Sir Robin Knox-Johnston hails ‘wonderful, friendly’ Derry amid Maritime Festival celebrations

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the Chairman and Founder of the Clipper Race, has hailed the ‘wonderful’ people of Derry and said leaving the city will be ‘bittersweet.’

Sir Robin, the first person to sail non-stop around the world, was speaking at a prize-giving event in the Foyle Maritime Festival village on Wednesday evening, at which the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race crew received their awards from Race 14 on a packed Derry quay.

Speaking to host Mark Patterson, he told how more people have climbed Everest than sailed around the world, something that makes him ‘very, very proud’ of the circumnavigators.

He described the crews as a ‘great bunch of people’ and said that when they set sail on Sunday it will be ‘bittersweet.’

“It will be sweet in as far as we can say that we’ve almost finished our great adventure and bitter because we’re leaving this wonderful, friendly, warm hearted city.”

Pointing out the large crowds on the quay, Sir Robin said Derry really ‘knows how to lay it on’ and told how the crews are ‘having a great time’. He thanked the people of the city and hailed the ‘friendliness you get just walking on the street - that’s a memory you never forget, the warmth of this city’.

As well as the sailing results from their Atlantic crossing, each team nominated an honorary Derry Girl award winner for displaying the qualities of the hit Channel 4 sitcom.

“It was a proud moment for me as a Derry girl to recognise the outstanding achievements of the Clipper crews on the penultimate stage of their journey around the globe,” said Mayor Sandra Duffy.

“The event was a great opportunity to honour the crews’ performance during their challenging ocean crossing and for the public to meet the crews and welcome them to our city.

“It was an ideal way to begin the festival in earnest and I can promise all the crews an experience they will never forget over the coming days.”

Dubbed the LegenDerry Finale, Race 14 was an action-packed sail of over 3,000nm across the North Atlantic Ocean from New York to Lough Foyle.

The race broke the record for the fastest ever crossing of the North Atlantic Ocean in Clipper Race history, even with an added course extension up to Rockall and St. Kilda which offered a bumpy ride of extreme weather and a chance for teams to get tactical.

The city’s own Gerard Doherty was among the winners of the Derry Girls award for his role on board the Ha Long Bay Vietnam vessel.

The crew’s final stage of the journey ends at​ Royal Albert Dock in London.