Da Nang (VNA) – A river parade of 12 sailing boats took place in H♈an River of Da Nang on February 25 as part of activities surrounding the ongoing Cl💜ipper 2015-2016 Round the World Yacht Race in the central city.

The event features the 11-sail boat model Clipper 70 designed by Tony Castro, a naval architect. It’s 29 metres high and 21.3 metres long. Among the racing boats is the 58-member Da Nang – Vietnam crew, skippered by Australian sailor and sailing instructor Wendy Tuck. At 40,000 nautical miles in length, the Clipper Race, the 10th of its kind, takes eleven months to complete its around-the-world journey through 14 seaports. Twelve crews with 690 amateur sailors from 44 nations participated. Before arriving in Da Nang , the Clipper Race visited London , Rio de Janeiro , Cape Town , Albany , Sydney and the Whitsundays in Australia . Da Nang is the first Southeast Asian stopover on the Clipper 2015-16 Race circuit. The Clipper Race departs Da Nang on February 27 to sail to Qingdao , China and then continues on to Seattle , Panama , New York , Derry Londonderry in Northern Ireland and Den Helder in the Netherlands , before returning in a victorious homecoming parade in London on July 30, 2016. A first-time Host Port and Team Sponsor of the Clipper Race, Da Nang is taking advantage of the opportunity to boost trade, investment and tourism. As a fast-growing, tourism-friendly city, gifted with a beautiful river, mountains and beaches, Da Nang is striving to become a world-class destination for tourists. It was named No. 1 on TripAdvisor’s 2015 Top 10 World Destinations on the Rise.-VNA