In 1969 Sir Robin Knox-Johnston was the first man ever to sail solo and non-stop around the world. In 1995 Sir Robin set up Clipper Ventures. Based in Royal Clarence Marina, in Gosport, Clipper Ventures is an international marine events company. Clipper Ventures also operates a world-class training division, Clipper Training, which provides yachts, equipment, qualified skippers and intensive training for novice yachtsmen. Clipper Ventures has successfully organised 6 round the world yacht races for non-professional sailors, and also runs the Velux 5 Oceans solo round the world yacht race.
Clipper Ventures is best known for organising the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, which was first run in 1996. The Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race will start this Sunday, the 13th of September 2009, on the Humber in the North East of England. There will be a fleet of 10 stripped down identical 68-foot yachts that will race each other over 35,000 miles on a full circumnavigation of the world. The teams will stop at 14 different ports along the way including Hull & Humber, La Rochelle, Rio de Janeiro, South Africa, Western Australia, Singapore, Qingdao, California, Panama, Caribbean, New York, Cape Breton Island & Cork
Sir Robin founded the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race so that more people can experience the challenge of ocean racing. As it says on the Clipper website: “This is the only opportunity for people from all walks of life to compete in a round the world yacht race”.
The race is open to anyone who feels they are up for the challenge and willing to pay the sign-up fee, regardless of whether or not they have previous sailing experience. Crew can either sign up for the whole race, or one or more legs. The fact that crew members can choose the stages that they are competing in offers much more flexibility for competitors who might want to take part, but can’t necessarily take 10 months off work. This latest edition, the Clipper 2009-2010 race is completely sold out and it is advised to sign-up early for future races in order to secure your place.Clipper is already recruiting crew for Clipper 2011-2012 which, at 40,000 miles, will be the longest round the world yacht race.
There are 10 teams taking part in the race this year, totalling approximately 400 crew members over the entire race. Each team is sponsored by an international city, region or country, and this year the teams are: Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, Hull & Humber, Uniquely Singapore, Qingdao, Jamaica Lightning Bolt, Cape Breton Island, Cork, Team Finland, California and Spirit of Australia.
The teams are expected to return in July 2010.
