The fleet of twelve identical 70-foot ocean racing yachts, along with a flotilla of RNLI support vessels and spectator boats, participated in a spectacular parade with London’s iconic Tower Bridge lifting to salute the crew twice ahead of their ocean odyssey.

“Our crew are everyday people who are taking on one of the world’s toughest endurance challenges,” stated Clipper Race founder and legendary yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston (76), who became the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world in 1968-9.

Sir Robin established the Clipper Race so that novice sailors could experience ocean racing and, for some, a full circumnavigation. Nearly half of the 700 crew, representing 44 nationalities, from all walks of life, had never sailed before undergoing their extensive pre-race training. The youngest is 18 and the oldest is 74. 35 per-cent are women.

Sarah Thompson, a 29 year old solicitor from County Down is sailing the Atlantic Trade Winds leg from London to Rio de Janeiro on board Derry~Londonderry~Doire. Commenting on her decision to sign up for the Clipper Race, Sarah said: “Both sides of my family have been going to sea to make a living for generations. My Dad was a Portavogie fisherman so this challenge honours that tradition.

“I have already gained a lot from my training. I hope to return from my adventure with renewed determination and confidence; able to face a difficult task remembering the call of "All hands on deck" in the middle of the night, in the middle of a storm, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.”

The Clipper Race is a life-changing experience for the crew who are following in the footsteps of more than 3,300 people who have taken on some of the world’s toughest oceans in this unique global challenge since its inaugural race in 1996

Sir Robin added: “Irrespective of their amateur status Mother Nature pulls no punches. They’re going to go through some of the roughest waters in the world; in fact the roughest waters in the world. I wish them a safe and an extraordinary journey – the experiences ahead will stay with them for life.”

The event comprises twelve teams of amateur crew aboard identical 70-foot ocean racing yachts which are each led by a professional skipper.

Leading the Derry~Londonderry~Doire yacht is Daniel Smith, 32, a Senior Yachting and Sailing Instructor from West Kilbride, Scotland, who has taken a sabbatical from his job at SportScotland National Watersports Centre Cumbrae to sail around the world. Dan said: “I’m really excited. We have spent a lot of time getting the boat ready and now cannot wait to get going.

“I’m really enjoying having a lot of our Northern Irish and Irish crew on Derry~Londonderry~Doire. Speaking to past skippers and crew, it sounds like Derry-Londonderry is one of the best stopovers so I’m definitely looking forward to sailing into the home port next July for the Foyle Maritime Festival. The Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Councillor Elisha McCallion came to wish us well before we left and having spent our team building weekend in Northern Ireland, we certainly feel a strong bond with the city.”

Teams are sponsored by global destination, business and consumer brands, which include debuts for cities such as Da Nang - Viet Nam and Visit Seattle. GREAT Britain is making its second appearance after finishing second in the previous edition and Northern Irish entry Derry~Londonderry~Doire is making its third outing. The longest successive competitor is the Chinese city of Qingdao, host of the sailing events of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which has used the race as a major part of its legacy programme; this is its sixth campaign.

Many of the crew fundraise for various charities and to mark the tenth edition of the Clipper Race, Unicef has been made its first official global charity partner. The charity has also been gifted a branded yacht entry by the organisers to help it raise its global profile and highlight its international projects at ports of call to help children in danger.

The opening leg of the race takes the teams over 5,000 nautical miles from the British capital, across the Atlantic Ocean, including the challenging Doldrums, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The fleet will arrive into Derry-Londonderry's Foyle Maritime Festival after crossing the Atlantic Ocean in the Homecoming leg in July 2016.

Race 1 starts tomorrow (Monday 31 August) at 12.30 BST (11:30 UTC). Following the first stopover in Brazil, the fleet will continue on via Cape Town, Albany - Western Australia, Sydney (including the world famous Sydney-Hobart Race), the Whitsundays, Da Nang - Vietnam, Qingdao - China, Seattle, Panama, New York, Derry-Londonderry and Den Helder – the Netherlands, before returning to London’s St Katharine Docks for Race Finish on 30 July 2016.