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Gipsy Moth IV departs Gibraltar on Blue Water Adventure - 30th October '05
At 10.00hrs today, Sunday 30th October, Gipsy Moth IV set sail from Gibraltar on its 2nd circumnavigation amidst the fleet of the Blue Water Rally. A total of 23 yachts of differing sizes crewed by people from 8 nationalities ranging from the youngest at 1-year old to the oldest who is 73 years of age crossed the start line at Europa Point to the sound of Royal Gibraltar Regiment and the sight of flares. A Royal Navy Patrol vessel was in attendance at the outer end of the start-line and all the boats got away smoothly with Gipsy Moth IV in pride of place at the head of the fleet.
Gipsy Moth and the Blue Water Rally are en route to Santa Cruz in Tenerife which is over 720 nm and more than 5 days away, they were blessed by light winds and a fair tide at the start. This is the 6th Blue Water Rally by the same organisers, Tony Diment and Peter Seymour the Directors of the Blue Water Rally were both in attendance for the start. “We are celebrating 10 years of the rally”, Peter Seymour said, “and it is great that Gipsy Moth has chosen to join us on our 2005~2007 tour of the globe. We are also delighted to be able to announce that the Stephen Thomas Bursary has raised sufficient funds to be able to sponsor a young person on a leg of the Gipsy Moth Voyage. What is particularly fitting is that the trustees have decided that this should be a young Gibraltarian and this has been met with great acclaim here in Gibraltar which has been host to the start of the Rally and of course will also see the finish in 2007. We wish all the young people who travel aboard Gipsy Moth fair winds and the time of their lives. We look forward to reading the daily reports on the website.”
David Green the CEO of the UK Sailing Academy who are the new custodians of Gipsy Moth IV was there to see the start and he said, “It is the culmination of a year of incredibly hard work against deadlines and escalating costs of the
refit. At times I never thought I would see the day when she would set sail again on this lap of honour around the world. But meet the deadlines we did and it is a very proud moment for me and the Gipsy Moth Team as I waved a farewell to the boat, the skipper and the young crew.”
Steve Rouse the skipper on this leg of the voyage is busy planning how he will juggle the running of the yacht, the navigation ( by sextant ), the daily skippers log, the video content uploaded to the website and the weather, but what must it been like for Sir Francis doing it alone 4 decades ago. Steve has one concern however and in his own words, “we seem to have a bit of a
Problem! We have a stowaway on board. Nicknamed Blackbeard ( for obvious
reasons when you see his photo ) he seems to be a bit of a rascal, turning up
in unexpected places and being caught on camera and video. Watch out on the website www.gipsymoth.org http://www.gipsymoth.org/ for him as the story unfolds.
Aboard for the Gibraltar to Tenerife leg of the voyage are Myles, Rahim and Martin. Martin said that he was finding it hard to get his head around the scale of the project. Being an ambassador for his school, for his region and the team back at home is a big responsibility and he just hopes he can live up to their expectations of him. Rahim said that having lived in London he hadn’t really seen the stars and was looking forward to the night watches. Miles said that he was looking forward to the freedom of being in an open space free from the noise and the traffic of London.
You can follow their adventures by logging on to the on the website
www.gipsymoth.org <http://www.gipsymoth.org/> and watching the video clips
which are uploaded daily.
-ends-
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NOTE TO MEDIA
For further press information, please contact:
Anna Symcox
PR Manager & PA to the CEO
United Kingdom Sailing Academy
Tel: +44 (0) 1983 203016
Fax: +44 (0) 1983 295938
Mob: +44 (0) 7709 485674
Email: anna.symcox@uksa.org
Web: www.uksa.org |
Susan Preston Davis
Global Media Co-ordinator
Tel: +44 (0) 1489 789111
Mobile: + 44(0) 7771 732007
Email: susan@mpr.eclipse.co.uk |
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United Kingdom Sailing Academy
UKSA is recognized as the world's leading Sailing Academy. It is a registered charity and non - profit making organization supported by the Lister Trust. Based in West Cowes on the Isle of Wight it has superb, modern facilities with residential accommodation and operates a fleet of over 300 craft. UKSA provide a wide range of courses aimed at adults, young people and the disabled. Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal is Patron to the Academy and Ellen MacArthur is their Ambassador.
Yachting Monthly
Gipsy Moth IV's second world voyage celebrates the 100th birthday of leading marine publication Yachting Monthly magazine and the 40th anniversary of Sir Francis' celebrated single-handed voyage.
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight Economic Partnership is the economic development agency for the Isle of Wight. Their unique position allows them to bridge the gap between the public and private sectors and ensure a coordinated approach in improving the Island's economy.
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