Clipper Race homecoming details announced

Laura Hodgetts

A Parade of Sail up the Thames will give the Clipper Race crews a hero's welcome on 12 July 2014

The Clipper Race fleet will finish its 40,000 mile global ocean odyssey on 12 July to a heroes’ welcome and emotional homecoming Parade of Sail up the Thames.

The entirely amateur 670 crew members have battled ferocious storms, hurricanes, tornadoes and giant waves, dealt with medical emergencies on board, coast guard assisted evacuations and the miraculous rescue of a man overboard after he was lost in a Pacific storm for 90 minutes.
 
Saturday 12 July – Schedule
 
The formal fleet procession will take place between 10am to 3pm as the 12-strong 70ft racing yachts parade up the Thames to Tower Bridge while dockside supporters enjoy live music.

  • 10.00 – Parade of Sail starts
  • 10.19 – QE2 Bridge at Dartford
  • 11.48 – Thames Barrier
  • 12.01 – Dome
  • 12.12 – Greenwich
  • 12.30 – Canary Wharf Pier
  • 12.45 – Tower Bridge will lift for the top three winning teams as the
    others parade in front of a Race Village at St Katharine Docks to
    cheering crowds of friends, family and supporters.
  • 14.00-15.00 – Final prizegiving ceremony at St Katharine Docks with music, entertainment and a carnival atmosphere.

For those wanting to secure their front seat to all the action,
official spectator boats will be accompanying the Clipper
Race yachts as they parade down the Thames.

Tickets are priced at £15 for adults and £7.50 for children with boarding beginning at 09:15 on the day.

The
spectator boats will meet the Clipper Race fleet on the Thames before
following its victorious parade all the way up to Tower Bridge before
entering St Katharine Docks.

Tickets will available at www.clipperroundtheworld.com

Clipper Race 2013/14

The crews and their skippers come from 42 different countries including the UK, USA, China, Australia, Canada, South Africa, France and Peru.

Over the past 10-and-a-half months they have crossed the world’s
biggest oceans across six continents in one of the toughest endurance
challenges.
 
Among the big names attending the homecoming event will be Clipper Race founder and chairman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, 75, who is celebrating the 45th anniversary of becoming the first man to sail solo, nonstop round the world in 1968/9.

Pictures: Clipper Race fleet leaves London in September 2013; the fleet leaves New York in June 2014