Cape Town Creates a Diverse and Busy Stopover for Clipper Race Sponsors – Sir Robin Knox-Johnston

The second leg of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race created fast and competitive racing across the South Atlantic with another close finish in picture postcard conditions in front of the iconic table mountain with a light topping of cloud providing a text book table cloth covering.

The GREAT Britain yacht took first place and was joined on the podium by Henri Lloyd and Invest Africa, arriving within three hours of each other after 3,400 nautical miles of racing.

The fleet was berthed in the V&A Waterfront with the backdrop of Table Mountain which made a perfect base for one of the busiest stopovers to date. It comprised over 20 guest sails, numerous receptions on yachts, VIP and celebrity marquee events, local hospitality and visits by a Deputy Mayor, two Consul Generals, a High Commissioner and an Ambassador.

This high level of activation together with hundreds of thirsty and hungry crew, friends, family and fans, and an attractive exchange rate, stimulated a significant spend in the local economy.

Northern Irish entry Derry~Londonderry~Doire is building on its return to the race for two more editions following a highly successful debut campaign in 2011-12. They are focussed on tourism, trade, technology and building a powerful legacy for their UK City of Culture status this year.

Deputy Mayor, Alderman Garry Middleton of Derry City Council, led the delegation and told me how the city aims to strengthen its international connections in South Africa and invited media, business and tourism representatives to a special reception to mark the arrival of their yacht.

He explained that as the inaugural UK City of Culture 2013 the city has a transformation agenda that has already activated more than £100 million into the local economy. Building on this success, they are looking for new ideas and initiatives with international partners.

Their multi-edition strategy with the Clipper Race has enabled them to build on their last visit to South Africa in 2011 to develop their relationship with a number of agencies and organisations even further. They have a new story to tell and clearly demonstrated that Derry~Londonderry is open for business and wishes to grow its international connections with digital, education, tourism and media interests.

They aim to capitalise on their changing reputation with a firm focus on the city’s economic future. On the visitor economy the Irish Ambassador Brendan McMahon attended to endorse their partnership with Tourism Ireland, to attract even more visitors through South African travel businesses.

However, Alderman Middleton also reminded me of the huge impact the Clipper Race had in its visit to Derry~Londonderry in 2012, with a festival attracting over 100,000 people creating an economic impact of £3.4 million. And their plans for our return next June sound even bigger and better.

In Cape Town I was impressed by the large number of sponsors who took full advantage of the opportunities the Clipper Race creates to activate creatively and effectively, especially Invest Africa and their Team Partners, from Rickety Bridge Winery to the inspiring Sapinda Rainbow project which has worked with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (NMCF) to develop young South Africans through their participation in the race.

In addition the young Sapinda Rainbow crew are raising the profile and funds for the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital Trust. NMCF representative Ncazelo Mlilo came to Cape Town to congratulate them on their achievements and told me how our project is helping them achieve a dream and a challenge that their founder Nelson Mandela gave to the NMCF to build a hospital that is much needed for the care and support of their children.

It’s rewarding to see how the Clipper Race is providing an international platform for such a diverse range of initiatives; so many that I cannot fit everything into this short report. Some of the other activities ranged from a visit with the Springbok Rugby Sevens team to cooking traditional food in a local township.

But I cannot close without congratulating The British High Commission in South Africa for creating some excellent business and media networking opportunities hosted by the new British High Commissioner Judith Macgregor and British Consul General to Cape Town Chris Trott, as part of our participation in the GREAT Britain campaign.

Leg 3 of the race is now heading into the Southern Ocean and the Roaring Forties – next stop ‘Amazing’ Albany in Western Australia.

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It is 45 years since Sir Robin Knox-Johnston set off on his record breaking solo, non-stop circumnavigation in 1968-69. In 1995, he established the Clipper Race, to give everyone, regardless of sailing experience, the opportunity to discover the exhilaration of ocean racing.

Now the world’s longest ocean race, 670 amateur sailors representing more than 40 nations will compete in the Clipper 2013-14 Race. They set sail from London on September 1 and will travel 40,000 miles on twelve Clipper 70’s in 15 races across all six continents, not returning to London till July 2014.

Youcan follow the Clipper 2013-14 Race at www.clipperroundtheworld.com and on Twitter via @ClipperRace. Follow Sir Robin on Twitter @SirRKJ.

Sir Robin’s 

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