The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race Diary, Part 2 – Sir Robin Knox-Johnston

Leg 1 of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has linked Olympic hosts London and Rio de Janeiro in a unique range of sport, community and business initiatives. The twelve matched 70-foot ocean racers, sponsored by a wide range of destinations and brands, competed on a 5000 mile race track which challenged 250 amateur crew with a diverse range of weather conditions.

After a spectacular departure from St Katharine Docks next to Tower Bridge and a closely fought start in bright sunshine and fresh conditions relayed live to a global audience, the fleet headed south. After a pit stop in Brest, the crew focused on their Leg 1 final destination: Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil is the leading South American economy and is very attractive to businesses looking for growth in emerging global markets such as the BRIC countries. Our partners from the GREAT Britain campaign, led by the Prime Minister’s office, also capitalised on the opportunities our visit to Rio de Janeiro created.

A reception overlooking the fleet, including guided tours of the GREAT Britain yacht, attracted a high calibre guest list interested in sourcing marine equipment, services and expertise from British companies.

Our sponsorship team presented a large framed signed photograph of the GREAT Britain boat leaving Tower Bridge to the Mayor of Rio. It was also signed by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and signified the Olympic links between the two cities which was highlighted in a novel sports education project with the Rio 2016 Organising Committee.

Former England Rugby Sevens captain Ollie Phillips is racing around the world aboard the GREAT Britain boat and helped to introduce young Rio school children to the game in a coaching session on the beach next to the marina. This was organised with Rio Rugby and Rio 2016 as Rugby Sevens will be one of the new sports in the 2016 Olympics.

Community engagement is another powerful dimension of the Clipper Race and enables our partners to not only align themselves with social initiatives but also to actively engage and support them, or develop their own.

The Invest Africa entry is hosting young South Africans selected through the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund in an initiative supported by the Sapinda Group. In Rio members of the Sapinda Rainbow crew met with youngsters participating in a project which trains local children in sailing, design, construction and maintenance.

Organised by former Brazilian Olympic medallists, brothers Torben and Lars Grael, they have been inspired by the Sapinda Rainbow project and are exploring the possibilities of doing something similar in the next Clipper Race.

OneDLL’s partner De Lage Landen organised a series of regattas for staff and customers from across South America alongside shore-based events. The aim is to bond employees from around the world as one team, as ‘One DLL’ and to enable customers to share in this experience in global ports of call. The power of the Clipper Race to build both internal teams and external relations has worked extremely well for DLL which has brought them back to build on the successes of their debut in the 2011-12 edition of the race.

Our initiatives in Rio, especially with the Olympic Organising Committee Education Program, have attracted global media interest with reports appearing around the world in Australia, Asia-Pacific, Africa, Europe and North and South America.

Attention turns to the South Atlantic now, after a spectacular start to Race 3 from Rio in front of Sugarloaf Mountain and close inshore across the iconic Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. By the end of October the fleet will be in Cape Town in the V&A Waterfront where sponsors are planning even more activation including trade, cultural and sports events.

The Sapinda Rainbow project will host 30 young people from across the country through the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, take them sailing and potentially introduce them to Rugby Sevens.

I’m constantly impressed by the extremely creative ways our business and port partners use the race as a platform for global promotion and engagement – it’s so diverse and versatile.

I look forward to being in Cape Town and reporting on the progress of our partners and crew.

Fair winds,

Robin

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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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