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lipper 05-06, the world's longest circumnavigation race, sets sail from the Albert Dock in Liverpool (UK) on Sunday, 18 September 2005, and returns in the summer of 2006 after some 35 000 miles of intense competition on the high seas. The city of Durban will host a high profile race stopover in November 2005, with the Clipper fleet berthing in Durban Bay's main marina, served by the Point Yacht Club and Royal Natal Yacht Club.
Designed by Dubois Naval Architects, one of the World's foremost yacht design houses, and built by Shanghai Double Happiness Yachts in China, the Durban Clipper yacht is one of a ten-strong fleet to be raced by international teams of 17 crew and a professional skipper.
Race organisers Clipper Ventures Plc, the AIM-quoted marine events company chaired by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, has officially revealed all 10 skippers for the prestigious race. They are: Craig Millar (South African), Tim Magee (British), Graeme Johnston (Scottish), Richard Falk (Australian), Mark Taylor (British) Jonathan Bailey (British), David Pryce (Australian), Danny Watson (British), Ewan Hind (British) and Conor Fogerty (Irish).
On Saturday 4 June, the Clipper crews will be assigned to the teams in which they will embark on the gruelling maritime marathon and will be introduced to their respective skippers at St. George's Hall in Liverpool. This will be the moment, after months of anticipation, that the crews discover which nation they will represent for their participation; it will also be the first time that the crews discover who they will be sharing their ocean racing experience with and have an opportunity to get to know fellow crew members.
The skipper
Craig and his crew will face strong competition from a formidable international field including Liverpool (UK), Fremantle (Western Australia), Singapore, Glasgow (Scotland) and race title defenders Jersey (Channel Islands).
Craig Millar, who has raced for most of his life, joins the Durban Clipper campaign set to bring a wealth of yachting experience and leadership skills to the city's yacht. He started sailing at the age of 14 and has raced on dinghies and medium size keelboats ever since, winning an impressive array of SA Nationals in various classes.
Craig also has experience of sailing longer distance races, with wins in the 300nm Vasco Da Gama race and a second place in IMS class two in the Cape to Rio yacht race. He has worked as delivery skipper, including amongst his passages the delivery of a 35ft race boat from Rio to Cape Town and a 47-foot cruising catamaran from Durban to Melbourne.
With many sea miles already under his belt and a number of successful ocean passages, Craig will lead the Durban Clipper crew around the globe on a newly challenging route . They will face a wide variety of weather systems which require a diverse range of sailing skills.
Commenting on his appointment, Craig said: "I will take great pride in representing the city of Durban around the world as our racing yacht takes on the other international teams. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of teaching people to sail and believe that a sailing vessel is an amazing environment in which people are able to empower themselves. I believe it will be a great challenge to lead a crew of relatively inexperienced sailors, safely and competitively on this round the world yacht race and, as a competitive skipper, I will take even more pride in winning the race for my home city."
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Patron of Sea Liverpool, commented: "Tackling this unique challenge, with its roaring gales and towering seas, as well as the frustrations of tricky calm spells, is no mean feat, but I am confident that the skippers we've selected are very much up for the challenge of competitively racing the new Dubois yachts around the world.
"The individuals must also balance the needs of our city sponsors and official race partners, as well as having the ability to draw the line between competitiveness and safety, whilst also motivating a sometimes exhausted crew into an enthusiastic and committed team.
"Congratulations are due to each of the final 10 skippers, as they have been thoroughly put through their paces in the most demanding skipper selection we have had to date."
On Wednesday His Worship the Mayor Councillor Obed Mlaba endorsed the appointment of Craig Millar as the Durban Clipper skipper. He said: "Durban is a winning city and I'm confident that with Craig at the helm of our yacht, the South African team will be a considerable force to reckon with in the Clipper 05-06 Race."
Route
The course starts by following the traditional tea clipper route to Australia via Southern Africa, providing a sleigh ride through the Roaring Forties of the infamous Southern Ocean.
After a brief respite to catch their breath, the boats will head for Singapore and mainland China before taking the passage across the northern Pacific to the west coast of Canada and the United States. The Panama Canal follows, then the Caribbean and the U.S. East Coast, before the final dash across the northern Atlantic to the Channel Island of Jersey and home to Liverpool.
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