the rrs sir david attenborough will be launched into the river mersey later today by the man himself,isa it is a very suitable, fitting name. yes, to have a research ship named after you. mike, though, what did you call him earlier? let's not go there again! the lovely mike is in wimbledon. what are those eyes doing behind you? it looks like they are hoovering. 0ver your right shoulder. yes, they have got their work cut out this morning, and on the far side they are sweeping up. the fact is, they were here until 11pm playing in the second men's semifinal. that is because of this historic match involving kevin anderson and john isner. it was the second longest match in england history, it lasted just over 6.5 hours. imagine that, the heat of the sun, on into the evening. think of the umpire satin his chairfor that long. the dust is now settling on this historic match. isner himself was involved in the longest, eight years ago against nicolas mahut. hundreds started queuing up for "resale" tickets, hoping to take the place of fans who had to leave. rafael nadal and novak djokovic were f

britain's ten—tonne polar research ship afloat for the very first time in the river mersey.ore celebrated name. building the 129—metre rrs sir david attenborough has taken 1 million individual pieces of steel and a50 km of wire. and while she's not the biggest vessel to be built here on the mersey, this ship is unique. as well as onboard laboratories for the 60 scientists who will work aboard, the ship has giant, hugely insulated freezers to contain and keep safe frozen sa m ples from the planet's polar regions. the sir david attenborough is the most technologically advanced research vessel ever built in this country, and because of her size they've had to wait for the highest tide to get her into the river mersey, but she's destined for much more extreme environments. this is how the ship will look when the real exploration begins, and the captain himself has had a hand in preparing his vessel for some genuinely uncharted territory. one of the things i was very keen on putting on the vessel was a forward facing sonar, so that gives us an image, a kilometre ahead of the vess

a fantastic moment for the cruise, after the ii river mersey.se, after the 11 months they have been through and the challenging times they have faced. near the dock is sanya serenity coast, the winner. for the first time, the winning skipper is a woman. earlier she was speaking about what a feat this is. a bit ofa about what a feat this is. a bit of a relief, knowing the last race is done. i would like to see my itiuiti race is done. i would like to see my mum and my brother! the dots are shortly going to be making their way out. they are going on a tour of the waterfront. —— the boats are making their way out. a big challenge for many of these cruise is adapting back to normal life. skippers aside, the crew members are not professionals. there are nurses and teachers. they have been on these boats at sea for ii teachers. they have been on these boats at sea for 11 months. we will be remembered that this year for the first time a female skipper has won the race. britain's 0lympic the race. britain's olympic gold medallist geeky holland has won t

in the river mersey. it was famed for the public‘s decision to name it boaty mcboatface, but the vessel now bears afar more celebrated name. building the 129—metre rrs sir david attenborough has taken 1 million individual pieces of steel and a50 km of wire. and while she's not the biggest vessel to be built here on the mersey, this ship is unique. as well as onboard laboratories for the 60 scientists who will work aboard, the ship has giant, hugely insulated freezers to contain and keep safe frozen sa m ples from the planet's polar regions. the sir david attenborough is the most technologically advanced research vessel ever built in this country, and because of her size they've had to wait for the highest tide to get her into the river mersey, but she's destined for much more extreme environments. this is how the ship will look when the real exploration begins, and the captain himself has had a hand in preparing his vessel for some genuinely uncharted territory. one of the things i was very keen on puttin

ian haslam is in liverpool's albert dock for us this morning ahead of the final sprint up the river merseyat i am told in a few hours time just 100,000 people will be lining the albert dock to welcome these competitors home. 0ver be lining the albert dock to welcome these competitors home. over 700 people have taken part in the race over its eighth legs and 13 races within that. many of them are amateurs, the only professionals have been the skippers themselves. i said there will be huge crowds but it is obviously early, not one person here apart from this lady he was one of the competitors. she took pa rt was one of the competitors. she took part in earlier legs and is a member of the winning team. kelly, thank you forjoining us. we said before this is for amateurs largely. tell us this is for amateurs largely. tell us what you do for a dayjob. this is for amateurs largely. tell us what you do for a day job. i'm a consultant, working in london, i come up here to lovely sunny liverpool to see the come in. we have never done any sailing before this race, how did you get involved? i have nev

