German project manager reflects on challenge and transformation after the Clipper Race
When Christin Schulz, a 37-year-old project manager from Kiel, Germany, signed up for the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, she had a hunch it might be life changing.
“I thought when I applied it might change my life. And it did. There was a transformation going on for me. Not only doing the race, but the whole process leading up to it.
“It is really something you cannot come back from unchanged in any kind of way. It was an amazing experience. It’s really something special.” she says.
Christin took part in Legs 2 and 3 of the race’s 2025-26 edition, sailing more than 10,500 nautical miles from Uruguay to Western Australia via Cape Town, South Africa.
Although Christin had previously enjoyed sailing on lakes around Leipzig, the race was a major leap into the unknown, but it was also exactly the challenge she had been searching for.
Christin specifically chose Legs 2 and 3 because she wanted to experience one of the most demanding parts of the race route: the South Indian Ocean, and she wanted to have done a leg before to prepare. What she found was two legs that complemented each other in unexpected ways.
She explained: “I really wanted to experience the South Indian Ocean on Leg 3. I chose Leg 2 so I would feel ready for the Roaring Forties and feel confident with racing and life on board, and it meant I could see South America at the same time.”
“When we finished Leg 2 and saw Table Mountain, we didn’t want to get off,” she says.
But Leg 3 proved even more intense. Famed for its huge seas and high winds, the temperatures also plummet sharply as the fleet heads south and east from South Africa towards Fremantle, Australia. Christin reflects: “The waves got even bigger, the temperature got really cold and the level of exhaustion was much greater. It was all about finding and then pushing your boundaries.”
Despite the harsh conditions, it became her favourite part of the entire experience.“I evolved on Leg 3,” she says. “Riding huge waves as we headed towards the Southern Ocean was amazing. It was like riding a roller coaster constantly.”
The race also carried personal meaning for Christin long before she stepped on board. She first heard about the Clipper Race through people she met at a mutual friend’s wedding - two former crew members whose stories inspired her to apply herself. One of those friends later died in a climbing accident in Cape Town in 2023, so arriving there during the race became an emotional milestone.
She reflects: “Heading to Cape Town, and being on the exact same boat he raced on, the first thing we saw was Table Mountain and Lion’s Head. It was special.”
For Christin, the stopover represented not only a major race moment, but also a deeply personal connection to someone who had encouraged her to take on the challenge in the first place.
Back home in Germany, Christin’s friends and family closely followed the race online as she crossed oceans and raced through storms. Although some initially had reservations about her taking on such a huge challenge, they quickly became as invested in the adventure themselves.
“Even my 90-year-old grandmother got Instagram to follow the race!” Christin laughs.
Adding: “Even though I’m back, they are still the first ones to like the Clipper Race posts on Instagram. Every time I check, my grandmother is ahead of me and already liked it.I wasn’t expecting them to get so involved, it’s really lovely.”
Now back in Germany, Christin says the race continues to shape the way she thinks about life. In fact, the experience became a major motivation behind her move from Leipzig to the coastal city of Kiel.
After spending weeks living at sea with only the essentials, she returned with a simpler outlook. She says: “It puts things into perspective a little more, I realised there isn’t much we need to be happy.
“You need food, sleep, company and to move your body. You need to be challenged and you need to love what you are doing. You really don’t need as many things as we all own. It’s the people and the things you do that give you purpose and are something you love.”
Looking back, her stand-out moment would be surfing the waves on Leg 3. She says: “For me, it was one place I really wouldn’t want to do other than with the trained team from the Clipper Race. Everyone was trained so well.”
And despite the cold, the exhaustion and the relentlessness of ocean racing, Christin has no hesitation when asked what she would say to anyone considering signing up themselves.
“Go do it,” she says. Adding: “If you feel drawn to it, then go do it.”
Applications are now open for the Clipper Race’s next edition, starting in summer 2027. To find out more, to get hold of an info pack or to apply, head to the application overview page.