Shore crews probably got wetter in one afternoon than sailors did in the entire 550-mile final sprint from Lorient in France to Galway.

Bigger, better and wetter.

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.