2015 Clipper Race is underway

The 12 teams made up of international amateur sailors competing in the Clipper 2015-16 Race  passed under Tower Bridge, London, at the start of the 40,000 nautical mile global race in front of thousands of spectators on the weekend.

Home team GREAT Britain led the fleet under Tower Bridge which lifted twice to salute the crews following the race's Official Opening Ceremony at the international Race Village in St Katharine Docks.

The yachts then made their way down the River Thames in a Parade of Sail, followed by a fleet of spectator boats and RNLI support ribs with tens of thousands of supporters lined along the riverbanks.

A cannon was fired by officials from Benfleet Yacht Club to mark the start of the tenth edition of the Clipper Race and LMAX Exchange, led by the first ever French Skipper Olivier Cardin, was the first yacht over the start line. It was quickly followed by GREAT Britain and Da Nang – Viet Nam on this 5,186 nautical mile journey to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Tomorrow the organisers will be sending out the first daily report from the first day’s racing. These will be sent every day while the fleet is at sea until the twelfth yacht arrives into each Host Port. The daily updates will then begin again the day after the next race starts.

For the first time in the 19-year history of the Clipper race, the group of 12 professionals includes two women skippers, one of whom is Australian.

Sydneysider Wendy Tuck, 50, will skipper Da Nang Viet Nam in the race. Tuck makes history by being the first Australian woman to skipper a crew in the race. The other female skipper is from Canada.

Race founder Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, who recently celebrated his 76st birthday,  said: "This is the first time we’ve had two women skippers in one race and I very much hope they will inspire future female participation. I’m also delighted to see we are broadening our professional appeal as we welcome our first French and first Ukrainian/German skippers," he said, adding: "Our crews come from all over the world so I’m pleased to reflect this in our leadership. I look forward to working with all our skippers over the coming months as they prepare for another thrilling race."

"Our crews are everyday people who are taking on one of the world’s toughest endurance challenges," said Knox-Johnston, who became the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world in 1968-9.

Sir Robin added: "Irrespective of their amateur status, Mother Nature pulls no punches. They’re going to go through the roughest waters in the world. I wish them a safe and an extraordinary journey – the experiences ahead will stay with them for life."

On board Garmin is Ross Ham, a 58-year-old from Brisbane, who is the race’s first double circumnavigator ever having completed the full circumnavigation in the Clipper 2013-14 Race. He said ahead of the start: "I must be a little bit mad to be doing it all again, but I enjoyed the last race so much and the regimented life on board fits me like a glove.

"There are so many joys to be found in the day to day life on board. Every day at sea is beautiful. This really is as good as it gets. I would not rule out a third time around," he added.

The opening leg of the race takes the teams over 5000 nautical miles from the British capital, across the Atlantic Ocean, including the challenging Doldrums, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Following the first stopover in Brazil, the fleet will continue on via Cape Town, Albany Western Australia, Sydney (including the famous Sydney-Hobart Race), the Whitsundays, Da Nang Vietnam, Qingdao China, Seattle, Panama, New York, Derry-Londonderry and Den Helder the Netherlands, before returning to London’s St Katharine Docks for Race Finish on 30 July 2016.

For more information or to follow the race go to: www.clipperroundtheworld.com