#clipperrace –  Ever wondered what it takes to take charge of a crew in one of the world's most challenging ocean yacht races? With the Clipper Round the World Race nearing the final few stages before the crews race to the finish line in London in July, we ask Jan Ridd, skipper of Team Garmin, what it takes to inspire a group of 50 plus men and women from all walks of life and find out more about his involvement and history with this iconic racing event.
Q: What makes a good Clipper Round the World Race skipper?
The role of round the world skipper requires a very specific and varied skill set. Obviously sailing skills are essential but knowing when and at what level to push the boat and the crew without compromising safety is the key sailing skill. People management is a key skill and being able to vary your approach and leadership style to get the best from individual crew members, but I feel the most important quality a race skipper need is resilience. The emotional highs and lows of yacht racing will mentally wear you out; the crew will draw on your emotional strength which in itself can be challenging. You must realize that however tired, low or upset you are, you must put on your professional face and deal with running the boat.
Q: How and when did you first get involved in sailing?
I came in to sailing late in my life. I owned a small motor boat and decided to go to the local college for evening class to gain the RYA Day Skipper Course theory part. At the course I met a good group who had booked the follow up practical course and asked me if would like to join them. After a great week sailing in the West Country I was hooked! My life circumstances drastically changed with a divorce and I decided to sell up and move to Cowes and studied at the United Kingdom Sailing Academy to gain my professional sailing qualifications. After a couple of seasons jumping on and off any yacht I could get on, I applied to the Clipper Race to be a skipper on a fleet of 38ft yachts they used to operate in the Solent for corporate hospitality. This was back in 2001 and was the start of my relationship with the Clipper Race. When the 68s were delivered in 2005 I got involved in the training of the race crew, firstly as a mate, and later as a training skipper. The Clipper Race asked me to apply to be a race skipper in the 2007/08 race but I felt I was not ready so waited until the 2009/10 race.
Q: You have been involved in training in the Clipper Round the World Race since 2005 and skippered in the 2009-10. What do you think you learnt from that race and how has it helped you so far in the 2013-14 Race?
Stepping on the Clipper 70 in Singapore for the first time was a very daunting task, especially with a crew I did not know. I must admit having the experience of doing the race before made the adjustment a lot easier. The biggest lesson I learnt in the 2009/10 race is not to let the little setbacks upset you too much, accept that you cannot control everything, learn to pace yourself and know when to push yourself to attain the best boat result.
Q: 80% of the men and women taking part in the Clipper Round the World Race are inexperienced when they sign up for what is probably the most thrilling experience of their lives. It must be a huge challenge to prepare them for a race such as this. Tell us a little about what kind of training they have to go through before the race and any particular characteristics they should have to succeed in a race such as this?
The basic training involves three intensive weeks on board the yachts. Level one is their first introduction to big boat sailing with a big emphasis on safety. Level two training is a little bit more involved where the more evolved evolutions are taught, as well as basic race tactics. Level three training is the final part of the program where the crew is placed on their race boat with their skipper and involves several races to simulate the pressures of the race. This is a key part of the training and allows the skipper and crew to get to know each other and their boat.
Q: How do you keep your crew motivated when things aren't looking so great?
This is probably the hardest part of the job and I always find honesty is the best policy. By being open and frank about the situation and discussing the best thing we can do as a team to improve can turn most negatives into a positive. It is not a mistake if you learn from it.
Q: Do you have a favourite leg of the Race?
I was a little upset that I missed the South Atlantic and the Indian and Southern ocean crossings as the Clipper 70 definitely comes alive when it is sailing downwind. I would have loved the chance to have got the boat on a fast surf as I am sure they are capable of hitting 30+ knots. Although these legs can be very uncomfortable, they do provide the strong winds and the large seas required to get these boats surfing.
Q: Garmin has supplied each of the twelve participating boats with identical marine electronics specifically designed for ocean going racing yachts. How has this technology helped Team Garmin specifically and is there a particular product that has been invaluable to you during the Race so far?
I find the instruments very easy to use with a clear menu to adjust the display and a great range of preprogrammed settings which allow me to access all information from any of the displays on the boat. The most used item on the boat is the GPS chartplotter. Although we do not have any of the charts loaded as we use a separate marine PC for navigation, the chartplotter has so many versatile functions, it can be set up to display anything you require. I particularly rely on the graph function which records the wind strength over a set period (4 hours) allowing me to see the trend and decide the best time to make any tactical choices.

