Jamaica Tourist Board celebrates spirited team peformance

The Jamaica Get All Right crew arrived home to one final, traditional Jamaican reception in London on Saturday after almost eleven months representing their Caribbean sponsor as they raced round the planet.

Jamaica’s High Commissioner to the UK, Her Excellency, Aloun Ndombet-Assamba, was on hand at St Katharine Docks to welcome the return of the crew who finished the Clipper Race in eighth overall position and congratulate them on their achievement.

Saturday’s Race Finish marked the third time the Jamaica Tourist Board has sponsored a team in the Clipper Race. The Jamaica team took part in the 2007-08 race and the Jamaica Lightning Bolt team featured in the 2009-10 edition. Jamaica has been a stopover destination for four editions of the Clipper Race; the first visit coming during the 2005-06 race.

Based on feedback from 2013-14 crew members, the Port Antonio stopover in Jamaica in June was ranked as one of their most memorable stopovers. The rum flowed freely to celebrate the finale of Race 12: The Spirit of Jamaica Chase, and the laid back Caribbean vibe and friendly hospitality offered well needed relaxation and change of race pace for all.  

Elizabeth Fox, Regional Director for UK and N. Europe at Jamaica Tourist Board said: “We’re very proud to have sponsored the ‘Jamaica-Get All Right’ Clipper yacht for the Clipper 2013-14 Round the World Yacht  Race. 

“The yacht and our enthusiastic crew have been the perfect showcase for Jamaica around the globe over the past ten and a half months. We are so proud of our crew and hope the Clipper Race experience has been a phenomenal life achievement for them. They really embraced the Jamaican culture and we hope they take away the Jamaican spirit with them.”

2008 Beijing Olympic silver medallist Heather Fell, the British modern pentathlon athlete who joined the Jamaica Get All Right team in New York for the final race leg, commented: “What an incredible experience. As someone who has spent most of my life training and performing as an individual, the past few weeks have been quite a major change for me.”  

“Being part of a team with such fantastic variety of skills and personalities was a truly unique life experience. I felt a much greater degree of collective responsibility and while I found it took a greater degree of mental effort to consider the safety and performance of others, who quickly felt like family, it was an incredibly rewarding and very gratifying experience. 

“I am already busy planning my next sailing adventures and would love to return to the Clipper 70’s and compete again in the next race.”

Jamaica Get All Right skipper Pete Stirling congratulated his crew as he said: “What an incredible race. I am so proud of my whole team who really joined together and gave it their all over the past ten months and more. 

“Thanks to the great support of the Jamaica Tourist Board, we were all made to feel like honorary Jamaicans as we represented their beautiful country on our travels, which also helped us generate a positive team vibe on board. I’m sure we will all retain a fond sense of Jamaican essence with us as we all now head off into our next adventures.”