Setting off from the Humber on the north east coast of England on 13 September 2009 it will be almost a year before the fleet returns at the end of the 35,000-mile race.
Each crew needs to be a self sufficient unit, capable of taking care of every situation
Crossing the Atlantic, Pacific and Southern Oceans on the seven-leg race, your life as a member of the crew will revolve around a four-hour watch system. You will take your turn below deck with cooking and cleaning duties as well as on deck, helming and trimming the sails, as you and the 17 others onboard strive as a team to win the Clipper Trophy.
As Clipper crew you will work in every position. The experience is total. You and your crew will need to be chefs, plumbers, electricians, tacticians, navigators, cleaners, IT specialists, bakers, sail repairers, quartermasters, weather forecasters, engineers and medics. Each crew needs to be a self-sufficient unit capable of taking care of every situation – no matter what the conditions.
There is no Yellow Pages in the middle of the ocean. If something needs doing, you do it.
The accommodation, as you would expect for a yacht that is designed for fast, competitive racing, is stripped out. However you will have your own bunk and personal storage space, while the communal spaces allow for relaxation after a hard watch on deck.