#legenderry – The Clipper Round the World Race course was shortened with a time limit placed on the race of 1200 UTC Sunday 22 June after unusual weather patterns caused by a persistent high pressure system centred just west of Ireland threatened to hamper the progress of the fleet.

The Derry~Londonderry~Doire yacht was the closest boat to the original finish line off Greencastle County Donegal at 155.1 miles, with Team Garmin and Old Pulteney in second and third places at 163.9 and 165.8 miles to the line respectively.

It was a very closely fought battle for podium positions with PSP Logistics, Jamaica Get All Right and GREAT Britain all jostling with Old Pulteney for the final podium place. All the fleet's finishing positions for Race 14 are published below.

Local 'hero' Skipper of Derry~Londonderry~Doire is Sean McCarter who was born in Donegal and brought up in Derry-Londonderry who put on a spectacular performance leading the fleet for the majority of the race. After the race office verified the fleet's results, the normally reserved skipper couldn't hide his pride after breaking the notorious homecoming race curse to come in first place into his homeport. The last time that happened was six years ago into New York in June 2008.

"We inherited the title of LengenDerry crew, but now it's official. I couldn't be any prouder of how this team has performed. We have always said this is our race and there was no way we were going to let anyone else stand on that podium in Derry-Londonderry ahead of us.

"To everyone back in Derry-Londonderry - we've waited a long time for this moment and we can't wait to celebrate it with you. See you tomorrow."

The happy ending was almost scuppered by Team Garmin after it narrowly took the lead, emerging from Stealth Mode in first place in the early hours of Saturday morning. However, Derry~Londonderry~Doire wasn't ready to give up and repositioned itself further north of the fleet where it regained its lead and maintained it through to the finish.

On board the Northern Irish entry is crew member Breidge Boyle, from Derry-Londonderry is looking forward to being reunited with her family on arrival:

"I am so proud to be a part of this fabulous team and this fabulous boat. I am so proud of our skipper, who throughout the hard times stood firm and led us to victory. This team is truly Legenderry and so is Sean.

"I can't wait to arrive in the city now – mum, I can't wait to see you."

The 12 points now places Derry~Londonderry~Doire just five points behind OneDLL on the overall leaderboard. The Northern Irish team is now in serious contention for an overall podium place in the Clipper 2013-14 Round the World Yacht Race, as just two races remain in the 16 race series.

Derry~Londonderry~Doire is estimated to arrive at Foyle Marina in Derry-Londonderry around 1100 BST Monday 23 June where thousands of local supporters and Clipper Race fans are expected to line the quayside, eager to get a glimpse of the winning local team.

The rest of the fleet is due to arrive at Foyle Marina throughout the day, with the last boats expected by Tuesday morning.

For those eager to get a taste of life at sea on board a Clipper 70 racing yacht, open boat tours will be running from Wednesday to Friday 25-27 June at 2-7 pm.

The 12-strong fleet will be berthed at Foyle Marina until Sunday 29 June when they will set off from Derry-Londonderry to start the next race from Greencastle. The RAF Red Arrows will provide a spectacular aerial display along the coastline ahead of the Race 15 start to Den Helder in the Netherlands for the OneDLL Cup.

Yesterday, the Clipper Round the World Race Race Office announced the race to Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland will have a time limit applied due to the challenging weather patterns hampering some of the fleet's progress.

The fleet's direct route to the finish passes through the centre of the high pressure system which will result in the yachts stalling and slowing down. The only alternative is for them to either go above or below the high pressure which will lengthen the time to finish.

