Latest news with #ClipperRace
Times
7 days ago
- Sport
- Times
Global Clipper race lives up to its name, with Britons in the minority
A Frenchman, an American and a Belarussian board a Clipper Round the World yacht and the skipper says 'where have all the Brits gone?' It may sound like the start of a joke, but the increasing popularity of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston's race has resulted in the proportion of British crew plummeting, with more than half of sailors taking part hailing from the rest of the world. 'Originally it was only the Brits and a few Europeans taking part, but the last race had 43 nationalities' Knox-Johnston, 86, said, before the start of this year's race at the end of next month. 'The international crew were at 53 per cent in the last race, with the Brits down to 47.' The biennial race, where about 700 amateur sailors pay to race around the world on a 70ft racing yacht, helped by a professional skipper, first launched in 1996. This year's event, which takes place across eight legs and involves a fleet of 10 Clipper 70 yachts, will have the highest number of international crew so far. 'We've got better known internationally,' Knox-Johnston said. 'We go to these ports around the world and when you get crew from other countries their newspapers send reports back, so that's bloody good advertising.' Forty-five per cent of the crew aged 40 and under are female this year, while across all ages about 25 per cent of the crew are women. The biggest group of participants, after the British, is now Americans. 'It used to be Australians, but that's dropped,' said Knox-Johnston, who became the first man to sail non-stop around the world solo in 1969. The first thing prospective crew have to do is complete four weeks of rigorous sail training on the Solent, where Clipper has its headquarters in Gosport, Hampshire. It costs about £10,000 to complete the training and take part in one of the race legs. For those wanting to do the full circumnavigation of the globe it costs more than £50,000. When The Times joined a crew of 12 amateurs completing their first week of training, only two were British. The rest came from Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Switzerland, France, Belarus, Germany and the US. It is a steep learning curve as many sign up without any previous sailing experience, having seen an advert at a time when they want to radically change their lives. Kyle Vacca, 43, a former pilot in the US Air Force who is now an engineer and mission manager at SpaceX, managed to lose his iPhone overboard just before the crew's first man overboard drill, after someone knocked into him on deck. 'It's been a very intensive learning experience,' Vacca said. 'I am used to operating procedures in potentially hazardous environments while being safe and working with a team, so the details are new to me but there are a lot of similarities.' By the end of the first week they are beginning to get to grips with the vast array of different ropes onboard and bewildering terminology. 'You need to load the halyard on to the pit winch and open the jammer,' Nigel Parry, 60, the skipper of the training boat, shouts into the wind at Alice Morel, 35, a French travel agent living in Queensland, Australia, who has no previous sailing experience. Then he barks: 'Oliver, are you milkmaid? Then you should be on the other side of the mast.' Later in the day they attempt their second man overboard drill. Trish McLaughlin, 55, a retired Canadian police officer from Mount Currie, a small town of 5,000 people in British Columbia, is winched over the side to retrieve a floating dummy from the choppy Solent. 'I've always wanted to learn how to sail for my retirement and see the world,' she said, after successfully retrieving the dummy on the third attempt. 'I saw Clipper on my social media feeds and this made me realise I could learn to cross an ocean.' McLaughlin said the training had been 'a lot'. 'I didn't realise sailing was as technical as it has been,' she said. 'I used to have a water phobia but I conquered that so I could go sailing. 'I did have some people saying, 'Are you crazy?' and 'What are you wasting all your money for?' but it's my investment in my retirement, to be able to meet beautiful people in beautiful places, and see a little bit more of the world.' The 14th edition of the race sets sail from Portsmouth on August 31, but for those who prefer to keep their feet on dry land, a new five-part series called No Going Back, which follows the teams in the 13th edition, is available on Amazon Prime Video.
