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Published:
July 5, 2008
Burnham-On-Sea
yacht skipper completes round-the-world race
A
spectacular welcome greeted Burnham-On-Sea yacht skipper Mark
Preedy on Saturday (July 5th) when he and the other crews of the
Round the World Yacht Race arrived back in Liverpool at the end
of their 35,000-mile circumnavigation.
 For
the crew onboard Mark's yacht, Uniquely Singapore, and the other
nine 68-foot ocean racing yachts, the return to Albert Dock marked
the end of a challenge of a lifetime as they battled the elements
in search of victory.
In
the final race from Cork, Ireland, to Liverpool, Uniquely Singapore
finished in second place, a strong finish to a consistent campaign
from the team who set out to sail their own race and ensure above
all that the team remained a happy and cohesive unit, learning
as much as they possibly could.
Skipper
Mark Preedy told Burnham-On-Sea.com: "I've been their skipper,
their dad, their mum, their supervisor and their teacher and I’ve
run the boat exactly the same way from the start to the finish
and these guys have learned more because of that."
"It
doesn’t really reflect on a few positions we’ve had
in the end but this last race where we’ve come second is
a fine example. We were racing alongside one of the other boats
where we saw the skipper on the helm for six hours. I was on the
helm for two and then handed over and let them do it."
"It
was difficult times but it didn’t warrant me being on the
helm for that long and the two guys we put on the helm started
pulling away and we kept fending them off. So they’ve obviously
learned a lot because if they can hold off another skipper at
the helm that says a lot. And it wasn’t our specialist helms
either."
Uniquely
Singapore then joined the rest of the fleet in the 'Liverpool
08 Dash', a fun race up the Mersey, before parading past the waving
crowds.
Crossing
the finish line overnight at the end of the 14th and final stage
of the Clipper Race, the US entry, New York, claimed the maximum
ten points for securing their sixth first place of their campaign
and the Clipper Trophy.
 The
Clipper fleet’s arrival back in Liverpool at the end of their
35,000-mile circumnavigation was part of the city’s European
Capital of Culture 2008 celebrations and thousands of Liverpudlians,
race supporters and friends of the crews lined the banks of the
Mersey to welcome the yachts back home.
The
iconic Albert Dock provided the venue for the prize giving ceremony
and crowds thronged the area as each of the top three teams overall
was presented with their pennant by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool,
Councillor Steve Rotheram.
The
race began in Liverpool on 16th September 2007 and, over the last
ten months, the teams have circumnavigated the globe, crossing
the Atlantic three times, the Pacific once, and sailed across
the infamous Southern Ocean, with stopovers on five continents.
The
Clipper Race is the brainchild of legendary yachtsman, Sir Robin
Knox-Johnston, who, in 1969 became the first man to sail solo,
non-stop around the world. In 1996, he created the Clipper Round
the World Yacht Race to give ordinary people the opportunity to
follow in his footsteps.
FINAL
POSITIONS:
The
final result of the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race:
1
New York 103.5
2 Hull & Humber 98
3 Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper 87
4 Qingdao 77.5
5 Liverpool 08 75.5
6 Durban 2010 and Beyond 70
7 Uniquely Singapore 69
8 westernaustralia2011.com 65
9 Nova Scotia 50.5
10 Jamaica 40.5
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