Watch: We meet the Liverpool Clipper team set for an adventure on the high seas

Not content with hosting the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race for the fourth time, Liverpool has entered the race with a ship of our own…and she’s a beauty.

Watch as our Kate followed the crowds to Albert Dock to meet Clipper Round the World Race founder, Sir Robin Knox-Johnson and to chat with the Liverpool 2018 team gearing up to take on the Atlantic this weekend.

Liverpool’s very own Clipper Race yacht will be officially named on Thursday 17th August 2017 in a special ceremony. The ship which is called Liverpool 2018 is to sail in to the city today (14th August) from 4pm where it will join the other 11 vessels taking part in the Clipper 2017-18 Round the World Yacht Race.

Thanks to the race’s global platform, the Liverpool 2018 team will visit twelve international destinations on six different continents throughout the eleven-month Clipper 2017-18 Race, and will reach many more via the event’s international crew who represent over 40 nationalities, as the city once again promotes itself as one of Europe’s leading visitor destinations.

The yacht has been named Liverpool 2018 as next year marks ten years since the city’s game-changing tenure as European Capital of Culture. The cultural programme for 2018, which is set to be unveiled later this year, will see the city stage unmissable and unforgettable events transcending the worlds of the arts, fashion, business and sport, attracting millions of people to create significant economic impact.

On Thursday, Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson will join Clipper Race Founder and Chairman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Liverpool 2018 Skipper Lance Shepherd and members of the team’s crew in a short, traditional ceremony which is thought to bring good luck and fair weather on the vessel’s travels – particularly important ahead of the Race Start at 12.30pm on Sunday 20th August 2017.

For the next six days a Race Village will take over Liverpool’s Albert Dock which will include daily street entertainment, free tours of the boats as well as food and drink concessions. There will also be regular talks and Q&A sessions with crew members to find out exactly how the teams have prepared for the race and what life will be like for them in the forthcoming months.

The festivities culminate on Sunday 20 August with a spectacular parade of Sail along the River Mersey which starts at 11am. Then, at 12.30pm, the Clipper 2017-18 Race start pistol will mark the beginning of the race. This event marks the fourth time the race has started and finished in Liverpool, making it the event’s most frequented Start and Finish destination. The last time the city hosted the event was ten years ago in 2007-08.

Image Credit: onEdition

After leaving Liverpool, the fleet crew will make their way across the Atlantic Ocean to the first stopover port, Punta del Este, Uruguay. They will then continue on to Cape Town, Fremantle, Sydney, Hobart, the Whitsundays, Sanya and Qingdao in China, Seattle, Panama, New York, and Derry-Londonderry, before completing the circumnavigation in Liverpool on July 28, 2018.

The Clipper Round The World Yacht Race is one of the world’s most challenging endurance events, the 40,000-nautical mile challenge, which is expected to take eleven months to complete, is the only on the planet which trains everyday people to take on one of Mother Nature’s toughest tests. 40% of crew have had no previous sailing experience before signing up.

For more information about the race and to follow the progress of the GB team, follow @ClipperRace on Twitter or head to www.clipperroundtheworld.com for more information.

Photo Credit: Matt Dickens/OnEdition