WELCOME to Yorkshire has crossed the Equator in third place in the Clipper Round the World yacht race.
The boat, which includes amateur sailor Leonie Sutherland, 23, of Hartshead, sailed into the southern hemisphere on August 23. The crew – the only English team in the competition – should be landing in Rio de Janeiro imminently to complete the first leg of their 40,000-mile journey. Welcome to Yorkshire will sail from the Brazilian city to Cape Town, South Africa, for the next leg of the journey.
Leonie, who is raising money for the Teenage Cancer Trust, said: “It was a really good feeling and we all cheered. We put our pink Welcome to Yorkshire T-shirts on and did the nautical miles countdown.
“It was awesome. We all cheered and cameras were flashing all over the place.
“Crossing the Equator is a monumental moment in any mariner’s lifetime, amateur or professional.”
