Restart Ready - The Clipper 2019-20 Race so far...

Показать описание

With Race Restart just around the corner, look back on the highlights of the Clipper 2019-20 Race...so far. Huge conditions, weeks at sea and living in close quarters on a stripped back Clipper 70 ocean racing yacht, the event's crew have experienced it all.

The sailing event, which trains people from all walks of life to become ocean racers, was suspended in March 2020 after sailing halfway around the world but is restarting from Subic Bay, Philippines this weekend (20 March 2022).

The fleet of eleven identical Clipper 70s have been recommissioned and with refresher training for its Race Crew complete, the Clipper 2019-20 Race Restart is now within touching distance. The energy on the ground in Subic Bay, Philippines, is building with crews, Skippers and First Mates eager to get back to racing.

The 2019-20 edition, which started on 1 September 2019, saw teams depart St. Katharine Docks, London, and racing over 20,000 nautical miles (nm) with stops in Portimão (Portugal), Punta del Este (Uruguay), Cape Town (South Africa), Fremantle and The Whitsundays (Australia) before racing to Subic Bay (Philippines) where the remainder of the edition was put on hold. Until now.

Looking back at the first half of the circumnavigation, teams faced a cocktail of contrasting conditions from the heat of the tropics to the freezing cold temperatures of the Southern Ocean and frustrating wind holes to hurricane strength winds. The fastest recorded wind speed so far was 77 knots (89mph/142km/h), during Leg 3: The Roaring Forties Leg, between Cape Town, South Africa, and Fremantle, Australia. During the same stretch of the race, the fastest boat speed of the race so far at 32.2 knots (37mph/60 km/h).

Once the fleet departs the Philippines, the sailors’ next big challenge will be tackling the mighty North Pacific Ocean, which is known as ‘the big one’. The teams will be racing towards Seattle and expected to arrive in the US city in mid April 2022.

The fleet will then race down the West Coast of America to Panama, where it will transit the Panama Canal, sail through the Caribbean and up to first time Host Port Bermuda. After some much needed R&R, the eleven ocean racing yachts will head to New York, before racing across the North Atlantic to Derry~Londonderry for the city’s Maritime Festival running from 20 July 20 –24 July of which the sailing fleet is the centrepiece. Then there’s one final sprint, with London’s Royal Docks hosting Race Finish.

The Clipper Race is the only event of its kind which trains people from all walks of life to become ocean racers. Participants sign up to compete in one or multiple legs, or the full eleven month and 40,000nm circumnavigation. The age of its crew ranges from 18 to 70+ years old. Founded by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo and non-stop around the world, the sailing event recently celebrated 25 years since its first edition in 1996.