Huge crowd welcome her in

Clipper Ventures’ first loss of a boat in 14 years and two million miles of sailing was all behind the jubilant crew of Cork as she was the first to finish in Kinsale, Ireland on Sunday.

It was an emotional moment as they led the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race fleet into their home port at the end of the final transatlantic crossing of the 35,000-mile contest.

Cork’s original yacht ran aground on a submerged reef in the Java Sea in January. The crew of Cork were dispersed among the other nine teams to continue their challenge and came together again in Panama when they took delivery of their replacement yacht, a steel-hulled Challenge 67.

After three tough races getting to grips with their new steed, the Cork crew certainly found their groove in the north Atlantic and proved once again that they are a force to be reckoned with on the water. They completed the 2,000-mile course from Cape Breton Island in a little over eight days.

A flotilla of around 40 boats greeted Cork as she rounded the headland, medium weight spinnaker flying, while around 2,500 people lined banks of the harbour to watch the team arrive home.

The yachts will be open to the public between 3pm and 5pm on Sunday 4 July in Kinsale and in Cork City between 11am until 1pm on Thursday 8 July.

The yachts will leave the centre of Cork at 1300 local (1200 GMT) on Friday 9 July for the start of Race 13, the penultimate stage of the 14-race series, to Ijmuiden, Netherlands. Clipper 09-10 will finish in Hull, UK, on Saturday 17 July 2010.

www.clipperroundtheworld.com