A UNIQUE EVENT - RACED BY PEOPLE LIKE YOU
The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is the only event of its type. Anyone, even if they have never stepped on a boat before, can join the adventure and circumnavigate the world in an eleven month-long marathon.
- 12 BRAND NEW 70-FOOT OCEAN RACING YACHTS, A 40,000-MILE CIRCUMNAVIGATION, 15 RACES, 13 COUNTRIES, 1 WINNER.
- YOU MIGHT START AS A SAILING NOVICE BUT BY THE END OF ELEVEN MONTHS AT SEA YOU WILL HAVE 40,000 RACING MILES IN YOUR LOG BOOK. YOU WILL HAVE SAILED IN ALL CONDITIONS FROM THE WARM TRADE WINDS, THROUGH WINTER STORMS AND THE TROPICAL HEAT OF THE DOLDRUMS, CROSSING THE EQUATOR TWICE.
This is the only race in the world where the organisers supply the fleet of 12 identical, 70-foot, stripped down racing yachts – each sponsored by a city, a region or a country – and man each with a fully-qualified skipper, employed to lead the crews safely around the globe.
It’s where taxi drivers rub shoulders with chief executives, vicars mix with housewives, students work alongside bankers, nurses work with vets and doctors team with rugby players. It’s an experience that will change people’s lives. Yet while the crews may be amateur, no one has told the ocean that.
The sea does not distinguish between Olympians or novices and if the Southern Ocean, the Pacific or the South Atlantic decides to throw down the gauntlet, the Clipper Race crews need to be ready to face exactly the same challenges as those experienced by the professional racer.
And, when they return from the biggest challenge they have ever faced, the crews bring home countless lessons with them. The importance of teamwork and the importance of respect. Of giving more than you take. Of learning what your body is capable of. An appreciation of cultures, religions, lifestyles and attitudes that connect with communities right around the globe.
Because of its amateur status and varied crew profile, don’t for a moment consider this to be some sort of easy option. The crews have to work hard to become winners and it’s not unusual that boats might finish within minutes of each other after three weeks and 3,000 miles of ocean racing.
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Founder and Chairman of the Clipper Race
THE RACE ROUTE
Featuring 15 individual races competed over eight separate legs. You can sign up to race the entire way around the world, opt for a single leg or combine a number of legs.
- UNITED KINDOM - SOUTH AMERICA
- SOUTH AMERICA - CAPE TOWN
- CAPE TOWN - WESTERN AUSTRALIA
- WESTERN AUSTRALIA - AUSTRALIAN PIT STOP - EASTERN AUSTRALIA
- EASTERN AUSTRALIA - SINGAPORE - QINGDAO
- QINGDAO - WEST COAST USA
- WEST COAST USA - PANAMA - COZUMEL - NEW YORK
- NEW YORK - N. IRELAND - EUROPE - UK
- FULL CIRCUMNAVIGATOR
Trade winds to South America
UNITED KINGDOM - SOUTH AMERICA
After experiencing the emotions of saying goodbye to loved ones, untying lines at the start of this 40,000-mile, eleven month long challenge the fleet will race away from the safety on land.
Ahead is the first major ocean crossing – the Atlantic – and three weeks at sea. Routing towards the Canaries, the weather becomes warmer as you seek the trade winds to take you towards the Equator.
Before that, the first key tactical decision is whether to pass the Canaries to port, starboard or go through the middle of the islands. The surrounding mountains can create a wind shadow for several hundred miles – get it wrong and you will feel the frustration of snail pace sailing.
The trade winds come as a great relief but up ahead another challenge awaits; the dreaded Doldrums with fickle wind holes and sudden squalls that will test your patience to the full. Taking time out to acknowledge King Neptune as you go from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere, the breeze returns but there are counter currents to avoid before South America appears over the horizon.
A famous Latin welcome is the best reward to celebrate your amazing achievement!
South Atlantic Challenge
SOUTH AMERICA - CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
Upon leaving South America the teams will be straight into the trade winds and long, rolling swells of the South Atlantic as you head south towards the infamous Southern Ocean, with spinnakers quickly becoming the sail of choice.
Surfing down the front of swells brings boat speeds well above 20 knots and whoever is on the helm will be guaranteed to be wearing the biggest smile. But this is a marathon not a sprint and looking after kit is essential. One false turn and the spinnaker will be in tatters, requiring the on board repair team to begin 30 hours of laborious stitching.
After the plunge south, your bows will turn eastward toward the distant shores of Africa, bringing even more exhilarating surfing conditions and some magnificent wildlife. Albatrosses swoop above your head, whales are a common sight and crews will marvel at the clarity of the night sky as they take in the Southern Cross for the first time.
As you close in on the point where the Atlantic meets the Indian Ocean the race will be almost over and the traditional African welcome, as you finally step ashore, will be a fitting culmination of your efforts.
Southern Ocean sleigh ride
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Back on board with tales of diving with great whites, safaris and sampling the best of Stellenbosch, the challenging Southern Ocean will be your home for the next three weeks.
After a parade of sail past the waving crowds, it’s out onto the waters of one of the world’s Great Capes – Good Hope – and getting ready to face what, for many sailors, will be their ultimate challenge. As the Cape of Good Hope falls astern, the racing yachts tack down towards the 40th parallel. This is where the Roaring Forties start and the Southern Ocean provides some of the most extreme sailing in the world.
Crew safety and kit preservation and the watchwords. If the cloud is thick, night sailing happens in inky blackness with just the compass and the instruments to help. It’ll be chilly, too, because although it will be a Southern Hemisphere spring, the wind might be coming straight up from the ice of Antarctica.
Leaving the lonely and remote Kerguelen Islands to starboard, the combination of strong winds and large ocean swell that are bigger than buildings will keep crews on their toes. So, too, will the chance of vicious in-coming low pressure systems that can bring with them intense, gale force storms.
The beautiful, sun kissed beaches of Western Australia await – along with a well chilled ‘tinny’ with your name on it!