The teams are now carefully analysing tactics to put their yachts in the best position by 13:00 BST (12:00 UTC) on Sunday 22 June when distance to finish at that time will be used to award places and enable boats to make best speed to Derry-Londonderry by motor-sail.

Sean McCarter, skipper of home port boat Derry~Londonderry~Doire, explained his team's decision regarding the current weather system.

"On receiving our daily instalment of weather information yesterday morning, it was immediately apparent that an important decision was needed. We could either continue with our plan of sailing into the high until the breeze dropped and tack south to start a long slow beat under it.

"After going over the routing for both options, we decided that heading north would mean sailing less miles on faster angles whilst dodging the light patches on the west coast that are also hindered by tides.

"The unfortunate part was that we would have to sacrifice a large portion of our lead to reposition ourselves for the new strategy. The hope is to gain some of this back in a day or two as we pick up a more favourable heading before the chasing pack. Only time will tell..."

GREAT Britain skipper Simon Talbot said he was facing a routeing tactical nightmare as the forecasts have varied day on day about the exact location of the high and how it will move.

The yacht went into Stealth Mode at 1200 UTC today where its tactics will be hidden for a 24 hour period.

"Now we have the time limit on the race, the conundrum becomes slightly different, in that we now need a route that will minimize our distance to finish, rather than actually necessarily getting us to Derry-Londonderry. This has proven to be a source of great head scratching today as we go over and over the scenarios and keep re-reading the weather to see if there is something in there that we have missed."

Simon Rowell, the Clipper Race meteorologist, added the high pressure system west of Ireland should start to edge slowly south in the next 48 hours.

"There should be a relatively narrow band of favourable winds to the north of this which some of the yachts are clearly trying to take advantage of, banking on faster boat speed to balance the greater distance involved, while to the south of it the yachts there will carry on beating into light to moderate headwinds."

Meanwhile, Old Pulteney is provisionally the fastest team through the Ocean Sprint so far with a time of 13 hours 57 minutes and 36 seconds. Qingdao and Mission Performance are still in the Ocean Sprint section of the course.

The first boat is expected to arrive in Derry-Londonderry on the morning of Monday 23 June with the remainder of the fleet due on the Foyle by the afternoon of Tuesday 24 June.

#clipperrace – New wind has arrived with boat speeds picking up and the frontrunners extending their lead over the rest of the Clipper round the world race fleet by more than 200 miles.

The nine yachts that didn't manage to outrun the ridge of high pressure that engulfed them are now running with their spinnakers up with the new south easterly winds.

The front three yachts are beating upwind on a north easterly course after getting as far east as they could to escape the complicated weather systems.

Derry-Londonderry-Doire has held onto its lead and has also started the Ocean Sprint section of the course. It is followed by Jamaica Get All Right and GREAT Britain in third.

PSP Logistics came out of Stealth Mode where its position was hidden for 24 hours and has moved up to fifth place on the leaderboard. Skipper Chris Hollis said: "It was a pretty successful phase for us, pulling back a lot of miles and then some on the middle of the pack, which has now given us a fighting chance.

"The problem is we still need to make an easterly heading at some point. So a pretty big knock on the other tack is to be expected at some point. It is just a matter of when you do to minimise the damage of the negative tack.

"We are in company of Henri Lloyd and OneDLL who snuck over the horizon yesterday afternoon while we were on the edge of the southerly and dead zone. It is great to have them behind us for once. However, OneDLL having been wounded early on this race is on a storming comeback mission, and Henri Lloyd... Well, the leaders of the regatta are just about unstoppable at times."

Fleet tracker: yb.tl/clipper2013-race14

#clipperrace – Derry~Londonderry~Doire leadsthe Clipper Round the world race fleet this morning with Team Garmin in second and Switzerland in third place in frustratingly light winds for the transaltantic crossing.

Clipper Race meteorologist Simon Rowell said the wind is expected to fill in a little today but after that a low will move slowly east north easterly into the Atlantic, and a smaller area of low pressure should move off the area between Sable Island and Newfoundland behind it, like a secondary depression.

