By Kuvee Kangueehi CAPE TOWN DOZENS of Namibian children from LÃÆ’Æ‘Æ‘ÃÆ”šÃ‚¼deritz last week Friday joined hundreds of children from Cape Town to witness the exciting arrival of the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ sailing vessel at the Waterfront in Cape Town. The yacht, named Black Pearl, is taking part in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005/2006, which started in the Spanish port of Vigo on 12 September 2005. The Namibian Minister of National Service, Sport and Culture John Mutorwa and his Permanent Secretary Shipoh also attended the event, which was sponsored by Pescanova. The event coincided with South Africa’s Reconciliation Day, celebrated on 16th December as a day marking the appeasement achieved between blacks and whites with the country’s first all-race elections in 1994. The highlight of the day was when Nobel Peace Prize winner, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, gave his blessing to the newly relaunched yacht, the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’. This yacht, one of the entrants in the 2005/6 Volvo Ocean Race around the world, was badly damaged on the first leg to Cape Town. It has now been repaired and is ready to start the second leg to Australia, early in the new year. At the occasion the captain of the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Paul Cayard briefed the media as well as the children about the Volvo Ocean Race and shared his history and experience in ocean racing. Cayard, the 46-year-old first US skipper to win the race in 1997-98, noted that although the race is very tough it has given him opportunities to meet with different people around the world. “It’s an enormous opportunity to introduce the general public to sailing and to the Volvo Ocean Race. I simply couldn’t say ‘no’ to a proposal of this scope.” Cayard won the Whitbread Round the World Race, as it was known then, on EF Language in 1998. He said: “It was the most exciting race of my life, and one that has left an indelible mark on my career and provided me with the most on a human level. That’s why I decided to do it again.” Cayard is a seven-time sailing world champion, a five-time America’s Cup veteran and a two-time Olympian. His accolades include election to the Sailing World Hall of Fame in 2002 and Rolex Yachtsman of the Year in 1998. Leg one from Vigo, Spain, to Cape Town, South Africa, started on 12 November. The eight subsequent legs take in Melbourne, Wellington, Rio de Janeiro, Baltimore, New York, Portsmouth, Rotterdam and Gothenburg. The 2005/06 Volvo Ocean Race legs: Leg 1: Vigo, Spain, to Cape Town, South Africa Leg 2: Cape Town to Melbourne, Australia Leg 3: Melbourne to New Zealand Leg 4: New Zealand to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Leg 5: Rio de Janeiro to Baltimore, Maryland Leg 6: Baltimore to New York Leg 7: New York to Southampton, England; Leg 8: Southampton to Gothenburg, Sweden; Leg 9: Gothenburg to Baltic finish port.