The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race fleet is tried and tested, each of the yachts having already completed two 35,000-mile circumnavigations.
These are stripped down racing yachts designed to stand up to everything nature can throw at them
They are stripped down racing yachts with open decks, a coffee grinder to operate the primary winches, basic crew accommodation and, like the yachts competing in the Volvo Ocean Race, they carry a wardrobe of eleven sails. The only difference is these yachts must make sure they maintain their sails during the circumnavigation to avoid penalties, whereas the Open 70s can use up to 24 sails during their event.
The ten masthead cutters are designed by renowned English yacht designer, Ed Dubois, and built in Shanghai, China. Before each race they go through an extensive refit to prepare them for the rigours of the challenge ahead. They are built to the latest Maritime and Coastguard Agency construction and safety requirements, coded to MCA Category 0.
The yachts have a glass fibre composite sandwich construction that is made of two layers of glass fibre with a layer of balsa wood in between. This makes the hulls strong but lightweight and therefore fast. Despite being eight feet longer than the original fleet of Clipper 60s which completed the first four circumnavigations, the yachts are more than three tonnes lighter.
Don’t be fooled into thinking these are cruising yachts – they are most definitely not. The boats have basic amenities. In the small galley where the day’s mother watch caters for the crew there’s no fridge or microwave or any of the gadgets you’d take for granted in your own kitchen.
There are two toilet cubicles, or heads, (pick which you use, depending on which tack you’re on) one of which has a shower fitting. But face it, half way across the icy Southern Ocean, just how badly are you going to want to get out of your warm layers for a lukewarm shower? Learn to love wet wipes – they become the currency of a racing yacht at sea!
Completing the tour below decks there’s the nav station where all the communications gear, charts, and radar can be found. And there’s a saloon where people gather to eat or relax; but more often than not those who aren’t hard at work or eating will be asleep during their precious four hours off watch.