Yachts pass London's Tower Bridge after race around world

LONDON (AP) — A dozen yachts have passed through London's Tower Bridge after an 11-month race around the world.

Thousands cheered Saturday's parade for all 12 ships competing in the 10th running of the 21-year-old event involving a privately owned fleet of identical 70-foot (21-meter) yachts.

Competitors paid to participate in the 14-stage event that concluded Friday with a race from the Dutch port of Den Helder across the North Sea to Southend, England.

All 12 yachts departed from docks near Tower Bridge in August 2015. Their ports of call included Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Sydney, Da Nang in Vietnam, Seattle, New York and Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

Two sailors died in separate accidents along the way. They were the competition's first deaths.