BBC News
29-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Plumber to sail round world to mark 60th birthday
Bob Brown had long held a desire to take part in what is described as the world's toughest endurance it was not until deciding how to mark his 60th birthday in March that he decided to take the plunge and join Brown, from Leicester, had initially planned a trip to Australia to watch the British and Irish Lions rugby tour but said he could not justify the cost on a "lads' trip away".Instead, the plumber has signed up to be a crew member in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, a 40,000 nautical miles (74,080km) challenge which starts in Portsmouth at the end of August. The 10 participating crews in the race will make six ocean crossings and call into 14 ports across the globe as part of the 11-month Brown, who is originally from Northern Ireland, said he had planned to watch the Lions after going on tour 20 years added: "I looked at the cost and I suppose if you chuck everything in, it would be about £20,000, and I thought 'can I justify spending £20,000 on what was a rugby tour? A lads' trip away'. "I've followed the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race from afar for quite a long time and my inbox was getting bombarded with information from Clipper and I thought 'that would be something to tell the grandkids about'." The race, crewed mainly by non-professional sailors, was founded 30 years ago by Sir Robin complete four weeks of training ahead of the race, in which each paying crew will be accompanied by a fully-qualified skipper and first being selected, Mr Brown, who considered himself a novice sailor before joining up, said he thought he had "one chance" to take part in the challenge. He added: "It has always been an itch, an adventure I wanted to do. And now things have aligned with family and work. "I am of a certain age where I may not be able to do it in a few years, so now was the ideal opportunity."
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- BBC News
Wokingham man to sail around the world with no prior experience
A man is taking on an endurance challenge like no other, spending the best part of a year on a yacht, despite no previous sailing Lynch, 42, from Wokingham, Berkshire is preparing to take part in a 40,000-mile nautical race around the globe, starting in Portsmouth, Hampshire on 31 its most remote points, those competing in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race will be closer to astronauts on the International Space Station than people on Lynch, who previously worked in IT, said he "didn't even have an interest in sailing" before signing up for the challenge. The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, crewed mainly by non-professional sailors, was founded 30 years ago by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston in March will complete four weeks of training ahead of the 11-month route through treacherous part in all of the different legs of the race costs around £50, global race will also take in Cape Town, Qingdao, Tongyeong City, Seattle and Oban. Mr Lynch told BBC Berkshire he loves being outdoors and taking on challenges, having previously undertaken a running trip in said: "If I'm not outdoors and doing challenges then I'm indoors, doing rock climbing and hot yoga."He said in many ways, he is "not the right man for the job".He explained how he saw an advert on social media last year and thought it looked "pretty cool".He then made a "spontaneous" application after taking voluntary redundancy in said: "I'm not sure I even know what I'm doing, I've had no experience in sailing and no interest which is strange."The high end training that they put you through is seriously intense."There's people from all walks of life and all levels of sailing."There could be people who have done their yacht masters who actually teach people like me, who have no sailing experience and people who sailed when they were young and want to get back into it."He said he is "physically prepared" and looking forward to getting to know his race added: "I'm going to be cold, I'm probably going to get seasick and be tired, but that's okay, I will deal with it - I know it's going to happen." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
28-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Derby sailor to race around the world with amateur crew
A woman from Derby will spend a year sailing around the world in a 70ft yacht crewed by mate Zoe Longley will be one of two professional sailors on board one of 10 yachts taking part in the biannual Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - dubbed the "world's toughest endurance challenge".The crews will make six ocean crossings and call into 14 ports across the globe, including Oban, Cape Town, Qingdao and said the race was set to be "intense" but the opportunity to sail around the world was a dream come true. She said: "I've wanted to sail around the world for a long time."I've heard it's a bit of a test but I'm very much up for it as I'm sure all the crew are."There's lots of pulling on ropes, lots of pulling on sails, lots of boat tilting trying not to fall off." Each crew, aside from the skipper and first mate, is made up of amateurs who will be steering their vessels 40,000 nautical miles when the event gets under way from Portsmouth on 31 Longley, 27, said: "They don't have to have had any previous experience before they sign up to do the Clipper Race but they would have all done at least four weeks of intense sailing to prepare for the race."And then as the race goes on the training continues, it never stops so by the end of the race the circumnavigators are pretty good - there's actually two mates this year that were circumnavigators the race before."Taking charge of an inexperienced crew means the event carries out a rigorous selection Rivers, deputy race director, said: "Our talented first mates have sailed all over the world and come from diverse maritime backgrounds."Their primary role throughout the race is to support the team skipper in all aspects of boat management, meaning this bunch are not only great sailors but also teachers, leaders and mentors for the race crew." Miss Longley has previous experience on transatlantic deliveries, conservation expeditions in Mexico and crewing scuba diving vessels in said: "Before this job I did lots of other stuff including some skippering myself, so I feel very much prepared for this new exciting adventure."It doesn't really feel like giving up a year of my life for a job, it feels quite the opposite."
