Sailing has been a lifelong joy of mine. It started by capsizing sunfish at summer camp, then cruising catamarans around the USVI and most recently sailing keelboats on the Hudson. When the opportunity came to compete in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, I had to take it!
Follow me as I raise money for Unicef racing 7,250+ miles from England to Uruguay with team Visit Sanya, China on Leg 1 of this incredible race!
UPDATE (June 2022):
I had such a great time racing to Uruguay that I decided to come back for more! Racing from Bermuda to NY on Sunday, June 19 at 12pm to raise money for Unicef UK. Follow us through the Race Tracker and watch us arrive/depart on Facebook Live. Additional ways to follow posted on my Social Media page. Winning teams expected to arrive in NY on Thursday 6/23 (we plan to be one of them!).
The only similarity between
Racing and Cruising
is that they require a boat.
Enjoying a moment under our Code 2 spinnaker
Sometimes it’s better not to look behind you.
Before you know it, these 70’ of fiberglass quickly become “home”.
Team Sanya runs a 3 “Watch” system with each 6 person “Watch” racing the boat for 8hrs/day. Competition is fierce with each group trying to go faster (and straighter) than the others.
WHAT IS THE
CLIPPER RACE?
Getting ready for race start! I was on the delivery team sailing Visit Sanya, China up to London from Gosport. Hearing our team song and seeing friends wave as we entered St. Katharine’s dock was incredible!
Award winning footage from the reporter onboard Team Punta del Este capturing the fleet’s experience sailing through a Pampero (sudden, violent storm common in the southern hemisphere).
About the Race
The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is a bi-annual sailing competition founded in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnson, the first person to solo circumnavigate the globe nonstop.
There are 11 sponsored teams competing on identical 70’ ocean racing yachts crewed by a professional skipper, first mate and 18-20 amateur crew.
The race is broken up into 8 Legs with 700+ crew members completing either the full circumnavigation or individual Legs. Each Leg consists of 1-3 separate races as well as additional points from scoring gates and latitude/longitude sprints.
I will be racing Leg 1, sailing 7,250+ miles over 33+ days at sea on team Visit Sanya, China. Leg 1 has a 7 day race from London to Portimao, Portugal and a 30 day race from Portugal to Punta del Este, Uruguay.
All crew members go through a rigorous 4 week training and selection program in Gosport, UK or Sydney, Australia. Teams are then allocated based on skill, age and gender. The race is open to anyone willing to put in the work!
Note: The 2019-2020 race was paused in March 2020 due to Covid. The yachts spent 2 years in the Philippines until the race re-started in Feb 2022 with Leg 6 from Subic Bay to Seattle (unfortunately the 3 Chinese host cities were still closed).
Learning to helm! The Clipper 70’ racing yachts heel over to what feels like 45 degrees.
Grind those headsails!
Chasing down team Bermuda during a practice race!
Don’t let the spinnaker collapse!
Getting “kitted” with our foul weather gear.
Crossing the English Channel (for the first time).
Rescuing Bob, our Man Overboard Dummy
Race Route
Learn about each Leg of the race
