Skipper Pete Stirling makes it a day to remember for Jamaica Get All Right’s No1 fan

Jerome Murdoch was eight years old when he met Pete Stirling, skipper of the Jamaica Lightning Bolt team when it arrived in Port Antonio during the Clipper 09/10 Race.

Four years later, Jerome was waiting at the Errol Flynn Marina at midnight when Pete sailed back into Port Antonio as skipper of the Jamaica Get All Right team.

Jerome’s Mother, Jeanette says she doesn’t have to read Pete’s blogs herself or look at the Clipper Race website to get the latest news. Her son recites his favourite skipper’s blogs daily to her over breakfast and tells her everything about the race.

Pete considers Jerome to be Jamaica Get All Right’s biggest fan and invited the youngster for a private tour of his boat as a thank you for his long term support.

“Jerome has been following the race since we left London on 1 September. I was here four years ago during the 09/10 Clipper Race on Jamaica Lightning Bolt and Jerome came on board for a tour then. He’s been our No 1 fan ever since basically. We gave him a private tour with some of his friends and family and I presented him with a signed Jamaica team t-shirt. He was absolutely made up and it clearly meant the world to him.

“Jerome’s support fills me with inspiration. When I am at sea, writing my blogs day after day, it can be easy to lose motivation but when I know how much pleasure they can give and how every detail gets absorbed, I get a lot of pleasure from that. Jerome tells me he wants to sail around the world himself one day so you never know, in about ten years’ time, it could be me reading his blogs from the ocean.”

Speaking about her son’s experience, with tears in her eyes Jeanette Murdoch explained: “For me, Jerome’s tour with Captain Pete was one of the best things he has done in his life. He got up this morning after the tour and as I kissed him while leaving early for work he opened his eyes and pointed to the Jamaica Get All Right shirt, now hanging on his wardrobe door and said, look Mummy, I’m so happy.”

“I’m so grateful to Captain Stirling and his wife for the gift they have given my son. I love them both and I love the Clipper Race. My son wants to become a skipper so he now has a lot of work to do at school. We’ll be following the race back to London with even more interest now.”

Yesterday was the first of three consecutive open boat tour days at Errol Flynn Marina, where school groups and members of the public are invited to come down and take free tours of the Clipper Race yachts, hosted by crew members.  Over 200 local students aged 5 to 16 years old visited the yachts today, also including and a group of Scouts from the Portland Association were also greeted by scout crew member George Bayles, 20 on Qingdao.

Open boat tours continue at Errol Flynn Marina today and tomorrow, 22 May from 10:00 to 18:00.