the rrs sir david attenborough will be launched into the river mersey later today by the man himselfof course they thought that probably was not appropriate and went with the david attenborough is the name. which is appropriate. totally. he is a dearly regarded man. but boaty mcboatface is much more funny. have we got mike mcbushface in the wings of the sport? that was not funny. i'm sorry. i should sport? that was not funny. i'm sorry. ishould have sport? that was not funny. i'm sorry. i should have thought about that. it looks glorious fare. one more day at wimbledon, you should be soaking this up, i should think. more day at wimbledon, you should be soaking this up, i should thinklj am, soaking this up, i should think.” am, making the most of the peace and quiet after what was a ridiculous day yesterday and you say mcbushface, after the history making match on centre court yesterday, we would all end up with long beards and white hair after it, 6.5 hours, the longest ever men's semifinal on centre court, and behind me i was trying to put it in terms of other sports and i know it i

it will be launched into the river mersey this afternoon by the man himself — tide permitting. 0ur sciencehas more. putting the finishing touches to a giant. while britain's newest polar research ship was famed for the public‘s decision to name it boaty mcboatface, the vessel now bears a far more celebrated name. building the 129 metre rrs sir david attenborough has taken a million individual pieces of steel and a50 kilometres of wire. and while she's not the biggest vessel to be built here on the mersey, this ship is unique. as well as onboard laboratories for the 60 scientists who will work aboard, the ship has giant hugely insulated freezers to contain and keep safe frozen samples from the planet's polar regions. the sir david attenborough is the most technologically advanced research vessel ever built in this country and because of her size, they've had to wait for the highest tide to get into the river mersey, but she is destined for much more extreme environments. this is how the ship will look when the real exploration begins, and the captain himself has had a hand in preparing his

i will show you where they will come in because this is the river mersey.nt finish that gets under way at nine o'clock and as i say 100,000 people expect, the number that were here when they departed almost 11 months ago but not many here as yet although defeat crews that will do the feed for around the world, the tv, are here and is sir robin knox johnson, you are the man who sailed around the world, the first person to do so sold a non—stop around the world and the founder of this event. think ifjoining us. how tough is the challenge? it is tough. 0r people have climbed mt evelyn —— that everest and is held around the world. these are ordinary people, not professionals. 700 competitors, the professionals are the skippers, but beyond that are amateurs who come from all walks of life. everything company directors to taxi drivers, it's a wonderful mix. a0,000 nautical miles is a huge amount to travel, especially if you are an amateur. huge. you see every single type of weather from ferocious storms to calms, well, people have gone all of the way around, six

the yachts will come down the river mersey in about 15 minutes.age—old question — what is the key to a long and happy relationship? well, researchers from the university of exeter have spent 10 years following more than a0 married couples to find out what really makes or breaks a relationship. joining us now from our london newsroom is the university of exeter‘s jan ewing — she's one of the researchers who worked on the project. and here in the studio, we'rejoined by relationship expert sam 0wen. can you give us a sense of what we've discovered that we didn't know before? we follow these couples for over ten years, and what we found was that people fundamentally chose quite well in the first place. they chose someone who they were... had a good relationship with, a really strong friendship with, that was very important. and they had quite realistic expectations. they hadn't bought into the disney ideal of a relationship. they knew that it would require work, and so they did work on it. it wasn't hard work for them, but he nurtured that relationshi

you might be able to see the river mersey behind us.pporters. i like some enthusiasm of a morning! your son is on board. yes, we're from the cayman islands. we sign off and they have come back to see him in. how long has he been away to see him in. how long has he been away for? 11 months. has he done sailing before? he has done some from the caribbean and some offshore things, but this was epic. travelled a0,000 not to go miles over 11 months. it is gruelling stuff. how proud are you? so proud, i cannot even tell you how proud i am. there are nice, and fetching wigs. and talking of that, look at this! who are you supporting? visit seattle. the team has come second overall. notable for the fact its skipper, the professional, is nicky henderson, 25—year—old from guildford, who was the first... been so guildford, who was the first... been so successful. she made some good decisions and managed to find the wind wen xinyu did it. —— when she needed it. you are breathtaking. joining us now is becks. you are a firefighter, but you have taken

