Team Power of Seattle Sports, meet your professionals!
Clipper Race Skipper Angela Brandsma and First Mate Amy Smith are the professional duo set to lead Team Power of Seattle Sports in the upcoming 2025-26 edition.
When Angela and Amy line up alongside their Power of Seattle Sports team for the start of the epic 40,000 nautical mile long race in Portsmouth on 31 August, it will be one of the first all-female leadership teams building and delivering a race campaign from the onset of a Clipper Race circumnavigation. Two female sailing partnerships will be competing on the Clipper 2025-26 Race, with Skipper Heather Thomas and First Mate Millie Apperley also leading the charge.
Speaking on her appointment as the skipper of Power of Seattle Sports, Angela Brandsma from Sneek, the Netherlands says: “I am super happy to have Seattle Sports Commission as a Team Partner! I have family connections in Seattle and have been there with the Clipper Race previously so it’s a city I love. I’m looking forward to being involved with a partner who is highly engaged with sports.”
Clipper 2023-24 Race in Seattle
Seattle Sports Commission is passionate in promoting pathways into sport and women in sport, values that align with the Clipper Race. Angela has followed the Clipper Ventures pathway from First Mate to becoming a Race Skipper. She adds: “I also feel strongly about accessibility of sport and women in the industry – alongside my First Mate Amy, I am looking forward to showing the world that women are strong, we are no different to men and we can do the same.”
Joking about some of the home comforts she can’t wait to enjoy again in the city, Angela adds: “I am really looking forward to fish chowder, too! I’ve never had any better in the world!”
In addition to the Power of Seattle Sports team entry, flying the flag for the city as the fleet races around the world, Seattle is also a Host Port. When the race arrives in Seattle in spring 2026, it will be the fifth time the city and Race Partner Seattle Sports Commission has welcomed the Clipper Race fleet. The ten teams will be welcomed into Seattle following a relentless race across the North Pacific Ocean. With ten-years of partnership, and five visits, Seattle is the most featured US city on the Clipper Race route.
Says Beth Knox, CEO and President of Seattle Sports Commission: "I am so proud to welcome the crew members to our Power of Seattle Sports team! We can't wait to welcome them to the Emerald City and know they will represent us well. We are also honoured to celebrate the historic appointment of two exceptional women as Skipper and First Mate to represent Seattle in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. This pairing reflects the strength, resilience, and leadership that women bring to the world of sports. Seattle is a city that champions women athletes, supports women’s sports, and uplifts women leaders — on land and at sea. We are thrilled to stand behind this groundbreaking crew as they set sail, inspiring the next generation of explorers and pioneers."
CEO and President of Seattle Sports Commission, Beth Knox
Angela follows in the footsteps of Nikki Henderson, who led the Seattle team entry during the Clipper 2017-18 Race. Nikki was the youngest Clipper Race Skipper in the event’s history, who placed second overall, very narrowly missing out on the top spot to Wendy Tuck, who, in the same edition, made history when she became the first woman to win a round the world yacht race.
Nikki Henderson and her Seattle team place second overall
On following in Nikki’s footsteps, Angela adds: “The pressure! We are going to do our best, especially racing into our home port. Having Seattle feature towards the later stages of the race will be good because it’s in those later stages of the race where the fleet comes together, so hopefully we can make use of having our home port at that point and make Seattle proud!”
This will be the first time Power of Seattle Sports First Mate Amy Smith has visited America. She says: “I’ve heard from past teams that the stopover in Seattle is epic. My first thought when I heard who we’d be representing was that we’d be having our homecoming after finishing our North Pacific crossing – this is one of the biggest legs, so it will be really special.”
The Clipper Race will arrive in Seattle in April 2026 and form part of an exciting and important summer of sport in the city, which is set to host six FIFA World Cup 26 fixtures in June and July next year.
With the countdown well and truly on to Race Start, Angela and Amy are busy on and off the water, shaping their Power of Seattle Sport team, carrying out five rounds of the final stage of compulsory training – Level 4 – and getting theiryacht finely tuned and ready to race.
Team Power of Sports Seattle at Crew Allocation
Keen to get involved? There is still time, and limited availability, to race on the Clipper 2025-26 Race. No previous experience required, comprehensive training provided. To find out more, download info packs and sign up, head to the application page of the website.