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• Sir Robin Knox-Johnston - Chairman

  Executive Chairman and founder Director of the Company, Sir Robin has been involved in sailing all his life, holding a Department of Transport Master's Certificate.

  He holds the record as the first person to sail single-handed round the world non-stop and has also set the record for the fastest circumnavigation.

  Added to this he has considerable experience of the administration of round the world races having served on the Whitbread Race Committee from 1990 to 1994 and having organised the BOC Challenge Round the World Race in 1982 and 1986. He has also been a Director of subsidiaries of Taylor Woodrow PLC and The Rank Organisation PLC. Sir Robin has recently completed his latest solo circumnavigation on SAGA Insurance in the VELUX 5 OCEANS.

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• William Ward - Chief Executive

  William joined Clipper in early 1996, joining forces with Sir Robin at the initial stages of the production of the original fleet of Clipper 60s.

  He has brought to Clipper a commercial background gained in the property investment arena where he successfully ran a number of different companies.

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• David Stubley - Marketing Director

  David joined Clipper Ventures Plc in 2006 to enhance the company's expertise in sponsorship, marketing and unlocking media value for its portfolio of international events.

  David has worked in commercial strategy positions for ITV and Channel 4, and is also Executive Chairman of Performance, part of the WPP Group.

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• Colin De Mowbray (MBE) - Operations Director

  Having had a full career as a seaman officer and an aviator in the Royal Navy, Colin skippered Chrysolite, one of the eight yachts in the first Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in 1996.

  After the race, he became involved in running the Clipper 98 Race and was subsequently appointed Race Director for The Times Clipper 2000 and Clipper 2002 Races. He became the link between the ten competing cities and the race organisation for the Clipper 05-06 Race, a role he continues to fulfil.

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• Anna Wardley - Head of Communications

  Anna has been with Clipper Ventures Plc since October 2005. Prior to that Anna did media relations for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution after completing Clipper 2002 as a round the world crew member on Hong Kong Clipper.

  Previously Anna worked as a journalist for various publications and international news wires in London, Buenos Aires and New York. Favourite sailing moment: Winning the race from Hawaii into Yokohama on Hong Kong Clipper in 2003 in sub-zero conditions after three 'character-building' weeks of storm-force winds, wet socks and pot noodles.

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• Joff Bailey - Race Director

  Joff joined Clipper Ventures Plc in May 2007. As an electronics engineer he worked in the defence industry for 18 years before turning his life-long hobby into a full-time sailing career.

  An accomplished racer and fully endorsed RYA instructor, Joff skippered New York Clipper to third place in Clipper 05-06 and then worked on private yachts before coming back to the Clipper fold as Race Director. Favourite sailing moment: Can't choose between two - winning the Inter-Services Dinghy Championship and sailing through massive waves in the Southern Ocean.

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• Carie Biggs - City Manager

  Carie joined Clipper Ventures Plc in January 2007. After working for more than a decade in IT project management within investment banking, Carie took a career break in 2002 to become a round the world crew member on Hong Kong Clipper.

  Before this, she had worked on yachts as a scuba diving instructor in south east Asia. After the race, she juggled IT contracts with working as a crew member on super yachts in the Mediterranean and worked with the Development and Communications team at ISAF (International Sailing Federation).

  Favourite sailing moment: Lots but winning the first race into Cascais and the last race into Liverpool were a fantastic way to start and finish. Also, diving with hundreds of hammerhead sharks during the Galapagos port visit during the Clipper 2002 Race was a particular favourite.

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• Lizzie Nicholas - Race Secretary

  Lizzie joined Clipper Ventures in June 2007. Lizzie took a career break from business consulting in London to take part in the Clipper 05-06 Race on New York Clipper.

  On her return she set about becoming a commercially-endorsed Yachtmaster, before working on the VELUX 5 OCEANS race (scrutineering the race yachts) and corporate sailing. She worked on a private yacht before coming back to Clipper.

  Favourite sailing moment: Too difficult to choose just one moment but you never forget the feeling of sitting at the masthead and looking down as the boat flies along at a steady 16knots under spinnaker!

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• Carol Blyth - Crew Manager

  Carol has worked with Clipper Ventures Plc for six years. She has sailed from childhood and has a passion for the sport. Her first big boat experience came when she was offered a corporate day's sailing on a Challenge 67.

  She enjoyed it so much she decided to get involved in the industry and jumped at the chance of applying for the position of Crew Coordinator for the Clipper Race. Now, as Crew Manager, Carol is in charge of the day-to-day running of the Crew Support team but would love to do a leg of the race herself - either through the Panama Canal, or across the Atlantic back home.

  Favourite sailing moment: Being part of the NJA Racing team on a Reflex 38 and winning the 2002 Clipper Industry Championship 2002 Regatta.

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• Heather Ewing - Communications Coordinator

  Heather has been with Clipper Ventures Plc since February 2007 having spent 20 years working in the radio industry.

  She worked all over the UK as a journalist, newsreader and presenter, as well as spending some time as a freelance voiceover artist. Heather's a bit of a fair-weather sailor, but she loves living and working by the sea.

  Favourite sailing moment: Under full sail on a tall ship in the Whitsunday Islands on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

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• Zoe Williamson - Communications Coordinator

  Before joining Clipper Ventures Plc in January 2007, Zoe worked in television research and production at the BBC and in the Communications Department of the European Space Agency.

  She took part in the Clipper 05-06 Race as a round the worlder on Liverpool 08.

  Favourite sailing moment: Winning Leg 4 into Qingdao after an eventful race that threw everything at them - tropical heat and brisk winds, bitter cold and no wind, a wrapped spinnaker and a "wall of death" fishing net that seemed to go on for miles.

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• Vikki Gillard - Crew Support

  Vikki joined Clipper Ventures Plc in February 2007, but had been following the Clipper Races for many years as friends and family competed in the race or skippered yachts.

  She got into sailing 12 years ago when she was working in the office of a sailing school and had the opportunity to complete some RYA qualifications. After selling their own catamaran she and her husband worked on private yachts for four years, sailing round the world including Australasia, Singapore and the Galapagos.

  Favourite sailing moment: Crossing the Pacific seeing nothing but dolphins, whales and turtles.

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