Jan Ridd, skipper of Team Garmin, said: "Well it has been an interesting first 24 hours to this race, with gains and losses made by boats choosing different tactics in some light winds.

"After the start the boats all bunched together as we could sail our course but as the wind moved aft the plots on the schedule show a clear starburst effect as boats choose different tacks.

"Here on Team Garmin we decided to stay fairly close to the rhumb line and stay with the main fleet. Earlier this morning we saw a group of boats tack early to the south and disappear over the horizon. This afternoon they reappeared after making a few miles on the rest of the fleet."

Sean McCarter, skipper of Derry~Londonderry~Doire, said he had taken a more southerly route in the hope of picking up an eddy of the Gulf Stream and seemed to have found it.

"The trick now is to milk as much from it as possible without risking being taken too far out of position and into lighter breeze."

With just under two weeks to go until the LegenDerry stopover, today the Feast Day of the Patron Saint of Derry, Colmcille, is being marked. It is believed he founded the city of Derry in 563 AD before going to Scotland to spread Christianity.

The fleet will receive a rousing welcome when they sail into the home port of Derry. For details of the festival celebrations visit www.legenderrymaritimefestival.com

#clipperroundtheworldrace – The Derry~Londonderry~Doire yacht, one of twelve 70ft yachts competing in the Clipper 2013-14 Round the World Yacht Race, has set sail for its home port from New York this weekend following a spectacular parade of sail against the iconic Lower Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty.

This is the final leg of the 11 month, 40,000-mile race, the world's longest, which is expected to arrive on the Foyle between 21-23 June to kick off a massive festival that will run until the fleet's departure on 29 June.

For local skipper Sean McCarter it's going to be a unique experience sailing into his home port: "New York has been amazing, I think everyone has had a very enjoyable stopover and is raring to go for the final homecoming leg into Derry-Londonderry.

"I grew up in Derry-Londonderry it's my home town. It's a great place to sail in to but to do it as the skipper of the home team, and preferably in first place, is something I will remember for the rest of my life and I know the crew will too."

"I have been trying to prepare the crew for the stopover, as everyone knows what an incredible welcome the city put on for the fleet during the Clipper 2011-12 Race. If what everyone tells me is true, it's going to be even bigger this time around – truly legenDerry!

#Clipper - Derry-Londonderry's newly elected Mayor Brenda Stevenson will travel to New York this week to join members of the Derry-Londonderry-Doire crew participating in the 2013-14 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

The crew will arrive at the stopover port in the Big Apple ahead of their departure for the next leg of the race that will bring them to their home port in time for the LegenDerry Maritime Festival celebrations.

Mayor Stevenson will be accompanied on the trip by Derry City Council’s town clerk and chief executive Sharon O’Connor along with Des Gartland, Invest Northern Ireland’s north west regional manager, to engage with businesses and key members from the Northern Ireland diaspora in New York.

Speaking ahead of the visit, Mayor Stevenson said: “I am really looking forward to meeting the skipper Sean McCarter and his crew and helping to promote details of our fantastic maritime festival celebrations that are planned to coincide with the arrival of the Clipper Race fleet when they arrive in the city at the end of the month.

“We are hugely excited about being in New York and getting an opportunity to showcase our city, network with local business people and encourage them to be part of our celebrations and our new legacy story since our City of Culture status success."

The Derry-Londonderry-Doire crew are expecting a huge welcome on arrival in New York, with many family and friends travelling to the stopover location as well as large numbers of Irish diaspora who are following the team’s success in the race and are keen to show their support.

The mayor added: “It’s a huge honour for me as the newly elected mayor to travel to New York to represent our city and to meet and greet the crew as well as meet with business people to forge business and trade links that will help us attract investment and new business opportunities to the city and wider north west region.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to encourage New Yorkers to come to Derry for our LegenDerry Maritime Festival celebrations and to update them on the city’s progress and legacy promises we are currently delivering on.”

