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 AT the beginning of April sailors on a yacht named after Cardiff set off on the longest leg of the Clipper 2005-06 Round The World Yacht Race.
A celebration, with dancing dragons, performers, musicians and the release of 5,000 racing pigeons, was held on the dockside in Qingdao - the sailing city of the 2008 Beijing Olympics - to start the leg to Victoria, Canada.
The Cardiff Clipper was first across the line as the 5,600-mile leg across the North Pacific started. The fleet should be sailing into Victoria in early May. They are due to arrive back in Liverpool, where the race started last year, in July.
The Cardiff Clipper currently lies fourth in the race, having secured a podium finish on the second leg to Durban, South Africa, and on the first leg to Port of Salvador, Brazil.
Cardiff skipper Conor Fogerty said the transatlantic crossing - deemed one of the most important races of this seven-leg race - had been a rollercoaster from the start but the team had given everything and fought to the last minute.
It was the first big test for the amateur crew, who had to cope with extremely changeable conditions from the frustrating calms of the Doldrums to the unpredictable squalls in the approach to the Equator.
Under stormy skies, the crew was greeted in Durban by Zulu dancers and the mayor of the city, before being offered a traditionally brewed local Zulu beer, which was gratefully received by the exhausted crew.
Fogerty said, "We have fought hard for this result throughout the last week. There was method to our madness in breaking from the fleet! The last 24 hours have been a nervewracking experience with Qingdao giving us a good run for our money. My crew worked so hard for this result, they deserve all the rest they can get here in Durban."
From Durban the 10-yacht fleet moved on to Fremantle in Western Australia, encountering the Southern Ocean and the infamous Roaring Forties at one of the toughest times of the year.
Then it was up to Qingdao, via Singapore and the Philippines. After Victoria the boats will move on to Panama and Jamaica, before setting off on the last leg to Liverpool sometime in June.
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