Ordinary People doing Extraordinary things
The Clipper Race, is comprised of ten ‘legs’ and will last ten months with stop overs in Europe, USA, Africa and Asia . All crew members in the race are amateur and before ‘signing up’ for the race around half have no previous sailing experience. On board each yacht is just one professional, the skipper, whose role it is to lead his team to victory. National pride is at stake as this is the longest race in the world where cities and nations go head to head.
Race Route:
Liverpool - La Rochelle – Salvador – Durban – Fremantle – Singapore – Qingdao (ETA 13-15 Feb, ETD Sunday 24 Feb) – Hawaii – Santa Cruz – Panama – Jamaica – New York – Nova Scotia – Cork – Liverpool
See www.clipperroundtheworld.com for overall standings and more details on the Clipper Race.
About the race - Sir Robin Knox-Johnston
“An around the world race is the ultimate sailing challenge. All the training and preparation can never fully prepare someone for their first roaring gale and towering seas, or the frustrations of their first calms. These are "hands on" experiences, learned by being there and cannot be learned elsewhere. The corollary is an increased team and individual confidence that comes from taking on raw nature with bare hands - and surviving.
I have sent four races and over 1,000 people around the world now; races manned by novices, 40% of whom had never been on a yacht before they came to us for training. The event has proved an enormous success since its inception in 1996, not just for Clipper but also for all those who dared and achieved.
Those who started with no knowledge of sailing have finished as experienced sailors. And, whilst learning the skills that make a good sailor and seeing some of the more exciting and exotic parts of the worlds in the process, they learned the ultimate lesson: aim high, you will always rise further than others thought possible!
Drive and determination are vitally important ingredients for any competitive sportsman and especially a round-the-world sailor. Even though yachting technology has changed over the years and teams now have more support by way of shore teams, the concept of ‘man versus the elements’ is still the same.
One of the core parts of this challenge is that it is not easy. But who is interested if you have done something that is easy? There is much greater satisfaction, and far greater respect, for the person who has achieved something that is really hard to do.
The one common factor amongst our crews is the increased quiet self-confidence which becomes quite apparent, perhaps more obvious in the younger members but noticeable even in senior executives. They learn new skills and become good sailors, but perhaps the most vital lesson comes from being integrated within a small, isolated team where there is just one purpose, to win the race.
Clipper has one very simple philosophy. We want people to finish the race saying, "That's the best thing I have done in my life." We hope they will add, "So far," because then we know we have literally widened their horizons”
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, CBE
Chairman, Clipper Ventures Plc
