Crew Stories | Clipper Race to classroom

Clipper Race to classroom: catching up with former Race Crew Maya Vohrah

Primary school teacher Maya Vohrah, from Coventry, first found out about the Clipper Race in 2015, after an online search for RYA Competent Crew courses flagged her to the algorithm. Chased around the internet with Clipper Race ads - and then physically in a train station with a billboard ad - the Clipper Race played on her mind. “It was a sign I should sign up!” she says, adding: “But it was 2015 and the time wasn’t right.” 

Some years later, in 2023, she decided to take the plunge and sign up to Leg 7 of the Clipper Race. She explained: “I’d known about it for eight years but actually signing up happened at the very last minute. I was burnt out at work, I had gone into supply teaching and had the time and funds to do Leg 7, so I went for it. 

“I was very late in the day. The race had already begun and I might have been one of the last to sign up - but it is still possible to do your training and join in on later legs so that's what I did. And I LOVED it!” 

Maya on the Clipper 2023-24 Race

Beyond the Clipper Race

Despite the race already starting, Maya still had time to complete all four levels of Clipper Race training before she could join her Team PSP Logistics teammates in Seattle, USA, and race via the Panama Canal to Washington, DC. 

It was during the second of four levels of Clipper Race training that Maya met Hamble School of Yachting Principal Dave Robson at the RYA Sea Survival element of the course. And, after she completed the Clipper Race, where she felt she had become a really proficient crew member but wanted to take her pilotage and boat handling skills to the next level, she decided to sign up to Hamble School of Yachting’s ‘zero to hero’ Professional Sail Training course.

“I’m originally from Coventry so having done the Clipper Race I felt like I was shown this whole new world. And with my Clipper Race experience I wanted to build on my confidence in other areas of sailing. I wasn’t sure if I actually wanted to be a professional sailor - it certainly opened my eyes to a new world - but I knew I loved sailing and wanted to improve my skills.” she says. 

Hamble School of Yachting’s 17 week intensive Professional Sail Training course can take those from beginner level and train them to get qualifications up to commercially endorsed RYA Yachtmaster Offshore level, providing all the qualifications you need (and more) to work in the industry. Reflecting on the course, she says: “The PST course was amazing! It is very intense and it has to be - you cover so much in a short time. 

“You learn so much. If you're looking for something intensive and effective that makes you a better sailor - it will definitely do that. Whether you sit the exam or not, pass the exam or not, you will definitely be a better sailor.” 

For Maya, partaking in the Clipper Race and then training at Hamble School of Yachting has added another dimension to her life. She is now balancing the ‘best of both worlds’. She explains: “I am back teaching in Coventry now and I see the next year as doing a bit of both - sailing and teaching. I am looking to keep improving my sailing, to do some yacht deliveries and any other sailing opportunities over the summer holidays.”

Inspiring future generations

And whilst she has been inspired to broaden her own horizons with sailing - her tales of the sea are equally becoming a source of inspiration for the children she teaches back in land-locked Coventry. She explained: “As you’d imagine, there just isn’t such a sailing scene in Coventry and actually it’s really highlighted a big gap in some inaccessibility of sailing and a more general fear of the water. Many of these children have never been to the seaside, and some have had traumatic experiences with water, so there’s a lot that needs to be done to encourage children to take small steps, like learning to swim. It’s eye-opening to see how much could be done. 

“I show the children videos and photos from my sailing adventures - and pictures of my foulies and my hat where I look really different to my teacher self - and they think it’s really cool, even asking if that person really is me! I think it is a positive way of showing that you can be more than one thing and still be the same person.”

Inspired by Maya’s story? Whilst the countdown to the 2025-26 edition is on, time isn’t up yet to get involved. There is still some availability and, just like Maya, time to apply and train whilst the early stages of the race get underway. To find out more, download an information pack, and apply for the race of your life, head to the application page of the website.