During the trip, the delegation will attend a number of engagements including a UK Trade & Investment event to celebrate the Clipper Round the World Race stopover; an event organised by Clipper Ventures at the NASDAQ stock exchange; the Origin Theatre event honouring the Irish Consul General; and a corporate lunch event organised and funded by the NI Bureau, Invest NI and Tourism Ireland.

Mayor Stevenson will also visit the New York Irish Centre to launch the visiting exhibition from the Foyle Civic Trust, ‘Derry Londonderry Goes Global’. held last year as part of the Foyleside city's City of Culture programme. The visit will also include an opportunity to meet members of the New York Derry Society.

Gartland added: “This event offers a tremendous opportunity to promote Derry-Londonderry and the north west region both to potential investors and as a tourism location.

"Invest NI is working closely with Derry City Council to maximise the opportunities that the Clipper Round The World Race presents.”

Details of the LegenDerry Maritime Festival, which will take place in Derry~Londonderry on 21-29 June to welcome the Clipper Race fleet to the city, are available at www.legenderrymaritimefestival.com.

#clipperroundtheworldrace – Derry~Londonderry~Doire arrived in New York, the city that never sleeps in the early hours of this morning lit up by world famous city skyline. The Northern Irish team put on a competitive performance to claim fifth place in Race 13, the Grange Hotels Trophy, just one week ahead of the highly anticipated Race 14 to Derry-Londonderry.

After arriving in New York skipper, Sean McCarter was quick to heap praise on his team as they now lay just 10 points behind third placed OneDLL on the overall leaderboard. Sean commented:

"It's been an amazingly close race which gets even closer as it goes on, we are all so evenly matched at the moment so there is no room for error. We had a good race. Leaving Jamaica we came quite quickly out of the blocks and made it past the first mark quite quickly in second or third position, then we had a good run up and we decided to break a little bit from the pack. That dropped us back a little bit. Our plan was to drop out of the Gulf Stream to catch them up and we were looking good to do that for a while but we dropped out at a bad time.

Currently in a respectable fourth place on the overall leaderboard with 106 points, Sean knows that with so many points still up for grabs a podium position is still in sight for the team. With the pressure of arriving into his home port and securing a podium, Sean remains calm and unfazed:

"There are still a lot of points on the board and we have seen how Henri Lloyd came in on this one winning the extra points. If you can manage that on the next race them you can expect to jump a position or two on the leaderboard, so I can imagine there will be a lot of teams looking to do that."

The fleet is expected to arrive into Derry-Londonderry between Saturday 21 -23 June, where a week long LegendDerry Maritime Festival has been organised from 21-29 June. For more information on the programme - which includes a concert by the Grammy award-winning Beach Boys - visit www.legenderrymaritimefestival.com

#clipperrace – The world-famous Red Arrows will take to the skies over the North West Coast of Ireland at the end of June with their display of daredevil aerial manoeuvres, to bring a spectacular close to the 2014 LegenDerry Maritime Festival.

Brought to the North West by a partnership between Donegal County Council, Limavady Borough Council and Derry City Council, the RAF Red Arrows will perform their thrilling flying display as the stunning send-off to the Clipper 2013-14 Round the World Yacht Race on Sunday 29th June 2014.

The distinctive red jets, which are this year celebrating their 50th display season, will execute their trademark formations, close-passes and dynamic loops and rolls at the mouth of the River Foyle between Greencastle in Co. Donegal and Magilligan/Binevenagh in Co. Londonderry.

Thousands of people are expected to descend upon the North West Coast to capture a clear vantage point of the Red Arrows' stunning performance and celebrate the official Race Start of the Clipper 2013-14 Race at Greencastle, Co. Donegal.

Mayor of Donegal County Council, Councillor Ian McGarvey said: "Along with my fellow Mayors from Derry City Council and Limavady Borough Council I am delighted to confirm the staging of this spectacular Red Arrows event. I am sure this will attract visitors from across the region and beyond to the Lough Foyle area. Their exciting air display will be an excellent way to see off the Clipper Race as the fleet prepares to sets sail off the coast of Greencastle. I hope that everyone who comes to Donegal has a safe and enjoyable time."

