Clipper Race 101

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is a bi-annual competition founded in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnson, the first person to solo circumnavigate the globe.

The race is broken up into 8 legs and the 700+ crew members can complete the full circumnavigation (approximately 11 months) or individual legs. I will be participating on Leg 1 racing 7,250 miles over 33 days at sea.

There are 11 sponsored teams competing on identical 70’ ocean racing yachts crewed by a professional skipper, first mate and 18-20 amateur sailors.

No prior sailing experience is required, but all crew members must pass four levels of rigorous training (5-7 days each) in Gosport, UK or Sydney, Australia.

Level 1 is focused on safety and pass the RYA Competent Crew exam. Level 2 introduces the watch system sailing non-stop for 5 days in the English Channel. Level 3 introduces spinnakers (sails the size of tennis courts) and more advanced race maneuvers. Level 4 brings team members together with their skipper and race yacht compete in a 48hr race against other Level 4 teams and start getting ready for the start!

I found out about Clipper during the 2018 New York stopover and am so happy to participating in this year’s race!

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