they have successfully launched the ship, it is in the river mersey.h valuable work, and will be doing so for decades to come, potentially, bearing his name? sir david attenborough gave a speech, he said it was the greatest of honours to see that ship bear his name. he talked about the importance of polar research, the antarctic is not remote and desolate, and unknown, it is somewhere vitally important to our planet, and knowledge is vitally important to understanding climate change. he described it as one of the greatest honours, a man who has a career, that's quite a statement. what about the reception in birkenhead, obviously shipbuilding is the lifeblood of birkenhead, for many people, has it been a big turnout? it has, yeah. there are about 2000 members of the public year, as well as invited gusts. there's a real sense of celebration here. we were here before the ship, it was all very much a working day, ha rd hats it was all very much a working day, hard hats and high vizjackets, and eve ryo ne hard hats and high vizjackets, and everyone is in th

momentous splash — as britain's newest polar research ship floats for the very first time in the river merseynow bears considered the role the vessel will play in polar science. it's only in recent years that we've discovered how dangerous plastic is. before that, we didn't really understand about cfcs and the problems of what it was doing to the atmosphere and the ozone layer. and so what this ship will be discovering is not only solutions but revealing problems to which i hope it will find the solutions. while she's not the biggest vessel built here on the mersey, this ship will be a unique place for researchers to work. we'll have the labs, mostly aft, cabin areas, and then this little bit in between which has got a coffee shop, there's a gym and a sauna just forward. nice! yeah. as well as labs and living quarters, the vessel has giant freezers to keep safe scientific samples from the polar extremes of our planet. now that all 10,000 tonnes of her hull is in the water for the first time, there is actually still plenty of work to do. there's a whole accommodation block to be lifted onto th

yes, we have started and finished in liverpool several times and to be able to race right up the river merseyple here. and the crews will be going round the docs here in liverpool through the day and we hope to catch up with some of them when they come ashore. thank you. labour party members in birkenhead have passed a motion condemning their pro—brexit mp, frank field, for supporting the government in the commons last week. they also urged the party at westminster to withdraw the whip from mr field. he has been in birkenhead since 1979. -- he he has been in birkenhead since 1979. —— he has been mp in birkenhead. earlier, the constituency party of kate hoey at vauxhall in south london took a similar decision. travel disruption continues for many across the the uk after the hot and stormy weather yesterday. at the moment there are delays of up to five hours on the eurotunnel. they've asked passengers not to travel unless absolutely necessary. p&o ferries are asking customers to allow an extra 90 minutes to clear all security checks at dover. and members of the rmt union at south western railwa

took the overall victory in this year's clipper race, which ended with the sprint finish up the river merseyldford is the youngest ever skipper in this race. maybe a future winner of that race. before we go, a reminder of our top story, another great performance. geraint thomas will become the first welshman to win the tour de france in paris tomorrow after he maintained his overall lead following today's time trial. that's all from sportsday. we'll have more throughout the evening. good evening, the torrential rain that brought fun northern ireland eases off the cd. but we see wet weather push across the western half of scotla nd weather push across the western half of scotland that becomes combined —— confined. it will strengthen into severe gale force. elsewhere we see outbreaks of rain ease off and then turn wetter again. western england and wales. sunday will be a windy day. strong winds around the northwest of scotland. dls around the south. outbreaks of rain. there will be some dry moments in the afternoon with brighter skies here and there and tries of all likely to be northern irela

