Yorkshire Day celebrations for county's Clipper yacht launch
Published: 1 August 2011
Crew onboard Welcome to Yorkshire, England's only entry in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, were given a Royal Naval send off as they began their 40,000 mile adventure.
The aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious led the Clipper fleet to the start line at Cowes surrounded by hundreds of other boats as part of the traditional start flotilla, late on Sunday afternoon.
The race, which visits 14 ports on six continents, pits Yorkshire against entrants from eight other countries including America, Australia and China.
A third of the crew on board the yacht are from Yorkshire and they are hoping to score a famous victory for county and country when they arrive back in the UK in 12 months time.
Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, the county's tourism agency, said: "To have England's only boat in the race is wonderful. We are excited by that responsibility and we will be doing our upmost to ensure Yorkshire and England are at the forefront of people's minds, as well as leading the race, as we make our way around the world."
He added: "We will proudly fly the flag for county and country and we hope to return to the UK next year as worthy winners."
To celebrate the start of the race and Yorkshire Day, the Welcome to Yorkshire boat has challenged the nine other boats in the race to celebrate Yorkshire Day too by providing them with a selection of Yorkshire food and drink to host their own tea party en route to Madeira. The boat that submits the best photograph of their tea party will win a crate of Yorkshire beer when they arrive in port.
Mr Verity added: "There is nothing more English than a tea party and no-one does afternoon tea better than Yorkshire! This is just a taster of the kind of event Welcome to Yorkshire will be hosting in ports around the world to celebrate everything that is great about our county and to raise the profile of one of England's finest holiday destinations."
Events were hosted in Qingdao and New York during the last race including playing a promotional video in hundreds of New York taxi cabs and meeting key international travel journalists.
Clipper Ventures evaluated the media coverage for Hull & Humber in the last two races in excess of US$17.2m with a cumulative global audience in excess of almost 320 million people seeing the boat.
Evaluation by Yorkshire Forward showed the impact of Hull & Humber's involvement helped raise the regional profile, aid inward investment, change local perceptions and increase tourism and educational opportunities securing £5m of trade deals and value during Clipper 09-10 alone.
First leg Yorkshire crew members include people from Leeds, Bradford, Kirklees and Hull.
- ENDS -
Editors' Notes:
- Welcome to Yorkshire is the official destination management organisation for Yorkshire, working to grow the county's visitor economy.
- Welcome to Yorkshire is funded by Yorkshire Forward, the Regional Development Agency charged with improving the Yorkshire and Humber economy.
- Key facts include:
- Tourism in Yorkshire is worth £7 billion annually
- The county's industry employs almost a quarter of a million people
- There are 216 million visits to Yorkshire each year
- Clipper Ventures Plc was founded by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston in 1995 and it owns the rights to the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and the VELUX 5 OCEANS single handed round the world yacht race.
- www.ClipperRoundTheWorld.com
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For further information contact:
Andy Denton - Press Officer
Email: adenton@yorkshire.com
Direct Line: 0113 322 3537
Mobile: 07855 812094
Dee Marshall - Head of Communications
Email: dmarshall@yorkshire.com
Direct Line: 0113 3223505
Mobile: 07950 325 901
Heather Ewing - Clipper, Communications Manager
Email: hewing@clipper-ventures.com
Office: 02392 526000 - Mobile: 07792 408 695