Fire to water: Jimmy switches the elements for a bold new adventure

Jimmy Johnson isn’t your average adventurer. A retired firefighter from Las Vegas, USA, he’s spent his entire career on dry land. Now, he's taking on a whole new challenge as he gets ready to race around the world as a circumnavigating crew member on Team Warrant, led by Skipper Dylan Kotze. 

Jimmy on board his Level 4 training

“I’m an adventurist,” says Jimmy, whose previous feats include the Great Wall of China marathon. “I seek out the next adventure and this race stood out as one of the most unique and demanding challenges I could find,” he adds. 

Coming from the desert, Jimmy has spent 30 years navigating the intense world of emergency services in one of America’s busiest cities and the ocean presented an entirely different kind of test. Prior to signing up for the Clipper Race, his sailing experience included a handful of charters in the British Virgin Islands, Croatia, and a bit around San Diego, but nothing that compares to the rigors of a global ocean race. 

It was a YouTube video, sent to him by a friend, that first put the Clipper Race on Jimmy’s radar. He explained: "There was a promo for the Clipper Race from I believe the 2013-14 edition – and it captivated me. This was in 2018, and I said yeah, that's what I'm going to do!”  

Since then, the Clipper Race has been a long-term goal - one he’s been mentally and physically preparing for over several years, and decades in fire service certainly equipped him with a strong foundation. What began as a summer job fighting forest fires turned into a full career after he got hooked by the rush and the sense of purpose. Following in the footsteps of his father, a firefighter himself, Jimmy went on to spend three decades as a paramedic and firefighter. Now, his son works in the very same department, making it three generations of service in Las Vegas Fire. 

The Clipper Race’s comprehensive training programme must be completed by all Race Crew before starting the race. On return from completing the third of the four levels, Jimmy said: “Level 1 is more about how you do things,  Level 2 is more about why you do things and then Level 3 puts it all together, and it really just started clicking for almost everyone in the group at that point. We were able to smoothly and seamlessly work together and they're always mixing tasks up so that you can get familiar with all roles instead of having people gravitate to specific roles.” 

Jimmy now only has one more training level to complete before he lines up with the rest of team Warrant. On this, he said: “And I can only imagine Level 4 is going to be fantastic with my skipper Dylan on Warrant. And they just put the boat in the water yesterday. 

“It looks fantastic. It looks like a winner,” he adds with a smile. 

Though the ocean is unfamiliar, teamwork is not. Jimmy brings with him a wealth of experience from high-pressure environments, and he's eager to apply that to this entirely new context. He says: “I am just a normal person looking to live life to its fullest. 

“I believe that the Clipper Race offers a unique experience where people who are seeking certain things in life, they want to see where their limits are. They want to see if they can go past them and they're striving for personal growth.” 

As for his family? They're all in. Having stood by him throughout his firefighting career, they’re used to seeing Jimmy dive into big, bold challenges. “They’re behind me 100%,” he says proudly. 

Want in? There’s still time to join Jimmy and all of the 2025-26 Race Crew with some limited availability remaining on selected legs. If you’d like to find out more, download an information pack or get in touch, head to the application page of the website.