Under blue skies and 12 knots of breeze, the Clipper 07-08 fleet set sail from Halifax, Nova Scotia this morning in the Democracy 250 Race to Sydney, Cape Breton Island. The D250 Race is not an official stage of the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race series, but is a ‘race within the race’ and one of the events to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of democracy in Nova Scotia, the oldest democracy in Canada.

The forecast for the race is for an offshore wind and, with relatively calm seas, the fleet should be able to make good progress towards the finish line 200 nautical miles away. The yachts are expected to arrive in Sydney between 8pm and midnight local time on Friday 13 June. (2300 GMT 13 June and 0300 GMT 14 June.)

Entries are now open for the next event. YM’s Geoff Pack Scholar, Ben Meakins, spent three days sailing with Clipper Training last week – see how wannabe ocean racers are whipped into shape on the Telltale blog.