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Clipper round-the-world yacht race set to return to Scotland next summer
OBAN is set to welcome the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race once again, after it was selected as a port in the 25/26 edition of the legendary sailing challenge. The west coast town hosted the race for the first time in July last year, when it was estimated to have attracted thousands of visitors to the area and generated £2 million in revenue from the crews and their families alone. The town will be hoping for a repeat of this success when the competition's 11 boats and 200 sailors arrive there in early summer 2026, during the town's international sailing festival. The stopover will come during leg eight of the 40,000-nautical mile race, when the sailors will be tackling the 3900 nautical miles from North America to the finish line in Portsmouth. READ MORE: Five of the best things to do in Oban as it's crowned Scottish town of the year The announcement comes just months after Oban was named Scotland town of the year in the 2024 Scotland Loves Local awards. Argyll and Bute council leader Jim Lynch said it was 'fantastic news' that the race will be returning to Oban next year. 'It's a huge, international event and so is a welcome opportunity to attract people to Oban, and Argyll and Bute more widely, and to bring global focus on the area as a great place to visit and invest,' he added. Andrew Spence, chief executive of Bid4Oban, added that the event would 'showcase Scotland at its best with numerous events and activities planned'. Last year, the crews spent 10 days in Oban, during which they visited Dunollie Castle, and took part in whisky tastings at Oban Distillery, Gaelic lessons, and a shinty taster session, as well as a trip to nearby Lismore. Stirling-born Max Rivers, who was a skipper during the 2023-24 edition and is deputy race director in the 25-26 edition described the experience of arriving in home waters. 'The west coast of Scotland has some of the best sailing in the world, and it was an honour to share the most gorgeous parts of the nation with my global crew,' he said. 'Having grown up sailing in and around Oban, I relished the opportunity to sail there again with the Clipper Race. 'Our arrival and departure in the Firth of Lorn didn't disappoint with its amazing wind and scenery, making it truly one of the most memorable sailing locations in the world. 'And to top it off, the town was an amazing host with brilliant events and spectacular hospitality. 'Oban put on a superb stopover, and I am delighted that our next intake of international crew will get to enjoy all that the town has to offer in 2026.' The roster for the 25/26 edition of the race includes five participants living in Scotland, and Clipper Ventures head of partnerships, Kate Ashley, said work is currently underway to include a 'Scottish named yacht' in the event. 'This partnership with Oban means we will once again see this Scottish town of the year sit alongside major international cities on our race route,' she said. 'Oban, with its rich maritime history and warm hospitality, is the perfect destination to welcome our adventurous crew after a tough ocean crossing. 'Our event brings with it a global audience and in the 30 years since the Clipper Race launched its first circumnavigation, we've seen many collaborations develop into broader partnerships which can include a team entry. 'A Scottish named yacht in our event would give brands an international platform as our fleet sails to 14 destinations around the world and we are currently working to make this a possibility.' Other ports announced on the race so far are Portsmouth (where the race begins and ends), Cape Town, Tongyeong in Korea and Qingdao in China, with further ports due to be announced later this month. The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race was founded in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo and non-stop around the world. Most participants have no previous sailing experience before undertaking an intensive training course to prepare them for the race, and they can choose to complete the full 11-month circumnavigation or to test themselves on one or multiple legs.
