The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race was established by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to sail solo and non-stop around the world, completing his historic circumnavigation on 22 April 1970. He wanted ordinary people to be able to experience the exhilaration of ocean racing – until then the preserve of the rich or professional sailors.
Since setting up the company in 1995 more than 2,000 people from around the world have taken part in the six editions of the event to date. The seventh, Clipper 09-10, will start from the Humber on 13 September 2009. The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is the only place you’ll find vicars and stockbrokers racing against taxi drivers, engineers, students and chief execs. The occupations may be different, their ages span generations, but the adventure in their hearts and steely determination in their eyes identifies them as Clipper crew.
When the starting gun goes off for the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race on 13 September 2009 the matched fleet of ten sleek, stripped down 68-foot yachts, each representing an international city, region or country, will embark on a full circumnavigation of the globe. This challenge of a lifetime will take ten months to complete and cover 35,000 miles of ocean racing. Setting off from the Humber on the north east coast of England, it will be almost a year before they return.
Their jubilant arrival home in July 2010 will mark the end of an epic challenge for the 430 people racing in Clipper 09-10: taking on the elements and becoming one of the world’s elite – a global ocean racer.