Friends of the Earth Class 40 Yacht leaves Cape Town

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Friends of the Earth Class 40 Yacht leaves Cape Town

Wednesday, 12 July 2006

Friends of the Earth Class 40 leaving Cape Town 7th July

Friends of the Earth Class 40 boat entering in the Route de Rhum has left Cape Town on July 7th on it's way to Falmouth for final race preparations. In a bid to help raise the profile of global warming, Lewis Gordon Pugh swam in the frozen seas of Antartica and is now considering swimming the length if the Thames. Friends of the Earth however are entering the 3500 mile transatlantic race the Route de Rhum this year in a Class 40 boat and this will be their way of keeping climate control measures in the public eye.

It shows that the solutions to climate change already exist and there is still time to take action.

This is the first time this class has been allowed to compete and it remains to be seen if British born skipper, Jonathan Crinion, can shave any time off Ellen Macarthurs single hull time of 13 days 13hours 31 mins in 2002 albeit in a different class of boat.

The Friends of the Earth entry is sailing to support The Big Ask, Friends of the Earth’s climate campaign, which is calling for the Government to introduce a climate law that will commit it to cutting the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions by three per cent year on year. The Big Ask is supported by over half of MPs and thousands of people across the UK.

"The Route du Rhum is one of the world’s premiere long distance races and I am thrilled to have the chance to sail against some of the best sailors in the world. I am equally thrilled to be sailing in support of The Big Ask, Friends of the Earth’s climate campaign. It shows that the solutions to climate change already exist and there is still time to take action." says Jonathan Crinion.

Climate campaigns don't get more elegant that this

The yacht’s maiden voyage will take it from Cape Town via the Azores to Falmouth in UK to finalise preparations ahead of La Route du Rhum which begins in St. Malo in France on Sunday 29th October 2006 and finishes at Pointe à Pitre in Guadeloupe. The competition marks the start of a two year race programme.

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