GREAT Britain Team Win Latest Stage of World's Longest Ocean Race Into Cape Town

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, October 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

GREAT Britain  takes line honours in Race 3 of the 2013-14 edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race from Rio de Janeiro to Cape Town, securing its first win of the unique 40,000 mile challenge for amateur crew.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131026/648614-a )

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131026/648614-b )

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131026/648614-c )

Skipper of GREAT Britain Simon Talbot (44) from Essex celebrated in style after winning a valuable twelve points, he said, "This is a great boost for the crew who have worked so hard in this race to achieve a well-deserved victory.  We led the fleet for the first 8 to 10 hours out of Rio but then came a point we had to make the strategic decision to push further south. We went from first to eighth but then it started to pay off.

"You have to take advantage of the wind that is available and the new yachts go very, very fast when you do. Thankfully it paid off and tactics worked out beautifully on this race and I'm very happy. Well done team!"

After racing the 4,000 miles in the last two weeks from Rio de Janeiro to Cape Town, the brand new matched fleet of twelve 70 foot ocean racers continue to provide very close racing. Round the world crew member on board GREAT Britain, Ionie Robinson from Northampton said:

 "It was a very tactical race. We followed the wind and then we found it we went into the lead. It was a great race."

GREAT Britain crossed the line at 08.48.58 UTC (10.48.58 local time) ahead of Henri Lloyd which claimed second place in front of the spectacular back drop of Table Mountain at 11.40.56 UTC (13.48.58 local time).

The remainder of the fleet will arrive in Cape Town over the next three days. Race 4 to Albany Western Australia, will start on Monday, 4 November. Their progress can be tracked through the Clipper Race Viewer at http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/raceviewer  

ENDS
To download official team photos and video, which will be updated throughout arrivals, please visit:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3bh25k55t1stv1u/6_m0z4sg8q

The GREAT Britain campaign

The GREAT Britain campaign is an ambitious international marketing campaign that showcases the very best of what Britain has to offer in order to encourage the world to visit, study and do business with the UK. Unifying the international growth promotion efforts of UK Trade & Investment, Visit Britain, British Council, DCMS, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, GREAT aims to deliver significant increases in trade, tourism, education and inward investment. The campaign has won international awards and is being used in 86 countries worldwide. http://www.facebook.com/thisisGREATbritain

About Clipper Ventures Plc

Clipper Ventures Plc was established in 1995 by legendary yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world in 1968-69.  Sir Robin founded the company on the premise that sailing should be made available to everyone, regardless of age or experience. So he launched the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in 1996. The company owns and operates its own matched fleet of ocean racing yachts and so far more than 3,000 people have competed in the eight editions of the Clipper Race to date. The company also owns the rights to the professional solo round the world VELUX 5 OCEANS race and runs a successful events division offering corporate sailing and development programmes. Today Clipper Ventures is recognised as a leading international marine events company which is focused on developing and promoting major global events such as the Clipper Race.

Clipper 13-14 Round the World Yacht Race

The Clipper 13-14 Round the World Yacht Race started in London from St Katharine Docks and will return almost a year later after completing the 40,000 miles route, making it the world's longest ocean race. The event was established by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston to give everyone, regardless of sailing experience, the opportunity to discover the exhilaration of ocean racing. 650 people representing more than 40 nations will compete in the Clipper 13-14 Race on twelve brand new 70-foot yachts designed by renowned naval architect Tony Castro. It's the largest race ever. Crew members can sign up for the whole circumnavigation or one or more of eight legs. The only qualification for the race is the minimum age of 18 (there is no upper age limit) plus a thirst for adventure. The overall race is divided into individual stages and points are accumulated in a Formula 1-style scoring system. The yacht with the highest total points at the finish wins the Clipper Trophy.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston

It's nearly 45 years since Sir Robin Knox-Johnston set off on his record breaking solo and non-stop circumnavigation in 1968-69. Now, as Executive Chairman and founding Director of Clipper Ventures Plc, he is at the forefront of promoting round the world yacht racing. Sir Robin has been involved in sailing all his life and holds a Department of Transport Master's Certificate. He set the record for the fastest circumnavigation with Sir Peter Blake. In 2007; he completed his second solo circumnavigation when he competed in the VELUX 5 OCEANS race. Sir Robin has considerable experience of the administration of round the world races having served on the Whitbread Race committee from 1990 to 1994 and having organised the BOC Challenge Round the World Race in 1982 and 1986. He has been named RYA/YJA Yachtsman of the Year an unprecedented three times and participated in the 2010 Sydney-Hobart race at the age of 71.

For media registration, facilities and interview requests please contact:
Ruth Harrington, PR Officer
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Amy Martindale, Communications Co-ordinator
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SOURCE Clipper Ventures Plc