RAINCOATS and umbrellas were the order of the day for those who braved the weather on the third and final day of the Cork Clipper Festival.

THEY lost their first yacht after striking a reef in the Java Sea, they capsized 3,200 kilometres off the American coast, and they have sailed through the teeth of wild Pacific storms.

A GRANNY with a flair for design was the toast of a port town yesterday as the wind filled the sails of the Clipper Round the World race celebrations.

THEY may have travelled around the world despite being amateurs but the crew of the Cork Clipper can’t really do “downtime”.

A RISING star of ocean racing will skipper the Irish entry in a round-the-world yacht race as it crosses the Atlantic to Ireland this summer.