GREAT Britain celebrates first win

A traditional African steel band set the scene last night as GREAT Britain took to the stage at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town to celebrate the team’s first victory in the third stage of the Clipper Race.

The British Consul General in Cape Town, Chris Trott presented Skipper Simon Talbot and his team with their first winning pennant in the race as the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg made a surprise appearance on the big screen congratulating the crew on their win via pre-recorded video message.

The Deputy Prime Minister said, “It is an incredible achievement that you won the last leg from Rio to Cape Town. The whole country is behind you in South Africa. Enjoy celebrating your victory tonight, and from myself and everyone back home, hope you do well in the rest of the race. Good luck and safe sailing.”

Simon Talbot skipper of GREAT Britain said, “To receive a message from the deputy prime minister and see the whole crowd erupting in applause for us was such a fantastic feeling. Standing on the stage accepting our first winning pennant is the reason we do what we do; we’re competitive and we want to win.”

GREAT Britain, Henri Lloyd and Invest Africa received pennants for first, second and third places respectively. However, Henri Lloyd has now taken the overall lead in the race so far with a three point lead at the top of the leader board.

GREAT Britain is in second place overall while PSP Logistics currently occupies the final podium place with OneDLL and Invest Africa just one and two points behind respectively. You can view the overall leader board positions in the race here.

As well as preparing the yachts for one of the most hotly anticipated ocean crossings, the Southern Ocean, the fleet have been enjoying all that Cape Town has to offer. Race 4 will start on Monday 4 November at 14.30 Local time (12.30 UTC).