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Racing towards a business boom
The Yorkshire Forward Hull and Humber Clipper is helping the city to float new business opportunities as it races around the world.
Each time the yacht docks after weeks of racing at sea, it presents a dynamic image of Hull and sends a message that the city is open for business.
And to back this up, representatives for the Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce have visited several of the key ports to make business contacts.
So far the vessel has visited La Rochelle in France, Salvador da Bahai in Brazil, Durban in South Africa, Fremantle in Australia, Singapore, Qingdao in China and Hawaii.
And representatives from Hull visited Durban, Singapore and Qingdao on trade missions to meet with civic dignitaries and local business leaders in the international freight and shipping industries, as well as other business sectors.
The missions, funded by regional economic development agency Yorkshire Forward, and supported by Hull City Council and private sector companies from the region, hope to forge good trade relations and let people know about the region's port and docks facilities.
"The trade mission to Durban provided a platform to raise awareness of the Hull and Humber ports to the South African business community," says Phil Hall, Hull City Council's investment programmes officer, who attended the event.
"We had meetings with the representatives of Chambers of Commerce from both Durban and Cape Town and also a business organisation called the South African Association of Freight Forwarders.
"Shipping freight from South Africa into the UK currently goes through Tilbury and Felixstowe, so we wanted to promote Hull to try and win a share of this market.
"It gave us a good introduction and building on these new-found relationships could potentially bring new business into the Humber region."
The Hull and Humber was due to dock in Santa Cruz on the west coast of the USA on April 9.
before heading on to Panama, Jamaica, New York, Nova Scotia in Canada and Cork in Ireland to finish in Liverpool on July 5.
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Danny Watson, the skipper of the Hull and Humber Clipper, with the anti-slavery petition as members of his crew look on |
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Plain sailing: crew member Avril Purchon takes the wheel |
Journey of a lifetime
Taking part in the yacht race as a ONE HULL Tag Team member was an experience 18-year-old Hull girl Avril Purchon will never forget.
The sixth former from Hessle High School flew to Australia to join the yacht as it sailed on the leg of the race from Fremantle to Singapore and Qingdao.
After successfully completing her voyage she bid farewell to her crewmates to fly back to England from China.
"I had a fantastic time and loved every minute of it – it was the journey of a lifetime," she says.
"We faced all weathers and sea conditions from plain sailing to 40ft waves.
One storm was so strong that it even threw me out of bed."
Avril's participation in the race also extended to finding signatories for the ONE HULL Tag Team Wilberforce global petition once they arrived in dock.
In Singapore, Avril showed visitors and guests around the vessel and encouraged them to add their name to the petition and its campaign to tackle modern day slavery.
Youth opportunities
The ONE HULL Tag Team project is aimed at encouraging young people from Hull into employment and education.
It is supported by Hull City Council, Connexions, Job Centre Plus and other youth agencies across the city.
Passing through 14 ports in 5 continents, the tag members will each complete a separate leg of the gruelling race.
The petition will travel more than 35,000 miles across the globe and will be signed by international dignitaries at the end of each major leg to highlight how modern-day slavery still exists.
Support grows Among the world's dignitaries who have signed the petition so far are:
Cllr Warren Bradley - Leader, Liverpool City Council; Burden Q Whiteman - High Commissioner of Jamaica; Cllr Xcan Martinez - Caruna City Council, Spain; Edmundo Pereira Santos - Vice Governor, State of Bahia, Brazil; Cllr Obed Malaba - Mayor of Durban, South Africa; Cllr Peter Tagliafelli - Mayor of Fremantle, Western Australia; Mrs Braema Mathi - Nominated Member of Parliament, Singapore
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