the city’s welcomes home the “LegenDerry” crew of the Derry “LondonDerry” Doire following their historic victory yesterday in Race 14 of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.
The Derry entry became the first boat in six years to win a race into its home port when it finished ahead of Team Garmin at the end of the 2,850 mile race from New York at lunchtime.
The Derry Clipper is the first boat to win a race into its home port since New York achieved the feat back in June 2008.
The nine-day LegenDerry Maritime Festival, which has already attracted tens of thousands of visitors to the city in its first two days, is all set to welcome skipper Sean McCarter and his victorious crew who are due to sail into the Foyle Marina at 11.00am this morning.
Mayor of Derry, Cllr Brenda Stevenson, was one of the first to congratulate the Derry crew.
Mayor Brenda Stevenson celebrates the Derry Clipper’s victory at the Legenderry Maritime Festival.
She said: “It is a fantastic achievement for everyone involved and we are extremely proud of Sean McCarter and his team and are looking forward to seeing them arrive into their home port.
“I would encourage as many people as possible to come out onto the quay and support the team and give them a warm legenderry welcome.”
The win sees the Derry Clipper move into fourth place on 12 points, just five behind OneDLL on the overall leaderboard.
The victory also means the Derry team are now in serious contention for an overall podium place in the race, as just two races remain in the 16 race series.
The rest of the fleet is due to arrive at Foyle Marina throughout the day with the exception of exception of Mission Performance which is expected to arrive at 8.00am tomorrow.
For those eager to get a taste of life at sea on board a Clipper 70 racing yacht, open boat tours will be running from Wednesday to Friday between 2.00pm and 7.00pm.
The 12-strong fleet will be berthed at Foyle Marina until Sunday next when they will set off to start the next race from Greencastle in Inishowen.
The world famous Red Arrows will provide a spectacular aerial display along the coastline ahead of the Race 15 start to Den Helder in the Netherlands for the OneDLL Cup.
Estimated arrival times at Foyle Marina are:
Derry “LondonDerry”Doire – today, 11.00am
Team Garmin – today, 12.00 noon
Old Pulteney – today, 12.30pm
PSP Logistics – today, 1.00pm
GREAT Britain – today, 1.30pm
Jamaica Get All Right – today, 2.00pm
Henri Lloyd – today, 2.30pm
One DLL – today, 3.00pm
Switzerland – today, 9.00pm
Qingdao – today, 9.30pm
Invest Africa – today, 10.00pm
Mission Performance – tomorrow, 8.00am
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