Mayor of Limavady, Councillor Gerry Mullan said: "I am delighted to welcome back the spectacular Clipper Race event and am looking forward to seeing the boats sailing into Lough Foyle past Magilligan Point. I wish all the crews a warm welcome to the area and hope they get the chance to explore all it has to offer when they come ashore."

Mayor of Derry City Council, Councillor Martin Reilly said: "It is a major coup to have the Red Arrows perform and their display will provide a suitably spectacular final flourish to our week-long LegenDerry Maritime Festival. We are delighted to have been able to facilitate this in partnership with our friends in Limavady and Donegal, who are bringing the world-famous Red Arrows here.

"Our stunning North West coastline will provide the perfect backdrop for the official Race Start of the Clipper 2013-14 Round the World Yacht Race. We are thrilled that thousands of local people will be able to share the celebrations and the spectacle on land, on the sea and now, also in the sky."

Derry~Londonderry is the penultimate stopover for the Clipper 2013-14 Race, the world's longest ocean race. After a gruelling journey of almost 40,000 miles, 11 month circumnavigation of the globe the City will welcome the 12-strong fleet of Clipper Race yachts back to the city, including its very own Derry~Londonderry-Doire yacht, with a weeklong LegenDerry Maritime Festival from 21st - 29th June 2014.

The LegenDerry Maritime Festival will transform the River Foyle's quayside into a summer promenade, with race village, award winning continental market, seafood festival, music extravaganza and a host of sea-faring activities on and off shore for families, sailors and land-lubbers alike.

#clipper – The Olympic Sailing Center in Qingdao, China provided the perfect backdrop today as the Northern Irish entry competing in the Clipper 2013-14 Round the World Yacht Race started Race 10 from Qingdao, China to San Francisco, USA .

Thousands of well-wishers lined the quayside eager get one last glimpse of the 12-strong international fleet during an epic departure ceremony which attracted a large media presence and was broadcast live on TV. The ceremony featured hundreds of performers in a carefully choreographed programme which featured VIP guests including local officials and the British Ambassador to China.

After a tense start Derry~Londonderry~Doire was the first boat to cross the start line of the 5,800 mile race which started at 1345 local time (0545 UTC) as Mission Performance and Qingdao were in hot pursuit.

"We are in pretty good shape; we all know this is a long leg but the crew are all looking forward to arriving in San Francisco, we would have broken the back of the race, we're on our way home." Added skipper of Derry~Londondery~Doire Sean McCarter before his team set off.

The first key milestone in Race 10 will be off the Southern tip of Japan when tactics start come in to play again as skippers are faced with the age-old dilemma; take the shortest route and risk light airs or head north for a colder but stronger ride east.

"This will be a tough leg in lots of ways. I think the length of this race is going to be a challenge. We should have a fairly easy start with light winds, so hopefully we will get into a rhythm then. Once we head off the south of Japan it's going to get a lot heavier and more difficult, which will be the first big hurdle."

"The teams are really looking forward to this race. Once you get on the move the better, all the nerves disappear as soon as you start sailing."Added Sean.

Sea Cadet Volunteer, Keith Bisson from Jersey joined the Northern Irish team in Qingdao after winning a national competition to compete in Leg 6 of the Clipper Race. However, when it came to deciding which boat he would sail on, there was only one option:

"As my wife is from Derry-Londonderry I knew immediately that I had to be on the Northern Irish entry, Derry~Londonderry~Doire. We have a huge family back there; so much so that we have already booked our holiday to coincide with the Derry-Londonderry stopover.

"This race is going to be a fantastic experience, it all feels very surreal at the moment but I can't wait to get started. I know this will be a test of endurance, but I'm well prepared and ready for the challenge. Just knowing that the Golden Gate Bridge will be waiting for us at the end, makes it all worthwhile."

The twelve-strong fleet is expected in San Francisco between 8-12 April where they will be berthed until the start of Race 11 to the Panama Canal on 19 April.