The arrival of the Clipper Yachts in Kinsale on 02 – 07 July 2010 and in Cork on 07 – 09 will be the fleet’s first return to Europe since the Race started in the UK in September 2009. In Kinsale, there will be an array of entertainment which will include local and national circus acts and musicians, food and craft markets and live music at Kinsale Square before the festival makes it way in a parade of sail to Cork on Wednesday 7th of July. The yachts will be moored at Custom House at the new Cork City pontoons and the Race Village will be located on Albert Quay. A full programme of events is being developed including music, food market and children’s entertainment.
The Cork Clipper project is funded by Fáilte Ireland, Cork City Council, and Cork County Council with the principal objective of promoting Cork as a tourism and business destination around the world. Working alongside Tourism Ireland, Cork is being promoted to consumers, trade, and the media in key markets that the race visits.
The Race
The Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race started from the Humber on the east coast of the UK on 13 September 2009. The Clipper Race is the only global competition where people from all walks of life can step out of their comfort zones and sign up to race 35,000-miles around the world. They come from backgrounds as varied as marketing executives, nurses, bankers, engineers, and chief executives who represent more than 30 nationalities. The race is contested by ten stripped down 68-foot racing yachts, each sponsored by a city, region, or country. Clipper was founded by sailing legend Sir Robin Knox Johnston and the Clipper 09-10 Race will be the seventh time his teams of amateur sailors will circumnavigate the planet.
The Clipper 09-10 route started from the Humber to Europe, Rio de Janeiro, South Africa, Western Australia, Singapore, Qingdao, California, Panama, the Caribbean, New York, Cape Breton Island, Cork, and back to the Humber.
Cork Clipper Crew
Around half the Cork crew have no previous sailing experience – but what all of them have in common is that they have put their everyday lives as air traffic controllers, bankers, interior designers, taxi drivers, lawyers, and students on hold to take on this incredible challenge.
The Cork Clipper crew age from 25 to 61 year of age and 40% of the sailors are female. The Cork Clipper will carry 17 crew and with a watch system in operation onboard, the crew will on average sleep for only 2 and a half hours at a time.
SKIPPER – Hannah Jenner
Hannah Jenner will celebrate her 30th birthday as she races into Kinsale as the skipper of Cork’s entry in the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race.
Hannah has worked with Clipper since 2004 in a number of roles. As a training skipper she has helped prepare crews for three editions of the Clipper Race and took the helm of Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper in the 07-08 race, successfully leading her team to a podium finish and the Scottish team’s highest ever placing in four campaigns – third overall. Her highly professional attitude and appreciation of the commercial requirements of sponsors also make her a much-requested skipper for corporate and team building events.
Since making her mark in Clipper 07-08 she has developed a reputation as one of the rising stars of the British ocean racing scene. In 2009 she completed a double-handed Fastnet Race, raced across the Atlantic on the Open 60 Aviva, and ran the New York Marathon having started running just four months previously.
Round the World Crew