took the overrall victory in this year's clipper race, which ended with the sprint finish up the river merseyr skipper nikki henderson. the 25—year—old from guildford is the youngest ever clipper race skipper. a reminder of our top story — geraint thomas will become the first welshman to win the tour de france in paris tomorrow after maintaining his overall lead in today's time trail. that's all from sportsday. we'll have more for you at 7:30. good evening. part of the uk have had almost a month rainfall and just a few hours. thunderstorms replace the long summer heat wave. lightning strikes have added to the misery for thousands of travellers with cancelled flights and trains. among the worst affected have been passengers at stansted airport and those using your tunnel. simonjones reports. the holiday getaway from hell, seemingly unending queues at stansted airport as flights were cancelled, blamed on the thunderstorms that meant planes couldn't fly safely. after waiting for several hours, many had to give up and head home. it's just incredible how unaccountable they are, there is no—one her

this is the yacht back in the dock, they have been coming in from the river mersey, at the end of thisience for these crews, who are not professional, to come back and be greeted by their friends and family backin greeted by their friends and family back in liverpool where it began in august. last year. with mejonathan and fiona, who were among the crews, hurricanes, goodness knows what you have dealt with? we have been through everything, every experience you can ever imagine, highs and lows, but what you get out of the sailing is great people, i'd never sailed before and it was a great experience and i would never change it for the world. there must be times where you wonder if you will ever get back? there were times when we went to a hurricane in the pacific and you are a very small dot ina very pacific and you are a very small dot in a very big ocean, and you have got to hang on, but we had a professional skipper and he was very professional skipper and he was very professional and he kept us save all the time. there was always that. fiona, you are a nurse, i gather you we re fion

you might see the river mersey behind.to the supporters here. i like a bit of enthusiasm in the morning! you are supporting team liverpool and your son is on board? yes, james, we are from the cayman islands and we came back to see him back in. how long has he been away for? 11 months. has he done sailing before? he has done sailing from the caribbean and offshore things. no, this was amazing, it was epic. you have travelled 40,000 nautical miles over a period of 11 months. that is really gruelling! how proud you of this man? so proud, i can't even tell you how proud i am! go, james, we love you! very nice. fetching wicks as well! speaking of which, look at this! tell us who you are supporting? visit seattle. the team which had come second overall. notable because its skipper, the professional on—board, it is nicky henderson, 25 years old, from guildford. so successful. she was an excellent skipper. she made some good decisions and she found the wind when she needed it. you made a good decision with this headgear! somebody

we run the banks of the river mersey.n the top deck. that is the lunch party going on board, who will be on board the ship when it is going into the water. john drummond is the project director. you let the building of this vessel. how nervous i? it is a nervous day but the fantastic day for the business and the company. we have worked really hard to get to this stage. at 12:20 p:m., when sir david presses the button, the vessel will descend into the river. it has been a tough couple of weeks to get the lunch ready. it looks wonderful. very impressive. we‘ve got the perfect weather today and no sign of high visibility, hard hats, it is the smartest outfits. what is special about this vessel? from when we first laid the keel with sir david attenborough in october 2016, there was 190 tonnes of steel. buying you, you can see 9000 tonnes of ship about to descend. within the vessel, it is the sport, it is a cargo vessel which will carry 4200 square metres of cargo. it will carry fuel, it has got a helicopter deck, science equi

this year's race ended with the sprint finish up the river mersey to the royal albert docks in liverpoolor skipper nikki henderson. the 25—year—old from guildford is the youngest ever skipper in the race. durham jets have won today's t20 blast game against notts outaws by seven wickets. england all—rounder ben stokes went for ten and had no answers to harry gurney‘s perfect yorker, but his team chased down nott‘s score of 132 with ease and took a comfortable win. —— outlaws. trainer sir michael stoute has secured a record—breaking sixth king george trophy win with poet's word at ascot. stoute — who had his first king george win with shergar in 1981 — also claimed second with crystal ocean. mesut ozil ended a fraught week off the pitch with a goal for arsenal in their thumping 5—1 friendly win over paris sant germain in singapore. ozil announced his retirement from international football with germany last weekend saying he felt discriminated against by the nation's football hierarchy. he opened the scoring for arsenal in this one though, with alexandre lacazette adding two more. arsenal w