It was the day of the Clipper 2017 departure and we got ourselves onto the press boat so that we were up in the action.
The Clipper Race 2017/2018 was ready for departure from Liverpool and yachts from Liverpool Yacht club were out on the water in force. Quite a few of the yachts had decorated them selves with bunting, so they looked fantastic. Being out of the river meant that we were able to get much closer than the crowds on the water front and we were able to get much closer than that as we had got a lift on the press boat, which meant that we were able to get inside the exclusion zone.
Of course it was not all fun and games as we were also on hand to prepare the press boat for departure. Prudence got in on the action and she got into the wheel house. Once we had prepared the boat, we went off to collect the press from the Isle of Man ferry terminal. While we went down the river, we looked at the crowds on the river side and they looked like little dots. I got stuck in on the mugs that were on board, that were dirty from tea stain. A little bit of salt on a flannel and I had a make shift scourer and soon all the mugs looked good enough to make the press a cup of tea.
We joined the press in having a brew and admired the camera equipment that they had. We also had to talk to the press and they checked that we had the correct authority to be inside the exclusion zone. Once the serious job was zone we joked with them about being breathalyzed. While the yachts lifted the sails, they looked a little like an ugly duckling, but once the sails were up they looked truely elegant. Once they had all got their main sail up, the yachts began a parade of sail, up past all the people who had come to cheer them on. The Liverpool yacht led the parade and the press photographers started their work taking pictures.
Other people had managed to get out on the water, members of Liverpool Yacht Club, a special sailing of one of Liverpool's ferries, the police and other boat users. The parade was a great time to see the boats, but then it was time to start the race, which began at the International start line. Those yachts powered down the Mersey and we were right in the middle of the action, just a few boats lengths away, sometimes less. We managed to get one of the photographers the picture he wanted of the Liverpool boat powering past the Liver building, while the shot that I liked the best was getting so close to Sanya that we nearly rammed it. We followed the yachts as far as we could before we returned the press to the ferry terminal.
For us we were well past the time of the last lock, so we beached the boat on New Brighton Beach and had an ice cream.
